DIY disasters cost homeowners dear

AFTER one of the longest bank holiday weekends, Britain's army of DIYers are discovering the true price of their endeavours.

Apart from the millions spent on power tools and paint, many will spend pounds 394 on average to correct botch jobs when they have to call in the professionals for help, a new survey reveals.

Worse still, 11 per cent have to spend more than pounds 1,000 to remedy the damage they have caused to their own homes.

Many trying to copy the experts who make DIY look easy on TV home- improvement programmes like "Changing Rooms" often end up in embarrassing failure.

But the report carried out by insurance company Eagle Star shows that men are far more likely than women to turn a DIY job into a disaster that needs an expert to repair it.

Now homeowners are being warned against starting projects they are not equipped to do and which could easily lead to injury or to damage to their property.

A survey of more than 1,000 Britons found that 10 per cent admit their DIY handiwork is less than successful, with six per cent confessing they have injured themselves in the process.

Carpets and flooring topped the list of items damaged during DIY at 44 per cent, followed by walls and ceilings at 32 per cent and furniture at 20 per cent.

While the average cost of rectifying a DIY failure is pounds 394, the damage caused by men costs far more to repair - pounds 516 against the pounds 125 for women. In 11 per cent of cases the repair bill amounted to pounds 1,000 or more.

Women are also less likely to have a DIY-related accident than men. Only one per cent said they had injured themselves as opposed to 10 per cent of men.

The report warns that there are around 70 deaths and 250,000 serious injuries related to DIY disasters every year in the UK.

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