The 5 biggest DIY mistakes

Don’t you just love Kirstie and Phil’s ‘Love It or List It’? That Channel 4 show where Kirstie swoops into a property to improve, change and beautify, whilst Phil tries to tempt the family with a new house instead. We adore the drama of will they stay or will they go, but our favourite thing is the amazing transformation of the home by the end of the show. More and more of us are choosing to stay in our current homes and make improvements. That means a lot of DIY- here are the 5 biggest DIY mistakes to avoid…

1) Forgetting essential checks. Once you’ve made the decision to do some DIY in your home, it’s tempting to grab your tools and get cracking but before you do, there are some essential checks to make. Catherine Whittles, a partner at Bowcock & Pursaill solicitors in Staffordshire said: “Things to check before starting improvements include making sure your home is not listed, that your title deeds don’t contain any covenants which require you to obtain third party consent, and whether your project could impact on a neighbouring property.”

2) Not making a plan. Checks done? Great, but hold your horses just a bit longer because another of the biggest DIY mistakes according to Dmitri Kara of Fantastic Handyman is not planning out your DIY job. Dmitri is a top DIY expert and advises: “Setting aside too little time to plan and prepare means you’ll end up having to cope with unnecessary problems.” So that’ll be unnecessary problems like wonky shelves or shelves that don’t even fit! Measure the space, and check you have all the kit you need before you even think about drilling a hole. Urbaboxx has some great Shelving options to suit lots of different spaces.

3) Doing things back to front. Another really common DIY mistake is getting the order of tasks the wrong way. Dmitri comes to the rescue advising: “With interior renovations, people tend to leave socket and light switch replacements to the end but this can mean minor plaster or paint repairs. Replace any sockets and light switches before your other DIY jobs and you’ll end up with a neater finish and avoid extra work.”

4) Slapping on the paint. Painting is one of those DIY jobs that looks a lot easier than it actually is, but done right it can transform a space. So, where do you start, the walls right? Actually no, says Dmitri: “Remove any furniture from the room or protect it with at least two layers, such as newspaper and some type of covering. Any experienced tradesman will tell you that you should tape and paint details first rather than jumping into walls and ceilings. Start by taping and securing hinges, sockets, switches and near edge areas and move onto painting edges, corners, nearby doors and windows. Finally you can do the walls and ceilings.” Easy when you know how!

5) Missing the post DIY steps. The elation of finishing your DIY job often means you’ll chuck your tools any old place and worry about them next time. But that’s a big no-no, says Dmitri: “When you’re done with painting, don’t leave paint on the brush to dry as you’ll ruin it for good. If you’ll be painting again soon, wrap the brush in a plastic bag to cut off the oxygen so the paint doesn’t dry. If not, you can clean the brush in a mixture of water and vinegar.” And why not invest in a nifty 5 ft Wall-Mounted Grid Mesh which has 20 hooks to pop your brushes, screwdrivers and the rest of your DIY tools on for next time?