Edinburgh is the self-declared ‘thrifty DIY’ capital of the Britain, according to new research by a leading home insurer, Zurich – with 87% saying the reason for attempting DIY is to save money.
However, the survey of 2,000 British homeowners found that even though these frugal DIY-ers tackle jobs for the right reasons, it could be a false economy. Almost a third (31%) admit to ‘DIY fails’ – home improvements gone wrong – which are costing residents an estimated £12million every year.
The most commonly bodged jobs in Edinburgh include putting up wonky shelves (13%), failing to fix leaking taps (9%) and bad paint jobs on walls (9%). And it’s not just in the pocket where people from Edinburgh are being hit by a #DIYfail.
A quarter admitted to injuring themselves while undertaking DIY. The most common injuries are hitting oneself with a hammer (69%), cuts to hand and fingers and falling off ladders (both 46%).
Phil Ost, home insurance expert at Zurich said:
“If you’re taking on DIY home improvements, get professional advice first. Aside from the cost, there is also the disruption and potential injury a home-improvement-disaster can cause. Seemingly simple jobs can cause chaos when they go wrong; just hammering a nail into a wall can bring down plaster, or much worse if there is a water pipe or electricity cable behind it.”
Edinburgh’s top five bodged DIY jobs:
1) Wonky shelves
2) Fixing leaking taps
3) Badly painted walls
4) Hammering in nails
5) Installing a shower or bath
Britain’s 10 thriftiest DIY cities:
1) Edinburgh
2) Southampton
3) Leeds
4) Cambridge
5) Belfast
6) Newcastle
7) Plymouth
8) Glasgow
9) Bristol
10) London
Zurich research also found Brits are putting up with:
1) Leaky taps – producing enough water to fill 3,222 Olympic sized swimming pools a day 4
2) Wonky shelves – enough to go round the M25 1.7 times 5
3) General maintenance jobs – patched up with enough tape to stretch from London to Delhi 6
