Member Article

Brits turning to online DIY self-help videos as new insights reveal big skills gaps between the generations

Two in three Brits (67 per cent) are turning to online videos and tutorials to help with simple self-fix repairs in the home

Almost nine in every 10 people (89 per cent) say they are comfortable to give DIY jobs a go by themselves… However, more than half (53 per cent) don’t know how to shut off a stopcock, less than half feel confident bleeding a radiator and only 13 per cent would tackle a frozen outdoor condensate pipe

Two in every three British homeowners are turning to online videos and tutorials to help with simple self-fix repairs in their homes, as new insights reveal a wide gap in DIY skills across the generations.

Vast swathes of the nation claim to be savvy self-fixers, with almost nine in every ten homeowners saying they are comfortable to give DIY and simple household jobs a go themselves. However, when pressed about essential winter repairs, this confidence varies wildly between generations.

The new insight, commissioned as HomeServe launches a suite of new online How-To videos for simple winter jobs around the home, shows that less than half of the UK population are confident shutting off the stopcock in their homes (47 per cent of Brits).

Less than half feel confident bleeding a radiator, with only 30 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds prepared to take on the task compared to 73 per cent of people aged 65 or more.

Less than a third of people claim to be confident in tackling a blocked drain.

And only 13 per cent admitted they would be happy to defrost their outdoor condensate pipe.

In total, eighty per cent of millennials say the Internet is their best friend when it comes to tackling repairs and now turn to self-help, instructional videos online to help them, with 74 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds, 66 per cent of 35 to 44-year-olds and 53 per cent of 65-year-olds and over admitting to doing the same.

“During the Beast from the East in early 2018, we took hundreds of thousands of extra calls in a couple of weeks around condensate pipe problems and a simple self-fix can really help to prevent this,” said John Greaves, Brand Director at HomeServe. “That’s why we’ve launched a suite of new self-help videos, so that people can take some basic steps to prevent some common winter problems in their homes.”

The study, commissioned by HomeServe, shows that around a fifth of 25 to 34-year-olds (21 per cent) admit to starting a simple repair job only to get stuck and have to get an older relative, such as their dad or grandad, to finish the task.

A similar number - 19 per cent - gave up and had to pay a tradesperson to complete it. In contrast just eight per cent of those aged between 45 and 54 have had to resort to seeking professional help in this way.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna .