Study: The Most Confident DIYers Around the World
These days, it’s common for people to try to tackle most things themselves. From building their own furniture to learning how to do repairs around the house, DIY projects are continuously growing in popularity. With the help of online guides and step-by-step videos on YouTube, projects that once felt daunting are feeling more manageable for many people.
At CGTrader, we advocate for creativity and frequently see just how inventive people can be in their everyday lives. That’s why we set out to learn more about the DIY boom around the world. To do this, we surveyed residents in 19 of the most populous countries around the world, including: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.
We asked a variety of questions from how confident respondents feel about taking on home improvement projects themselves, which projects they feel most comfortable doing, which tasks they’re most likely to hire a professional for, and more. We then awarded points to responses that represented confidence with DIY projects and calculated an average DIYer score on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most confident. Read on to learn which country is leading the DIY charge.
Key Takeaways
- Poland and Brazil are home to the world's most confident DIYers.
- 56% of people feel confident handling basic DIY home repairs without hiring a professional.
- Electrical work and roof repairs are the projects people are most likely to outsource.
- 60% of people have recently delayed a home repair because of cost.
- Nearly 2 in 5 people avoid certain DIY projects because they worry they will make the problem worse.
- 60% of people say rising costs have made them more likely to try fixing something themselves instead of hiring a professional.
The World's Most Confident DIYers
How ready someone feels to take on a home project depends on a lot more than skill. The cost of hiring help, the culture around fixing things yourself, and how people have learned to care for a home all play a part, and those things look different from one country to the next.
Around the World
Where the World's Most Confident DIYers Live
We scored 19 countries from 0 to 100 on DIY confidence.
Mexico
United States
Germany
Canada
France
New Zealand
Indonesia
Argentina
United Kingdom
Italy
Japan
Colombia
South Korea
India
Vietnam
Australia
When analyzing DIYer confidence around the world, Poland came out on top with a near-perfect 98.62 out of 100. When analyzing specific projects, we found tightening loose screws, handles, or hinges, assembling furniture, hanging pictures or mirrors, and replacing a showerhead were the most common tasks Poland residents felt comfortable doing themselves.
Up next for DIY confidence is Brazil with a score of 91.78 out of 100. Across all the countries surveyed, we found Brazilians are the most likely to report they have recently delayed a home repair because of cost (80%). Overall, 60% of all survey respondents say costs have kept them from completing a repair in their home.
Country Standouts
The DIY Project Each Country Is Most Confident In
The task each country leads the world in, shown against the global average
Poland
Brazil
SpainMexicoGermanyNew ZealandIndonesiaArgentinaJapanIndiaVietnam
Rounding out the top five are Spain (91.05), Mexico (89.81), and the United States (89.62), and the gap between them is razor thin. We discovered that Spain's strength is in the basics handled with real assurance, as a remarkable 98% of people there are comfortable hanging pictures or mirrors themselves and 94% don't think twice about tightening a loose screw, handle, or hinge.
That same easy confidence shows up in Mexico, where 96% of residents are comfortable tightening hardware and 91% are happy to assemble furniture on their own. When it comes to the United States, we learned 61% of Americans say rising costs have made them more likely to fix something themselves rather than hire it out, slightly above the global average (56%).
The Cost-of-Living Effect
Why More People Are Picking Up the Drill
Rising costs are reshaping how people care for their homes, pushing more of them to try the fix themselves.
After mapping confidence country by country, we looked at who feels most capable of handling basic repairs without a professional, and a few patterns stood out. Baby Boomers were the most confident generation, edging out the younger groups you might expect to be the handiest.
Men were more likely than women to feel sure of themselves on basic repairs. And by country, India and Brazil led the way, with 80% and 76% of residents respectively saying they'd take on basic home repairs on their own.
What People Will and Won't DIY
Confidence isn't all or nothing, and where people land depends almost entirely on the job in front of them. When we asked which projects people feel comfortable handling themselves, the simple, low-stakes fixes ran away with it.
Confidence Is Case by Case
What We'll Tackle, and What We Leave to the Pros
The jobs people happily take on are the low-stakes ones. The jobs they hand off are the ones where a wrong move gets expensive.
Tightening loose screws, handles, or hinges topped the list at 95%, followed closely by hanging pictures or mirrors (90%) and assembling furniture (84%). Coming in fourth place for DIY projects is replacing cabinet knobs or drawer pulls, which 77% of people feel comfortable doing themselves.
Rounding out the top five is painting a room, as 3 in 4 respondents felt confident painting a room in their house without the assistance of a professional. It’s possible that these jobs top the list simply because they are the kind where the tools are already in the junk drawer and a mistake is easy to undo.
After learning what people happily take on, we turned to the jobs they hand off, and the answer came down to risk. Electrical work was the project people were most likely to leave to a professional, with 87% saying they'd rather hire it out than manage that work themselves.
Roof repairs (83%) and plumbing work (79%) came next, with flooring installation (70%) close behind. The pattern is hard to miss. These are the jobs where a wrong move can mean anything from a flood or fire to a funky-looking finish, and most people would rather not learn that lesson firsthand.
What Holds Us Back
The Reasons People Walk Away from a Project
To wrap up our study, we asked respondents what aspects of DIY prevent them from handling more projects themselves. Leading the way as the most common reason, with nearly 2 in 5 people reporting it, is worrying that they will make the problem worse.
This is followed by the 1 in 5 respondents who say they don’t have the right tools and 20% who have safety concerns. For 1 in 10 people, certain projects are easier to avoid because they simply don’t know where to start.
Bring Your Next Project to Life with CGTrader
At the end of the day, confidence isn’t something you’re born with, especially when it comes to fixing things around your home. With every small fix you complete, your confidence starts to grow and before you know it you’ll be tackling difficult projects you once thought were impossible without a professional.
At CGTrader, our favorite part of DIY projects is seeing people’s creativity multiply when it’s shared. All it takes is one person designing a fix for your wobbly shelf, uploading it, and suddenly thousands of other people have a head start on their own projects. With 3D printing, you no longer have to fight with that one piece of equipment that doesn’t fit just right. Instead, you can measure and print a new product that matches your exact needs.
Get started today and check out the countless 3D print models available for download now, or show off your work to other 3D designers by uploading your files for download. So whether you’re just starting your DIY journey or are moving on to your next project, the team at CGTrader is here to help.
Methodology
In this study, we set out to learn where people are most confident handling home DIY projects themselves. To do this, we started by collecting a list of countries around the world with the highest population. We then checked this list against our survey platform to confirm sufficient respondents were available. We then took the top 19 countries and translated surveys as needed to accommodate the native language in each country.
In our survey, we asked a variety of questions including how confident people felt completing home repairs and improvement projects on their own, which projects they were most likely to hire professionals for, how rising costs have impacted their willingness to attempt projects themselves, and more. We then awarded points to responses that represented DIY initiatives and calculated the average score by country. Finally, we adjusted those scores on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most confident DIYers.
