{"id":354532,"date":"2025-11-07T12:17:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/?p=354532"},"modified":"2025-11-07T12:17:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:17:28","slug":"starting-home-diy-projects-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/insurance\/homeowners\/starting-home-diy-projects-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"34.8% of Couples Regret Starting Home DIY Projects Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/insurance\/homeowners\/renovating-your-house-dont-forget-about-these-insurance-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"home renovation (opens in a new tab)\">home renovation<\/a> can be both rewarding and (extremely) frustrating. With project costs still elevated versus pre\u2011pandemic and remodeling spend cooling per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jchs.harvard.edu\">Harvard\u2019s LIRA<\/a>, many owners are prioritizing smaller DIY tasks alongside hiring pros, as documented by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.angi.com\/research\/reports\/state-of-home-spending\/\">Angi\u2019s State of Home Spending<\/a>\u2014yet scope creep, rework, and budget overruns remain common enough that plenty of people still call a contractor to finish or fix the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fast facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>There isn\u2019t a fresh, authoritative U.S. percentage for \u201ccouples who regret DIY,\u201d but large 2024 datasets show renovation stress and decision friction within households is common (see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houzz.com\/research\/2024-us-houzz-home-study-renovation-trends-hrtresearch-2024\">2024 U.S. Houzz &amp; Home Study<\/a>; for international context, also see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ratedpeople.com\">Rated People 2024<\/a> report).<\/li><li>About half of renovating homeowners report doing at least some work themselves (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.houzz.com\/research\/houzz-and-home-us\">Houzz<\/a>), and homeowner preparedness reporting notes frequent DIY missteps that later require professional fixes\u2014clear regret signals (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hippo.com\/resources\/homeowner-preparedness\">Hippo<\/a>).<\/li><li>DIY remains widespread alongside pro help, with a tilt toward smaller, budget\u2011conscious updates and maintenance (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.angi.com\/research\/reports\/state-of-home-spending\/\">Angi<\/a>).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While surveying homeowners about their experience with do-it-yourself remodels and home renovations, we found one other area of stress for many people: their partners. Recent, large-scale studies indicate decision-making challenges and disagreements over budgets, product choices, and timelines are common within households during renovations (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.houzz.com\/research\/2024-us-houzz-home-study-renovation-trends-hrtresearch-2024\">Houzz 2024<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ratedpeople.com\">Rated People 2024<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This has been especially heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/briannawiest\/2020\/04\/27\/3-things-couples-who-successfully-work-at-home-together-always-do\/#166c559979ae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">where many people are spending more time at home with their partners than they were in the past<\/a>. Since then, activity has normalized: overall remodeling spend cooled through 2024\u20132025 per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jchs.harvard.edu\">Harvard\u2019s LIRA<\/a>, retail sales at building\u2011material and garden dealers have eased from 2021 highs but remain above 2019 levels per the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/retail\/index.html\">U.S. Census<\/a>, and homeowners increasingly focus on smaller DIY and essential maintenance alongside pro help (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.angi.com\/research\/reports\/state-of-home-spending\/\">Angi<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houzz.com\/research\/houzz-and-home-us\">Houzz<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There isn\u2019t a current, authoritative 2024\u20132025 U.S. percentage that cleanly updates \u201cwhat share of couples regret DIY.\u201d Instead, robust datasets show DIY remains common (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.angi.com\/research\/reports\/state-of-home-spending\/\">Angi<\/a>), renovation\u2011related household stress is widespread (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.houzz.com\/research\/2024-us-houzz-home-study-renovation-trends-hrtresearch-2024\">Houzz 2024<\/a>), and many DIY efforts ultimately require pro remediation (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hippo.com\/resources\/homeowner-preparedness\">Hippo<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among respondents, there was a pretty clear gap between men and women. Clear, current regret\u2011by\u2011gender figures are scarce, but complementary evidence points to persistent differences: men are roughly twice as likely as women to perform household maintenance and repairs on an average day per the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/atus.nr0.htm\">American Time Use Survey<\/a>, and men are about twice as likely to say they\u2019re very confident handling home maintenance\/repairs per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hippo.com\/blog\/2024-homeowner-preparedness-report\">Hippo\u2019s 2024 Homeowner Preparedness Report<\/a>. Historically, a 2019 consumer survey reported a sizable male\u2013female regret gap, though updated public figures are not available (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.improvenet.com\/a\/diy-home-improvement-survey-results\">ImproveNet 2019<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Age was not a notable factor in the survey results, with fairly consistent response rates no matter what bracket was singled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking to one married couple who had recently completed a remodel, they said the experience was taxing on their relationship, and ended up resulting in them hiring a general contractor to manage the rest of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>[ Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/insurance\/homeowners\/home-modifications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Home Modifications for Seniors and People With Disabilities (opens in a new tab)\">Home Modifications for Seniors and People With Disabilities<\/a> ]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe bought a fixer upper thinking it would be a fun project for us to work on together. It only took one project to recognize we\u2019re better off paying someone to do most of the work for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other side, some couples say that working on house projects together has strengthened their marriage. <a href=\"https:\/\/outsidetheboxmom.com\/marriage-advice-work-on-project-improve-marriage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">As Megan Wild<\/a>, a family blogger, writes, home projects can build teamwork and strengthen communication. Relationship research aligns: engaging in novel, cooperative activities can boost closeness via self\u2011expansion (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\">Current Opinion in Psychology review<\/a>), and co\u2011creating tangible outcomes often increases pride and attachment (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\">\u201cIKEA effect\u201d<\/a>). Under the right circumstances, it can also save the household money\u2014important because money and the economy are persistent stressors for couples (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.apa.org\/news\/press\/releases\/stress\/2024\/stress-in-america\">APA Stress in America 2024<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s not to say home projects are for everyone. It\u2019s probably fine if within the context of each individual relationship one strength isn\u2019t remodeling a bathroom or a kitchen together. Each relationship is different and while many find it difficult to work on home projects together, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean anything is wrong with the relationship. It\u2019s important to know one\u2019s own limits as everyone has different strengths. For safety and cost control, follow authoritative power\u2011tool guidance and hire licensed pros for regulated trades when needed (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpsc.gov\/Safety-Education\/Safety-Guides\/tools\/Power-Tools\">CPSC<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>[ Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/insurance\/homeowners\/create-productive-work-space\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Guide to Creating a Productive Work Space (opens in a new tab)\">Guide to Creating a Productive Work Space<\/a> ]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research snapshot:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>No current, authoritative U.S. percentage cleanly updates \u201cwhat share of couples regret DIY\u201d; use well\u2011sourced proxies from recent reports (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.angi.com\/research\/reports\/state-of-home-spending\/\">Angi<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houzz.com\/research\/2024-us-houzz-home-study-renovation-trends-hrtresearch-2024\">Houzz 2024<\/a>).<\/li><li>DIY remains widespread alongside pro help; recent Angi data indicate homeowners completed roughly 11 projects in 2023 and spent about $13.7k across improvement, maintenance, and emergency repairs (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.angi.com\/research\/reports\/state-of-home-spending\/\">Angi<\/a>).<\/li><li>Renovation\u2011related household stress and decision friction are common per the 2024 Houzz &amp; Home Study, and U.K. trend data also report partner arguments around projects (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.houzz.com\/research\/2024-us-houzz-home-study-renovation-trends-hrtresearch-2024\">Houzz 2024<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ratedpeople.com\">Rated People 2024<\/a>).<\/li><li>Home\u2011improvement spending cooled in 2024\u20132025 and is expected to stabilize into late 2025\/2026 per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jchs.harvard.edu\">Harvard\u2019s LIRA<\/a>; retail sales at building\u2011material dealers are off 2021 highs but above 2019 levels per the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/retail\/index.html\">U.S. Census<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo by PhotoAlto\/Sigrid Olsson\/GettyImages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A home renovation can be both rewarding and (extremely) frustrating. With project costs still elevated versus pre\u2011pandemic and remodeling spend cooling per Harvard\u2019s LIRA, many owners are prioritizing smaller DIY tasks alongside hiring pros, as documented by Angi\u2019s State of Home Spending\u2014yet scope creep, rework, and budget overruns remain common enough that plenty of people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":354680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1268],"tags":[21172,22447,22448],"post_author":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>34.8% of Couples Regret Starting Home DIY Projects Together - Reviews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A guide to 34.8% of Couples Regret Starting Home DIY Projects Together\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reviews.com\/insurance\/homeowners\/starting-home-diy-projects-survey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"34.8% of Couples Regret Starting Home DIY Projects Together - 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