Determined DIYers- A Disaster Waiting To Happen?

1 month ago 19th Mar 13:53

Yellow Pages study reveals £11.3 billion is spent rectifying DIY mistakes

A new study by Yellow Pages has revealed that UK adults spend on average one year of their lives carrying out home improvements, despite almost a third (29 per cent) admitting to starting jobs they aren’t equipped to tackle, can’t complete or messed up.

Home improvement task % of people who would attempt task themselves Wallpapering 61 Tiling 40 Put in light fittings 38 Laying a patio/decking 26 Installing insulation 23 Replacing guttering 17 Changing a radiator 16 Fitting a kitchen 15 Fitting a bathroom 15 Plastering 12

And, their misjudgements can often prove costly. The study of almost 1,500 people estimates that those DIYers admitting to blunders spend an average of £1,058 each on materials and service charges to rectify their mistakes, totalling £11.3 billion overall.

Additionally, it seems that only 17 per cent actually enjoy doing it themselves. The majority carry out DIY tasks due to perceived necessity (57 per cent), or to try and save money (38 per cent).

Of the 76 per cent carrying out DIY, many would attempt major projects such as laying a patio (26 per cent), installing insulation (23 per cent), fitting a kitchen (15 per cent) or changing a radiator (16 per cent).

Clodagh Ward, consumer development director at Yell, publisher of Yellow Pages directories, said: “We know from our own data that DIY continues to be popular as DIY-related classifications in Yellow Pages directories are used on average 2.4 million times per month. It’s really surprising to see the scale of home improvements that people are prepared to tackle. Sometimes it may prove cheaper to call upon the skilled trades people for the trickier jobs in the first instance.”

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