What is the state of DIY in 2010?

A survey conducted in 2008 asked 3,00 men questions on DIY, and found that that fewer than three quarters of younger men (those under 40 years old) could confidently approach tasks around the house that have for years been passed down from generation to generation. Fewer than three quarters of the sample group of young men could change a fuse, and fewer than thirty percent knew how to bleed a radiator.

When the survey asked older men- those over 40 – the same set of questions it found that only 11 percent of men were able to change a fuse. During the recession there have been reports of more homeowners taking an interest in DIY, especially among people who are improving their existing property rather than moving to a new address, and the financial benefits of making do and mending rather than replacing, or paying for a professional to come out and do the job for you, are the most likely driving factors for this. However, there is growing concern that homeowners who haven’t before undertaken DIY projects are getting in too deep to begin with, by approaching projects that they will struggle to complete either safely or to the same standard that a professional tradesman would deliver.

A recent case in the United States of America, where over one million do it yourself guide books had to be recalled due to homeowners being given faulty diagrammatic instructions that could lead to personal injury through electric shock or fire highlights how dependable people looking for information on home improvement and DIY projects are on the sources of information that they use. For this reason, homeowners undertaking large, or potentially dangerous projects, are being urged to take advice from as many sources as possible, and to consult professional help if there is any possibility that they are embarking on a project which is out of their scope. Another interesting change in the relationship between DIY and homeowners is the increasing number of women who are taking an interest in what has traditionally been seen as a male role, not least because the number of single female households has shot up during the last 15 years, to around one in five today. Recent research has found that in cohabiting households were the female is the majority breadwinner found that they were more likely than the male partner to instigate and finish DIY projects and tasks than men, and the report concluded that this was due to the psychological motivators behind DIY being “safety, status and love.”

This is in contrast to another study conducted at Princeton University in America, who found that there the same part of the male brain was activated when participants looked at images of female bodies as when they picked up power tools. The report which concluded this study suggested that primeval man was rewarded for home improvement and nest building skills, and that this evolutionary trait has continued to this day. No matter whether it is yourself, your partner or a hired professional who takes responsibility for the home improvement projects in your household, it is always worth getting at least two opinions on each course of action, and never attempting to complete something that you do not feel you are properly equipped for.

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