Third of Derbyshire households admit to having a DIY disaster

And it seems that people in Derbyshire are pretty confident in their DIY skills with 56 per cent confessing to believing that they are good or very good at it, research by Voucherbox.co.uk found.

But, despite their confidence, 35 per cent of people in the county have had a DIY disaster such as starting a fire or have a wallpapering accident. And these disasters have led to 14 per cent saying they won't take on a DIY project again.

However, people in the county are sensible when it comes to spending with 88% believing they save money by not hiring a tradesperson and that doing it themselves is a more cost efficient way of getting your home renovations up to speed.

When it comes to a focus for DIY projects, people in Derbyshire are looking to extend their current space to avoid moving home and loft conversions, conservatotories and bigger projects proved popular. Of those who had completed a large scale DIY project recently, everyone stayed close to their budget and within the projected timescale, with no-one spending spending considerably more or less.

The wider picture

When it comes to the rest of the UK, half of Brits (48 per cent) have confessed to believing that they are good or very good at do-it-yourself. This comes despite a third (33%) admitting they have suffered a DIY disaster - almost one fifth of which (17 per cent) cost up to £500 to put right - with Leeds (45 per cent), Bristol (43 per cent) and Manchester (42 per cent) being the most disaster prone – much more so than the folk in Nottinghamshire.

A quarter of fearful Brits (27 per cent) revealed that they wouldn’t even dream of taking on a large DIY project themselves. However, of those who say they are terrible at DIY, 39 per cent are still giving it a go with one fifth of Handy Andy’s (17 per cent) splashing out up to £500 to fix the error of their ways. In fact, the majority of the disastrous DIYers planning a renovation project are tackling a new kitchen (67 per cent) and expecting it to cost up to £1,000.

How to save

Marco Piu, Voucherbox General Manager of Voucherbox.co.uk said, “Spring is a popular time to dust off those tools and start putting planned DIY projects into action. DIY merchant blogs and social channels provide a great source of expert tips and best practice that will hopefully keep you from making a costly mistake.”