A dad had to pay £4,500 to fix his DIY efforts when his attempt to save money by fixing a leaking roof himself ended up causing severe damage to his home. Tom Saunders, 40, thought fixing his own leaking roof and repairing parts of a ceiling would be cheaper than hiring a tradesperson.
But soon after his repair mould quickly spread to the bathroom, and hallway ceiling and walls of the property and Tom had to call in a professional - at a cost of £4,500.
Tom took pictures of the damage he had caused after his bungled attempt (Image: Tom Saunders)
Tom told The Mirror: "I thought it would be much cheaper to do it myself - it wasn't. I wish I hadn't had tried as I made the damage much worse, it cost more in the long run and took longer to fix.
"I have definitely learnt my lesson." Tom, who is a senior producer in advertising, has shared images of the damage he caused following his bungled work.
Damp spread to the hallway and walls of the property in East Sussex (Image: Tom Saunders)
He noticed the leaking roof over Christmas last year. It caused severe water damage to the Victorian property. "As time went on it progressively got worse causing dampness on the bathroom ceiling," Tom said.
"I tried to unsuccessfully control the damp by going into the loft and airing the roof as well as trying to replace parts of the damaged ceiling – but this made it worse than before.
"Unfortunately, this led to the damp spreading into the hallway ceiling and walls. In the end I had to call a professional to fix it, incurring a higher cost as the damage had spread."
A professional eventually had to sort the mess (Image: Tom Saunders)
Home assistance provider HomeServe is today launching the Halftime Help hub, 15-minute guidance on how to fix common issues around the home – the same period as a football halftime – as research shows that a third have delayed DIY to watch the footie and one in seven 16 per cent missed an important goal due to DIY.
A HomeServe expert said: "It's really important to feel confident before tackling jobs around the home to avoid any accidents or costly mistakes.
“But with a fifth of Brits saying they don’t know how to tackle DIY jobs we've launched our Halftime Help Hub to offer a helping hand to tackle those simple jobs they’ve been putting off."
