Householders who believe they are a dab hand at DIY are in the minority, according to a recent survey by Topps Tiles.
The poll asked almost 2,500 people about common DIY tasks they would feel confident attempting at home without help, and found that less than half (44%) are comfortable with wallpapering, while only 24% would tackle re-tiling a kitchen or bathroom.

The findings tie in with comments made by Homebase as it revealed that it planned to close a further 80 stores over the next three years. The retailer partly blamed "the rise of a generation less skilled in DIY projects".

And a follow-up poll on diyweek.net confirms Homebase's theory. Only 16% of retailers taking part said they had plenty of young DIY customers, with 47% saying they had few. Thirty-seven per cent enjoyed a broad mix of ages.

The Topps Tiles survey found that 13% of people lack confidence in carrying out any DIY tasks at all by themselves, although 77% would be happy to have a go at assembling small flat-pack furniture or painting (75%). Only 25% of people would try to lay their own wooden or laminate flooring without help.

Predictably, most would hire a tradesperson to do plumbing (72%), wiring (66%), attic/ loft conversions (76%) and large-scale demolitions (73%) at home. However, 23% of people would hire a tradesperson for wallpapering and 12% for painting - 13% would even hire a professional to assemble large pieces of flat-pack furniture.

"DIY can seem intimidating for the uninitiated, but we've found most people are more than capable of wallpapering, tiling a bathroom and laying down some flooring once they have the knowledge and confidence to do it," said Topps head of marketing Robin Auld.

"Instead of reaching for the phone book, we encourage any DIY-curious people to try carrying out a task themselves: we're always happy to offer advice in-store to anybody who's not sure how to proceed."