Experts have issued warnings to anyone thinking about attempting some DIY at home this summer - and listed some of the most common mishaps that can leave you out of pocket. Thousands across the country will be trying their hands at DIY projects over the next few months - but things can often go wrong.
Tackling your own home improvements without the necessary research, tools, or knowledge can quickly unravel, leaving you with a ruined plan and sometimes a financial burden. Beth Beth Boulton, marketing director at leading home improvement specialists Eurocell, has listed some of the most common DIY mishaps that can leave you thousands of pounds out of pocket.
“While doing your own home renovations and improvements can be incredibly rewarding and cost-efficient, it’s important to account for the risks involved," Beth said. "While some home improvements can be easily tackled with a hammer and drill, it often isn’t the equipment that lets DIYers down, but the knowledge that tradespeople take years to learn and build on.
“Bringing in professional expertise ensures that projects are completed safely and can ultimately save you a lot of money in the long run.”
Knocking through walls
Open spaces with plenty of natural light have been proven to be beneficial to our mental and physical health, and it’s no surprise many of us are ogling our walls with thoughts of knocking them through to create a bigger room. Usually, knocking through a wall to create a wide open space costs around £2,500, or less if you’re adding in a smaller doorway.
But it’s important to remember that not every wall can be knocked through, at least not without the proper structural considerations and support. Removing a load-bearing wall can result in dangerous ceiling collapses and make a home completely unlivable.
Repairing this damage can be extremely costly, with renovations running up a bill of £10,000 or more.
A DIY extension
Building your own extension might seem like a good way to save on builders’ fees, but in reality, you’d need to have an in-depth knowledge of construction, building regulations, electrical and plumbing systems in order to create a safe new space in your home - something that normally requires several different tradespeople with various specialisms.
Failure to create a safe, insulated space with sound structural integrity can be incredibly expensive. Homeowners face the prospect of tearing down their extension and drafting in the experts to rebuild it properly - depending on the size of your extension, this could cost between £20,000 and £50,000 and make your home completely uninhabitable until work is completed.
Tackling your own groundwork
Laying foundations and ensuring proper drainage is incredibly important for ensuring the structural integrity and longevity of extension work or garden improvements - and doing it wrong can lead to expensive repairs down the road.
Failing to ensure proper levelling and drainage can cause foundations to fill with water and crack, costing thousands of pounds to fix. In the worst cases, it can cause your foundation to subside, which can cost over £20,000 to fix, as well as months of surveys and visits from structural engineers.
Ignoring planning rules
Turning a blind eye to planning regulations can put you in some very hot water. Not all projects require planning permission, but it’s always wise to check before you start your project, not after.
If you go ahead without planning permission, and it turns out later that you did need it, you can apply for retrospective approval. The planning officer could require you to alter your plans, even if you’ve already completed construction. If retrospective planning permission is refused, you’ll be faced with knocking down the entire project.
Obviously, this can be expensive. However, failure to comply with an enforcement notice is a criminal offence and you can face prosecution in the most extreme cases.
Here, you can face prosecution in a Magistrates’ or Crown Court. The maximum fine in a magistrates court is £20,000, but there is no limit on the maximum fine a Crown Court could impose.
Removing health risks
Homes built before the 1980s were sometimes built with hazardous materials - even though they were thought to be safe at the time.
The most notorious of these is asbestos, which when disturbed releases tiny fibres into the air. Inhaling these fibres can cause several severe health conditions, such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.
If you need to remove asbestos, this always has to be done by a professional. Failure to do so leaves you at risk of developing the serious health conditions listed above.
The first step is to bring in an asbestos surveyor, who can identify where asbestos is located in your home and also how much there is. Then, it’s a case of bringing in an asbestos removal expert to safely remove it from the home. This can cost anywhere between £1,500 and £5,000.
