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Risky renovations: Dodgy DIY jobs mount amid tradie crisis

Home seekers frustrated with the shortage of modern houses up for sale are increasingly purchasing fixer uppers but their renovation dreams are swiftly becoming nightmares due to soaring building costs.

And it’s led to a dramatic escalation in renovators attempting DIY projects to save costs – often with disastrous results.

Tradies have reported a surge in DIY projects gone wrong, with many of the renovators forced to pay fixing expenses 10 times as much as it would have cost to use a professional from the beginning

Alex Taskun (plumber) said many DIY renovators were attempting complex works with little idea of how to do them.

“While a lot of people think they are saving money by doing it themselves, they’re just kicking the costs down the track as it can hurt their wallets if not done properly,” he said.

It comes as Housing Industry figures showed costs for building materials have surged by nearly 16 per cent over the past year – nearly twice the rate of the record inflation over the period.

Tradies have also become hard to come by, with HIA’s tradie availability index revealing Australia was enduring one of “it’s most acute shortages of skilled tradespeople on record”.

The tradie shortages and soaring building costs have coincided with a shortage of ready to move into houses, which has prompted more new buyers to consider a renovation.

PropTrack figures show new listings across Sydney are down about 19 per cent compared to a year ago, but agents noted a mismatch in the types of homes that were being listed.

Fully renovated houses were rarely listed and most of the houses that were available in many areas were dated properties sold by their downsizing owners.

These were often tempting options for first homebuyers because the required works typically meant a lower purchase price.

Upside Realty’s sales director James Kirkland said that many homeowners are choosing to buy their own tools and do the jobs themselves to avoid breaking the budget.

“There’s never been a more expensive time to be planning a renovation and that means it’s even more important to learn to compromise on the plans for your home,” he said.

But the results of DIY projects gone wrong were not just expensive, they were often unsafe, Mr Taskun said.

“I’ve seen people contaminate their water supply by mixing it up with their sewerage pipes, leading to hot water coming through the toilet,” he said.

“I’ve seen people install their basins the wrong way which results in water going everywhere, leaks as far as the eye can see.

“A basin installation usually costs $90 to install via a plumber, but customers are paying $3500 to remove the faulty installation, replace it with the new parts, and properly install it into the bathroom.”

Pennant Hills resident Anna Hawkins is among the homeowners who have recently attempted a renovation and said it was a bigger undertaking than she and her husband realised.

Their property was a 70s style home that needed updating. Neither of them had renovating experience and they hired an architect for help, but they also did work on the kitchen themselves.

“We realised the changes we wanted to make to the property were bigger than we had initially expected,” she said.

The couple eventually had to pull the plug on their renovation before numerous jobs could be finished due to blowing their budget by thousands.

“The money went into the big ticket items like fixing the floorplan and the kitchen. In hindsight, I would’ve pushed the architect for quicker decisions to be made. Our timeline was blown out and I should’ve been more assertive with them.”

Mr Kirkland said it was important for renovators to shop around if even they were struggling to find available tradies.

“Some homeowners make the mistake of settling for the first or even second quote they’re given,” he said. “Speak to a range of tradespeople in your area to find out how much they think the job will cost and see if they match up to your cost calculator results.”

Sam Murden, Property Journalist