DIY home repairsSave money by doing repairs yourself

Painting is one of the easier home maintenance jobs to tackle yourself

If you’re concerned about getting a professional in to carry out maintenance work on your home, don’t worry – doing it yourself may be easier than you think, and the money you’ll save can make it worthwhile.

We’ve asked DIY expert Tommy Walsh for his advice on home maintenance, and he has selected eight jobs that will keep your home in good shape, not to mention more secure and energy efficient. We’ve calculated that you would save more than £1,500 if you did them all yourself. For example, when we looked at prices, it cost around £60 to paint a room, but getting a professional in could cost more than 10 times as much.

Of course, if you do the job yourself rather than hiring a professional, the quality of materials and the workmanship may not be the same.

However, when we surveyed Which? members about DIY jobs they’d carried out in the past two years, the majority said that they’d found them easy: jobs such as insulating pipes and bleeding radiators were considered easiest, while clearing drains and fitting extra locks were a little harder.

Our research

We surveyed 2,829 Which? online panel members between 8 and 15 January 2009 to find out which DIY jobs they have tried and how difficult they found them.

DIY costs are based on buying the materials from B&Q, the DIY shop that Which? members visit most often – half visit regularly. B&Q doesn’t stock shed felt or hinge locks so these prices were sourced from Wickes. We selected own-brand products where available,
but you may be able to get the materials more cheaply by shopping around.

The professional costs are an average and come from Building Cost Information Service data for the last quarter of 2008. The costs will differ depending on where you live. 

Note that the DIY and professional costs aren’t directly comparable as the quality of materials and quality of the job may differ.