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1% of women polled say they can’t change a light bulb!

date-icon 29 Jan 2013  author-icon Posted by Miriam O'Neill


Taking to the roof to replace tiles, getting to grips with a leaking radiator or toilet and tiling the bathroom – these are the DIY jobs that we’re least confident at, results of a poll carried out by the AA’s new Home Rescue division which provides a 24-7 call out service for home emergencies suggest.

During the online poll, conducted late last year, 17 common home maintenance jobs ranging from the very simple to the more challenging were put before a sample of 11,000 people who were asked how confident they would be in their ability to do each one of them.

Just 0.7% of those polled, equating to 78 people, admitted they’d struggle to change a light bulb.  This percentage does however creep slightly higher among females and the under 24s.  1.2% of the women polled said they wouldn’t be overly confident at their ability to carry out the task compared to 0.2% of men while 5% of those aged 17-24 said the same. 

After changing a light bulb, the AA’s poll suggests that we’re least likely to work up a sweat at the thought of unblocking a sink, painting the walls and changing a fuse.  While most would be unfazed at the prospect of applying a lick of paint, a third of poll respondents indicated they’d probably make a hames of wallpapering. 

Overall 16% of those polled admitted they wouldn’t know how to turn off their water mains with the figure rising to 27% among females and 30% among 17-24 year olds. 

“Turning off your water mains is simple and everyone in your household, young or old, should know how to do it.”  Says Conor Faughnan, Director of Consumer Affairs, AA Ireland.  “Leaks are the number one home emergency we’re called out to and those who know how to switch off the water at their mains quickly are the ones who see the least damage.”

 This pattern of females having less confidence when it comes to home DIY continues right throughout the findings of the AA Home Rescue Poll.  In relation to the 17 tasks that respondents were quizzed about, without exception, a higher percentage of females than males felt they wouldn’t have the knowhow to do the job properly.

The AA Home Rescue poll also suggests that there’s no real substitute for experience when it comes to DIY with the older respondents having a far better handle on the more challenging DIY jobs than the younger age groups.

 End

 Notes to the editor;

Fig. 1 How confident respondents said they were at their ability to do the following DIY/basic home  maintenance tasks (Based on 11,090 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 96.3% 2.8% 0.3% 0.4% 0.3%
Unblock a sink 71.2% 22.1% 2.8% 3.0% 1.0%
Change a fuse 78.0% 11.7% 2.4% 4.9% 3.1%
Rewire a plug 73.5% 11.0% 2.8% 6.3% 6.6%
Fit a lock 38.7% 21.9% 9.6% 17.7% 12.6%
Stop a leaking tap 28.2% 23.6% 11.5% 22.8% 14.3%
Fix a leaking toilet 22.5% 19.3% 11.9% 26.3% 20.3%
Fix leaking radiators 20.1% 20.0% 12.5% 26.8% 21.0%
Turn off your water mains 62.5% 18.0% 5.2% 8.2% 6.5%
Build flat pack furniture 62.4% 21.6% 4.9% 6.5% 5.0%
Put up some shelves 49.5% 19.6% 7.6% 13.5% 9.9%
Bleed a radiator 70.1% 14.6% 4.0% 6.3% 5.6%
Wall paper 32.4% 22.9% 12.5% 17.2% 15.4%
Paint your walls 68.8% 19.3% 5.4% 4.5% 2.9%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 24.1% 18.9% 11.6% 22.2% 23.8%
Remove rats/mice from your home 42.3% 24.0% 8.8% 10.4% 14.9%
Replace roof tiles 10.1% 10.8% 10.1% 22.3% 47.2%

MALES (Based on 7,238 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 98.6% 1.1% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
Unblock a sink 81.3% 15.5% 1.6% 1.3% 0.3%
Change a fuse 90.6% 6.7% 1.2% 1.1% 0.5%
Rewire a plug 88.8% 6.3% 1.6% 2.1% 1.3%
Fit a lock 56.2% 22.2% 7.9% 10.1% 3.9%
Stop a leaking tap 42.5% 26.0% 10.8% 15.7% 5.4%
Fix a leaking toliet 35.5% 24.6% 12.3% 19.2% 8.8%
Fix leaking radiators 31.6% 24.6% 13.4% 20.7% 9.9%
Turn off your water mains 76.6% 13.6% 4.1% 4.2% 1.7%
Build flat pack furniture 73.4% 16.8% 3.8% 3.8% 2.3%
Put up some shelves 66.5% 17.1% 5.8% 7.0% 3.6%
Bleed a radiator 82.3% 9.8% 2.9% 3.3% 2.3%
Wall paper 36.1% 22.9% 13.8% 15.8% 11.7%
Paint your walls 72.7% 16.7% 5.8% 3.6% 1.9%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 33.1% 20.6% 11.5% 19.2% 16.0%
Remove rats/mice from your home 53.2% 25.7% 9.3% 7.3% 4.7%
Replace roof tiles 16.7% 16.8% 13.2% 23.3% 30.5%

FEMALES (Based on 4,568 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 93.3% 5.1% 0.5% 0.7% 0.5%
Unblock a sink 56.9% 31.4% 4.5% 5.5% 1.9%
Change a fuse 60.2% 18.8% 4.2% 10.3% 6.8%
Rewire a plug 51.8% 17.7% 4.6% 12.4% 14.0%
Fit a lock 13.5% 21.4% 12.0% 28.4% 24.9%
Stop a leaking tap 7.7% 20.4% 12.6% 32.8% 26.9%
Fix a leaking toliet 3.9% 12.0% 11.4% 36.4% 36.5%
Fix leaking radiators 0.6% 13.4% 11.2% 35.4% 36.8%
Turn off your water mains 42.5% 24.2% 6.6% 13.7% 13.3%
Build flat pack furniture 46.8% 28.4% 6.2% 10.3% 8.8%
Put up some shelves 25.2% 23.2% 10.1% 22.7% 19.0%
Bleed a radiator 52.8% 21.4% 5.5% 10.4% 10.3%
Wall paper 27.0% 22.8% 10.7% 19.1% 20.7%
Paint your walls 63.2% 22.9% 5.0% 5.8% 4.3%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 11.1% 16.5% 11.6% 26.5% 34.9%
Remove rats/mice from your home 26.8% 21.5% 8.0% 14.9% 29.5%
Replace roof tiles 0.7% 2.2% 5.6% 20.8% 71.0%

17-24 year old respondents (Based on 233 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 82.8% 9.4% 3.0% 3.0% 1.7%
Unblock a sink 53.4% 24.6% 7.8% 8.2% 6.0%
Change a fuse 46.8% 15.0% 8.6% 11.6% 18.5%
Rewire a plug 35.2% 12.9% 8.2% 17.2% 27.0%
Fit a lock 31.0% 20.3% 10.8% 16.8% 22.0%
Stop a leaking tap 16.6% 20.1% 13.5% 25.3% 24.9%
Fix a leaking toliet 10.4% 13.5% 13.9% 28.3% 33.9%
Fix leaking radiators 11.3% 14.3% 14.7% 26.8% 33.3%
Turn off your water mains 41.9% 20.5% 7.4% 13.5% 16.6%
Build flat pack furniture 57.3% 28.9% 5.6% 3.9% 4.3%
Put up some shelves 46.1% 26.7% 8.6% 12.1% 6.9%
Bleed a radiator 40.4% 20.4% 8.3% 16.5% 15.2%
Wall paper 23.3% 31.5% 11.6% 18.1% 15.5%
Paint your walls 68.8% 22.5% 3.9% 3.0% 1.7%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 10.8% 16.5% 18.2% 25.1% 30.7%
Remove rats/mice from your home 30.3% 20.3% 8.2% 10.4% 30.7%
Replace roof tiles 5.2% 8.3% 11.7% 21.7% 54.3%

25-35 year olds (Based on 2,067 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 93.7% 5.1% 0.5% 0.5% 0.2%
Unblock a sink 65.4% 25.9% 3.6% 4.0% 1.2%
Change a fuse 61.2% 18.1% 4.4% 9.9% 6.6%
Rewire a plug 52.5% 17.3% 5.3% 13.3% 12.0%
Fit a lock 30.5% 22.8% 10.5% 22.5% 14.2%
Stop a leaking tap 19.7% 23.3% 13.6% 27.4% 16.5%
Fix a leaking toliet 14.9% 17.0% 12.0% 32.6% 23.6%
Fix leaking radiators 13.5% 18.5% 12.7% 31.1% 24.3%
Turn off your water mains 47.3% 21.6% 7.9% 13.2% 10.3%
Build flat pack furniture 66.5% 21.0% 4.7% 4.9% 3.2%
Put up some shelves 46.9% 22.4% 8.7% 14.1% 8.1%
Bleed a radiator 56.1% 19.1% 6.6% 11.0% 7.6%
Wall paper 22.2% 26.9% 14.6% 22.2% 14.9%
Paint your walls 65.5% 23.4% 5.8% 4.1% 2.0%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 15.6% 18.4% 13.5% 28.0% 25.2%
Remove rats/mice from your home 33.5% 23.3% 11.3% 13.4% 19.0%
Replace roof tiles 6.9% 8.4% 8.8% 26.2% 50.6%

36-45 year olds (Based on 2,836 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 96.8% 2.5% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
Unblock a sink 68.7% 23.9% 3.6% 3.1% 0.9%
Change a fuse 76.2% 12.8% 2.5% 5.6% 3.0%
Rewire a plug 71.0% 13.1% 3.1% 6.2% 6.8%
Fit a lock 35.4% 22.2% 10.5% 19.6% 12.6%
Stop a leaking tap 23.9% 24.5% 13.0% 24.5% 14.3%
Fix a leaking toilet 19.2% 19.1% 13.1% 28.1% 20.9%
Fix leaking radiators 17.0% 20.6% 13.1% 28.7% 21.1%
Turn off your water mains 57.2% 19.5% 7.1% 9.3% 7.0%
Build flat pack furniture 65.1% 21.2% 4.3% 5.8% 4.0%
Put up some shelves 48.9% 19.2% 8.0% 14.4% 9.8%
Bleed a radiator 68.2% 15.7% 4.0% 6.6% 5.9%
Wall paper 24.5% 23.6% 14.5% 19.2% 18.4%
Paint your walls 68.5% 20.0% 5.0% 4.7% 2.5%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 20.7% 18.9% 12.0% 23.3% 25.5%
Remove rats/mice from your home 39.8% 24.3% 8.8% 11.5% 16.0%
Replace roof tiles 8.7% 10.6% 10.7% 23.1% 47.4%

46 – 55 year olds (Based on 3,040 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 98.2% 1.5% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
Unblock a sink 73.9% 20.7% 2.0% 2.8% 0.6%
Change a fuse 84.2% 9.9% 1.7% 2.9% 1.4%
Rewire a plug 81.8% 8.9% 2.0% 3.5% 3.9%
Fit a lock 40.6% 20.8% 9.4% 17.4% 12.1%
Stop a leaking tap 29.7% 24.9% 10.5% 21.6% 13.7%
Fix a leaking toilet 24.3% 20.7% 11.4% 25.0% 19.0%
Fix leaking radiators 22.1% 20.6% 12.4% 25.8% 19.5%
Turn off your water mains 66.9% 18.4% 4.0% 6.1% 4.9%
Build flat pack furniture 61.9% 21.4% 4.8% 7.0% 5.2%
Put up some shelves 50.4% 18.9% 6.9% 13.4% 10.6%
Bleed a radiator 76.0% 12.9% 3.2% 4.0% 4.5%
Wall paper 36.2% 20.8% 11.6% 16.4% 15.2%
Paint your walls 71.4% 17.0% 4.9% 4.4% 3.3%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 26.2% 19.4% 11.2% 20.9% 23.1%
Remove rats/mice from your home 45.5% 23.5% 8.0% 9.8% 13.6%
Replace roof tiles 11.1% 11.7% 10.6% 22.3% 44.7%

56 – 65 year olds (Based on 1,898 responses):

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 97.1% 1.8% 0.5% 0.4% 0.3%
Unblock a sink 76.8% 18.6% 1.9% 1.9% 0.7%
Change a fuse 88.6% 6.8% 1.1% 2.3% 1.3%
Rewire a plug 86.6% 5.9% 1.2% 2.9% 3.6%
Fit a lock 45.3% 23.2% 8.0% 12.2% 11.4%
Stop a leaking tap 37.6% 22.1% 8.9% 19.6% 12.3%
Fix a leaking toilet 30.4% 20.5% 10.5% 21.0% 17.7%
Fix leaking radiators 26.9% 21.3% 10.6% 22.3% 19.3%
Turn off your water mains 75.4% 13.1% 2.0% 5.3% 4.6%
Build flat pack furniture 59.3% 22.3% 4.6% 7.3% 6.7%
Put up some shelves 51.2% 19.0% 6.2% 12.6% 11.0%
Bleed a radiator 79.6% 10.3% 2.2% 4.4% 4.4%
Wall paper 45.5% 19.9% 9.7% 11.8% 13.5%
Paint your walls 70.4% 17.0% 5.8% 4.8% 3.2%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 31.8% 18.3% 9.9% 18.6% 21.4%
Remove rats/mice from your home 50.6% 23.7% 7.2% 7.8% 10.8%
Replace roof tiles 13.8% 13.2% 9.7% 18.6% 44.8%

65 years of age and above (Based on 942 resps.)

  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not very confident Not at all confident
Change a light bulb 96.8% 2.3% 0.1% 0.5% 0.4%
Unblock a sink 75.5% 19.3% 1.8% 2.2% 1.2%
Change a fuse 87.7% 8.4% 1.1% 1.5% 1.3%
Rewire a plug 84.4% 6.7% 1.2% 4.5% 3.5%
Fit a lock 49.1% 19.6% 8.5% 13.0% 10.1%
Stop a leaking tap 38.9% 21.9% 10.7% 16.4% 12.4%
Fix a leaking toilet 30.6% 20.7% 11.6% 21.1% 16.5%
Fix leaking radiators 26.7% 19.4% 13.6% 22.5% 18.4%
Turn off your water mains 77.5% 12.5% 2.9% 4.6% 2.6%
Build flat pack furniture 55.2% 21.7% 7.0% 8.6% 8.0%
Put up some shelves 52.9% 17.1% 8.3% 11.0% 11.0%
Bleed a radiator 76.3% 13.3% 3.3% 4.2% 3.7%
Wall paper 42.2% 22.1% 10.5% 13.1% 12.3%
Paint your walls 65.2% 19.0% 7.7% 4.8% 4.2%
Put up kitchen/bathroom tiles 34.4% 20.2% 8.8% 16.6% 20.7%
Remove rats/mice from your home 46.4% 26.8% 8.4% 8.0% 10.8%
Replace roof tiles 12.1% 10.3% 10.2% 18.5% 49.0%

 

Written by Miriam O'Neill


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