However, Electrical Times reports that many are having to fork out more money in the end – £2,000 extra on average – when they have to call in an expert to fix their botched work, a new study has revealed.

Selco Builders Warehouse investigated how successful the nation’s home repair projects are, as well as how often the cavalry – aka professional builders, plumbers, electricians and other tradespeople – are called in to save the day when DIY projects ‘go south’.

They found out that for the majority of tradespeople (50.4 per cent), fixing ‘DIY disasters’ now makes up around a third of their call-outs.

A third (33 per cent) of tradespeople have been called out to sort a failed kitchen installation, 32 per cent have had to fix a botched attempt at flooring, and 29 per cent have sorted a bathroom renovation that didn’t turn out as planned.

Failed attempts at tap installation are the most common ‘DIY Disaster’, with 43 per cent of tradespeople having been called out to fix this at least once.

Plumbing in general is the area where the most issues seem to arise.

DIY disasters that tradespeople are called out to fix most often (per cent): 

• Tap installation or repair (43)
• Pipework (41)
• Door fitting / hanging (34)
• Leaky roof repair (33.3)
• Kitchen installation (33.1)
• Tiling (32.6)
• Leaky radiators repair (32.4)
• Flooring (32)
• Lights fittings (31.6)
• Sockets or switches installation (31)

While some jobs can be relatively cheap to sort – such as refitting plugs / sockets (£74) or a tap (£95), others come with significant bills. In fact, some tradespeople revealed to Selco that they’ve worked on DIY disaster projects where the repair bill topped a massive £75,000!

According to the tradespeople surveyed, some of the worst DIY Disasters they’ve been asked to sort included:

• Electric socket installations that caused a house fire
• Plumbing work for which joints were sealed with tape
• Brick walls built using neat cement as mortar
• A load bearing wall removed to create an open plan space
• Doors hung upside down
• Badly fitted kitchens with cupboards falling off the walls
• Fire exit doors that couldn’t be opened
• Kitchen cupboards hanging at an angle

Carine Jessamine, marketing director at Selco Builders Warehouse, commented on the research: “DIY is commonplace, but it’s not easy! There seems to be a growing interest in home renovation projects on social media at the moment, and many across the nation are trying their hand at various DIY projects in their homes.

While smaller and less complicated projects can be quite easy and even satisfying to complete, our study has shown Brits often have to call out the professionals to fix home renovations or repairs they have tried but not succeeded at. This can not only turn out to be more expensive, but could also take time to sort as many tradespeople have long waiting lists.

Our advice… leave it to the professionals!”

For more information, please visit this page: https://www.selcobw.com/info/diy-disasters