DIYWEEK.net

With more than 1.2million searches made online for home improvement tasks via Google this year double-glazed window provider Safestyle UK says the spirit of DIY is very much alive in the UK.

Safestyle looked at Google search data, analysing 1.245million terms to reveal the most common household queries in the UK. “How to fix a leaky tap” came out on top, with over 422,000 people searching this on Google each year, closely followed by “how to bleed a radiator”.

Searches around how to treat damp were the third most popular topic (with mould coming in at number 11).

The analysis comes as the nation’s prospective house buyers and renters reveal the biggest DIY flaws that would put them off moving into a property, with 71% being dissatisfied when bathroom fixtures, such as taps, toilets and showers, don’t work properly and 49% stating that extensive mould in the bathroom would make the biggest negative impression.

According to analysis of the Google data, a significant number of UK households are surprisingly ill-informed when it comes to their energy usage, with 82,220 and 62,400 searches each year around gas and electric meters, including how to read them, and even where to find them.

The top 10 most Googled DIY questions are:

1.How to fix a leaky tap – 422,000 annual searches
2.How to bleed a radiator – 316,420 annual searches
3.How to treat damp – 143,400 annual searches
4.How to read an electric meter – 84,220 annual searches
5.How to read a gas meter – 62,400 annual searches
6.How to fit laminate flooring – 59,500 annual searches
7.How to hang a door – 59,360 annual searches
8.How to hang a picture frame – 33,550 annual searches
9.How to change a lightbulb – 32,130 annual searches
10.How to put up a curtain pole – 32,110 annual searches

Safestyle UK said: “Our data shows that the spirit of DIY clearly still lives on, with almost 60,000 searches a year for both hanging doors and laying laminate flooring, and over 30,000 queries around fitting curtain poles and hanging picture frames.”