UK MEN ALL TOOLS, BUT NO ACTION
New research out today reveals that UK men spend over £318 million a year on DIY tools that never leave the toolbox.
A massive two thirds (63 per cent) of men say they do not know how to use the tools in their box, but are too embarrassed to admit their DIY downfalls to their partner. 72 per cent of men Œhate¹ DIY and would much prefer to GSI (Get Someone In), but nearly half (49 per cent) feel bullied into doing DIY by their partners.
Rated Tradesmen, the UK¹s number one online service that matches tradesmen to customer-submitted jobs, questioned over 2,300 homeowners to gain an insight into the nation¹s DIY habits.
The average UK man spends £39 a year on tools, but a third (35 per cent) of men admit they never use any of them. 22 per cent have never used the screwdriver they have bought meaning there are nearly 3.5 million redundant tools that have never driven screws. 19 per cent of hammer owners accounting for 2.9 million hammers have never hit a nail on the head, whilst one in ten (11 per cent) have never even opened their toolbox.
51 per cent of men try their hand at DIY because they believe finding and employing a tradesmen is too time consuming, although one in ten (9 per
cent) say they end up employing a tradesman to correct their dodgy DIY costing them nearly £160 million a year in call outs. A fifth of women (22 per cent) believe prevention is better than cure and have employed tradesman before their partner has even attempted to get his tools out.
Despite being DIY-dunces and in an egotistical effort to out do the Jones¹s a fifth of men (19 per cent) say it¹s important for them to have a fuller toolbox than their neighbour.
Andrew Skipwith, founder of Rated Tradesmen, comments:
³There¹s a lot of pressure on blokes to be jack-of-all-trades when it comes to DIY. Whilst they may have all the latest gadgets and tools, unfortunately they don¹t have the know-how to use them often paying a tradesman to come in and correct their botched job. They¹d be better off downing their tools and letting skill come before ego by getting a decent tradesmen in to do the job correctly first time, which would save them time, money and the embarrassment of a DIY disaster.²
London men lead the DIY-dunces league with three quarters (74 per cent) not knowing what tools they have or how to use them, closely followed by men from the Midlands (71 per cent). Scottish men are the most DIY competent with only 54 per cent not being able to use their tools for their intended purpose.
The regional league table of DIY-dunces (men not knowing how to use their
tools) and example of key cities are as follows:
1. London men 74 per cent
2. Midlands 71 per cent
* Nottingham 69 per cent
* Leicester 70 per cent
* Manchester 72 per cent
3. South East 70 per cent
* Brighton 69 per cent
* Oxford 73 per cent
* Portsmouth 69 per cent
4. East 68 per cent
* Cambridge 68 per cent
* Norwich 66 percent
* St Albans 70 per cent
5. North East 65 per cent
* Newcastle 66 per cent
* Middlesborough 64 per cent
* Durham 63 per cent
6. South West 62 per cent
* Bristol 60 per cent
* Bournemouth 61 per cent
* Exeter 64 per cent
7. Wales 59 per cent
* Cardiff 59 per cent
* Swansea 60 per cent
* Newport 61 per cent
8. West Midlands 56 per cent
* Birmingham 58 per cent
* Solihull 54 per cent
* West Bromwich 52 per cent
9. North West 56 per cent
* Liverpool 54 per cent
* Blackpool 57 per cent
* Manchester 55 per cent
10. Yorkshire 55 per cent
* York 52 per cent
* Sheffield 55 per cent
* Leeds 53 per cent
11. Scottish 54 per cent
* Edinburgh 51 per cent
* Aberdeen 55 per cent
* Dundee 53 per cent
