Not-so-handy homeowners
Could you do general home maintenance tasks without the help of Google? According to a new analysis, very few Americans can.
Americans need help with home maintenance
According to a new survey from equipment rental platform BigRentz.com, more than a third of Americans can’t perform a single, basic home maintenance task without consulting the web.
Only 43 percent know how to unclog a drain on their own, and just 39 percent say they can stop a running toilet. Even fewer can find a wall stud, patch a hole in drywall, or replace a washer on a leaky faucet.
Overall, more men than women said they could perform these tasks solo. A whopping 56 percent of women said they couldn’t do any basic home maintenance tasks, while just 44 percent of men said so. Nearly a quarter of respondents aged 25 to 34 said they couldn’t either.
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Most-searched home maintenance tasks
The analysis also looked at what Americans search for most, in terms of home maintenance tasks. According to the findings, “how to fix a leaky faucet” tops this list, claiming around 11,000 searches monthly.
“How to unclog a drain” comes in next, with 7,200 monthly searches, while “how to find a stud” is third at 4,100.
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Lowest on the list were “how to patch a drywall hole” and “how to install a drywall anchor.” As BigRentz’ Scott Cannon explains, “Given that our research shows only one in four people know how to install a drywall anchor on their own, the low number of searches suggests that, when it comes to projects that involve drywall, most people are willing to hire out.”
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