Survey says 50% of us can't recognise basic tools

There's no better time than a long bank holiday to embark on a few household repairs.

But for many of us, this weekend’s DIY project is likely to leave us stumped before we even dust off our tools, according to new research.

A survey found a third of all Brits appear to know nothing about common household tools – and are likely to call our parents for help with even the simplest of tasks.

Almost half of all respondents admitted they could not identify a wrench, while the same proportion said they had no idea what a claw hammer looked like.

The problem is so widespread that two thirds of homeowners were found to have unfinished DIY jobs around the house – mostly because they did not know how to complete them.
Half of all respondents even went so far as to say that DIY scared them.

Homeware retailer B&Q, which commissioned the study, said basic practical skills were not being passed down to the new generation as effectively as they were in the past.

James MacKenzie, B&Q’s director of building, said: 'As a nation we are simply doing less DIY than previous generations so understandably people today are probably more familiar with the tools icon on their computers than the hand tools lying around their homes.

'Whilst some of the results of the survey are promising, in that the majority of people were able to correctly identify some of the tools, there is a lot we can do to help make it easier for people to try their hand at DIY.'

Source : Eleanor Harding - Daily Mail
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380261/Had-bank-holiday-DIY-disaster-The-home-improvement-dunces-tell-trowel-saw.html