Two million households will experience a DIY disaster this Bank Holiday weekend, as people dust off their to-do lists and get set to spend an average of five and a half hours each on DIY, according to new research from Privilege Insurance.
Using data from people's past DIY experiences, including the last British Bank Holiday, the insurer has released a list of the most likely DIY disasters set to happen across the UK this weekend:
1) Getting paint somewhere it's not supposed to be
2) Drilling a hole that's too big for purpose
3) Personal injury (e.g. hammering fingers instead of a nail)
4) Pictures falling down
5) Putting a picture up wonkily
6) Staining the carpet
7) Flat pack furniture falling to pieces or being built incorrectly
8) Not aligning the pattern on the wallpaper
9) Fusing the lights
10) Shelves falling down
Common reasons given for shoddy workmanship include trying to do the work too quickly (27%), not concentrating (17%) and thinking it 'looked easy' (14%).
British householders will be spending over 20 million hours on DIY this weekend, with one million of those spent trying to fix jobs that have gone wrong.
The total cost of botched jobs will amount to £28.39 per household, or £58 million overall.
'Drunk DIY' is also on the up in Britain, with a quarter (26%) of people admitting to "having a go" at a task after a few glasses of wine.
Another trend gripping the UK's DIYers is procrastination, with the average time spent thinking about starting a DIY project stretching to 8 months. Once started, the procrastination doesn't dissipate either, with data analysts from Privilege estimating that there are 2.3 million households with unfinished DIY projects in Britain at any one time.
Electrical Safety First Director General Phil Buckle said: "As these statistics show, DIY can often be costly in the long term. Even more importantly, botched DIY can pose severe dangers.
"The common mistakes of drilling into wiring or rewiring circuits incorrectly can put householders at risk of fire or serious electric shock. There is a lot of advice out there on how to go about tasks safely but you must make sure the advice you take is reputable. For the tasks that you are not sure of and for all the major jobs, our message is DDIY - Don't Do It Yourself - get a professional in."
Privilege home insurance head Dan Simson said: "With our statistics showing that householders will be spending £58 million fixing botched DIY jobs this weekend, it is important to plan their home improvements thoroughly and make sure safety comes first. Whilst poor workmanship is not covered by most insurers, accidents like spilling paint on the carpet are, so it's worth checking that you have accidental damage cover on both your buildings and contents insurance.
Mr Simson continues: "It's a simple thing to check, and it could save a serious amount of money. Privilege Plus Combined cover includes accidental damage for your building and contents and can be added to Privilege's Standard home insurance product."