Nick Knowles warns DIY lovers: the hidden dangers you should never risk

Local TV

TV presenter Nick Knowles reveals the shocking mistakes he’s seen from overconfident DIY attempts and why some jobs should always be left to the experts.

Transcript

00:00TV presenter and DIY expert Nick Knowles says Britain's love for DIY can be a

00:07great way to save money and gain skills but sometimes confidence goes too far.

00:12Nick you've seen countless home renovations over the years what's the

00:16most sort of surprising or risky DIY attempt you've heard about through this

00:20campaign? A lot people have done people do all kinds of weird stuff you have a

00:24chimney going up all the way through the house and people take out the chimney in

00:27the living room because they want more space but don't bother taking out the

00:31chimney on the second and third floor and on the roof and so there's nothing that

00:35the chimney is standing on in the top two floors people don't think about that so

00:39that make they make their places structurally unsound we had a we did a

00:43build in Wales where the lintel that goes over a doorway had been taken out in

00:49order to put a lintel in going the other way which meant that basically the whole

00:53of back of the house wasn't resting on anything at all the only thing holding

00:57it up was the concrete render on the outside of the house. Nick says while

01:02overconfidence can lead to structural disasters the real danger comes with

01:07gas and electrical work. It's potentially legal unless you're a gas safe

01:12registered engineer to mess about with your boiler or your cooker and any gas

01:17fittings and of course it's potentially dangerous as well. The research is

01:21showing us a lot of us overconfident when it comes to DIY why do you think

01:25Brits are so keen to take on these jobs that they might not necessarily be

01:28qualified for?

01:30Well I was actually really quite impressed at how confident we are as a nation

01:33overall. Five million people said that they'd be happy to go out fixing in their

01:37own car after watching a YouTube video and that's that's that's ongoing. Six million

01:43people thought that they could win a pub quiz on their own without the rest of the

01:46team. Something like four million people reckon they were funny enough to do

01:49stand-up comedian but then we all know someone down the local pub who thinks he's

01:53funny who isn't quite as funny as he is. But Nick warns there's a line you should

01:56never cross. I've been in construction for like 40 years and I've built houses

02:00and there's pretty much everything on site that I can do. The two things I

02:04won't touch are the electrics and the gas. While DIY can be satisfying Nick

02:09stresses safety comes first. Just as Clint Eastwood once said the man's got to know

02:13his limitations a quote from a movie for you and he's right there are things that

02:17you shouldn't mess about with and gas is one of those things again as I say

02:20because you want to keep your family safe yourself safe. The message is clear

02:24enjoy DIY where you can but leave risky jobs to the professionals.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended