A former bomb disposal expert is waging war on odd jobs by teaching an army of fans vital DIY skills.
Sarah Leslie, 36, gives TikTok users tips on how to fix a seized valve, silence a squeaky door and hang a picture, even though she could charge them for the job.
She started sharing informative clips on the video site after being swamped with jobs that people could do themselves.
And she hopes that by saving her customers money, she can also help teach people the skills to do take on their own DIY tasks around the house.
The mum-of-two, who served for eight years in the Army and toured Afghanistan, said: “What I’m trying to do is help as many people as possible - especially during a cost of living crisis - and earn an income myself.
"The response has been brilliant. It’s been about a 60/40 split towards women.
“I always say ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’, so often people don’t even know what questions to ask.”
Sarah started her own business during lockdown while she was on furlough leave from her job as a bin lorry driver.
But as her business picked up by word-of-mouth, she became inundated with job requests.
As a mum of twin boys – 22-month-old Reuben and Roman – she fits in her work around childcare arrangements and husband Ben’s days off.
She is so busy that she often has to turn work down, so she started making videos to instruct potential customers on how to do DIY tasks themselves, saving her time and them some money.
She now has more than 13,000 grateful followers who watch her helpful tips on how to repair, replace and make things.
Sarah, of Harrogate, North Yorks., added: “I put a post up on Facebook, my husband who’s from the area shared it and I did some work for friends and family who told friends and it spread by word of mouth.
“I’ve never paid for advertising or business cards, I just send people to my Instagram and Facebook.
“I get so many phone calls and I think ‘if you knew about this, I could have saved myself some time here’, so I started making some videos.”
Sarah doesn’t make any income from her videos, though she hopes she can in future.
But her instructional videos on how to do common DIY tasks such as replace plug sockets, hanging plants from a ceiling and re-sealing a bath have won praise from followers.
Sarah, who has also worked as a tree surgeon and was briefly an apprentice mechanic, said she gets her DIY skills from her mum, nan and great-grandmother, who she lived with as a child.
Sarah Leslie, 36, gives TikTok users tips on how to fix a seized valve, silence a squeaky door and hang a picture, even though she could charge them for the job.
She started sharing informative clips on the video site after being swamped with jobs that people could do themselves.
And she hopes that by saving her customers money, she can also help teach people the skills to do take on their own DIY tasks around the house.
The mum-of-two, who served for eight years in the Army and toured Afghanistan, said: “What I’m trying to do is help as many people as possible - especially during a cost of living crisis - and earn an income myself.
"The response has been brilliant. It’s been about a 60/40 split towards women.
“I always say ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’, so often people don’t even know what questions to ask.”
Sarah started her own business during lockdown while she was on furlough leave from her job as a bin lorry driver.
But as her business picked up by word-of-mouth, she became inundated with job requests.
As a mum of twin boys – 22-month-old Reuben and Roman – she fits in her work around childcare arrangements and husband Ben’s days off.
She is so busy that she often has to turn work down, so she started making videos to instruct potential customers on how to do DIY tasks themselves, saving her time and them some money.
She now has more than 13,000 grateful followers who watch her helpful tips on how to repair, replace and make things.
Sarah, of Harrogate, North Yorks., added: “I put a post up on Facebook, my husband who’s from the area shared it and I did some work for friends and family who told friends and it spread by word of mouth.
“I’ve never paid for advertising or business cards, I just send people to my Instagram and Facebook.
“I get so many phone calls and I think ‘if you knew about this, I could have saved myself some time here’, so I started making some videos.”
Sarah doesn’t make any income from her videos, though she hopes she can in future.
But her instructional videos on how to do common DIY tasks such as replace plug sockets, hanging plants from a ceiling and re-sealing a bath have won praise from followers.
Sarah, who has also worked as a tree surgeon and was briefly an apprentice mechanic, said she gets her DIY skills from her mum, nan and great-grandmother, who she lived with as a child.
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FunTranscript
00:00Ooh it's a girl! It's winter, it's cold, it's dark and we've cracked and put the heating on.
00:06If you've got a hot pipe and the whole of the rest of the radiator is cold, you've got a seized valve and we can fix that with three things.
00:13Grips, a hammer and some WD-40.
00:17Turn it to the on position, left or anti-clockwise, then the same with the collar using the grips.
00:25Lift off the TRV or thermostatic radiator valve and this is the offending pin.
00:31It's stuck down and when you turn the TRV which allows it to rise inside, it's not.
00:36Squirt it with some WD-40 and give it a few minutes to work.
00:40Then, to quote my friend Ash who's a heating engineer,
00:43tap it like a handywoman and not a handyman.
00:47Now the pin is free to move up and down.
00:50Give it a bit of a wipe
00:53and replace the TRV ensuring that the indicator is facing outwards.
00:58Do the collar back up
01:00and tighten it with the grips, remembering that parts of this are plastic so don't hang off it, just nip it up.
01:07And that's it, as easy as falling off a log.
01:10Follow for more!
01:13So you've had new carpets fitted and now the doors don't shut, here's how to trim them down.
01:18If you're the carpet fitter can get them back on the hinges, do that, you can mark them more accurately.
01:24Then, down on your belt buckle, mark multiple points across the bottom of the door where the carpet fibres come to.
01:30Then, off the hinges and outside.
01:32Do not do it in your house!
01:34It's absolutely Baltic today so I've got two outside and two coats.
01:38With the guard pulled back, measure from the edge of the blade to the edge of the base plate.
01:42If your floors are level, take an average of these measurements and add it to the base plate measurement.
01:47Clamp a straight edge to the door, checking that it's square.
01:52These doors are hollow with a wood veneer and masking tape along the cutting line stops it ripping off when your saw is chomping through it.
01:59Make sure that it's stuck down on both sides.
02:02And then, off you go!
02:05If your new carpet's that high that you can't get it back on the hinges to mark it,
02:09lean it up against the frame and mark the hinge holes of the pencil.
02:12Measure from the centre of the drilled hole to the centre of the pencil hole.
02:16This is how much to take off to get it back on the hinges.
02:18Depending on the weight of your door and how much it pushes the carpet fibres down, that might be alright.
02:23But, if it's still a bit too tight, follow the steps in the first part.
02:27Happy Friday and follow for more!
02:30Ooh, it's a girl! And this is how to hang a picture level.
02:34It's not the 80s anymore so we don't hang pictures off string and nails.
02:37Get these and get two.
02:39Pick a spot and mark both sides with millimetre precision.
02:42Flat side to the frame and some pressure with an awl to get the screw started.
02:46The customer wants the top of the picture here and centred on the wall.
02:49So, first look at the distance from the fittings to the top of the picture to get the correct height
02:54and then find the centre of the wall, marking with a pencil.
02:57Find the centre of your picture and mark that with a pencil.
03:01On the middle of your level, it doesn't have to be accurate, mark with a pencil.
03:05Line up the middle marks on your level and your picture and then mark each of the fitting locations on your level.
03:11Match up the level line against your wall reference point, ensuring it's actually level
03:15and then transfer both fitting marks onto the wall with a pencil.
03:196mm plugs and 14mm screws are more than adequate here. I can lift it with one finger.
03:25Drill, plug and screw.
03:28Absolutely foolproof.
03:31Follow for more.