‘What’s something that’s easy to get done professionally but a nightmare to do yourself?’ – 22 DIY disasters waiting to happen

Who amongst us has not seen a household job that needs doing, thought ‘Yeah, I can manage that’, and then found themselves desperately calling up an expert 20 minutes later, while sweating and panicking about how much our foolish confidence is going to cost?

Very few, if the answers to this question from Duckdivejim on the AskUK subreddit is anything to go by:

‘What’s something that’s cheap/easy to get done professionally but a total nightmare to try and do yourself?

‘My answer is getting a tyre mounted on a wheel. Most places charge less than £20. But to do it yourself it involves pry bars, scratching your alloy. 45 minutes of effort. I imagine if I tried it, I’d end up in A&E.

‘Just wondering if there’s anything with a cheaper/pain in the arse ratio out there.’

Here are the multiple ways in which people have failed after deciding to just giving it a bash on their own…

1.

‘Potato crisps.’
–seklas1

2.

‘Getting clothes altered/tailored. It’s not very expensive to pay someone to do it, but doing it myself would involve investing loads of time, effort and money into learning and buying equipment just to probably get a less good outcome.’
–Otherwise_Koala4289

3.

‘Getting keys cut.’
–Did_OJ_Simpson_do_it

4.

‘Anything to do with plumbing. Not cheap but cheap compared to paying a guy to fix both the original issue and whatever I broke trying to DIY it.’
–RamblingManUK

5.

‘Clearing your dog’s anal glands.’
–Kind-Combination6197

6.

‘We got a decorator to wallpaper a 3.5×2.5 meter wall for £30. We both absolutely hate wallpapering, so £30 cash was cheap and a quick solution. Only took him an hour!’
–Tabby_Tibs

7.

‘Haircuts. I refused to even try it myself during lockdown.’
–cvslfc123

8.

‘I’m one of those who did try it myself during lock down. I thought ah, how hard can it be, use a clipper, keep the top a bit longer, simple. I was wrong. Almost scalped myself on the back, sides were uneven and the top looked like a goat chewed it.’
–HenryFromYorkshire

9.

‘Tinting car windows – the film is cheap but it’s an absolute pig to do right.’
–Aidenk77

10.

‘Fitting phone screen protectors. The blokes on the market stall / phone shop will do it for free, it takes them about 45 seconds, it’s always bubble-less and perfect afterwards. It takes me forever and looks like shit afterwards.’
–txe4

11.

‘Plastering. Two hours and a guy has made your room totally flat and smooth like magic. Maybe another trip for a top coat if the walls were really manky, but still way worth it.’
–DameKumquat

12.

‘Wheelie bin cleaning. Urgh.’
–blackcurrantcat