TikTok is awash with amateur handymen and women dishing out tips, but just how practical and accurate is this advice?
When confused.com asked an expert handyman to rate the quality of DIY videos on TikTok, he deemed 39% of the content to be ‘rubbish’ or ‘poor’.
Meanwhile, Toolstation surveyed 100 experts – professional plumbers, carpenters, painters and the like – who also raised eyebrows about the standard of the advice on offer.
They warned that copying what you see online could cause injury or damage to your property. And even if the outcome isn’t quite that dire, it’ll probably look so rubbish that you’ll wish you hadn’t bothered.
Here are some of the dumbest DIY hacks on TikTok.
Hanging wallpaper with tape
What do you do if your landlord won’t let you put up wallpaper? One TikToker suggests grabbing some heavy-duty double-sided tape, and a bunch of nails and going for it anyway.
She recommends arranging the tape in a criss-cross pattern across your walls before laying the wallpaper on top and banging in the nails.
Aside from the fact that the finish would be poor, experts say the tape, when removed, would mark the walls. Expect to spend a lot of time at the end of your tenancy making good the walls if you pursue this one and potentially losing some/all of your deposit.
Removing the flow restrictor from your showerhead
When the water coming from your showerhead is more of a trickle than a refreshing downpour, you might be tempted to turn to social media for a solution – but please don’t.
A video on TikTok (viewed by millions) recommends that you unscrew the showerhead and remove the flow restrictor to improve the water pressure.
However, removing the flow restrictor could result in unexpected temperature changes and scalding. Tampering with your showerhead will also void the warranty on the product.
Sock painting
No one’s going to get hurt with this one, but it strikes us as a bit daft.
The idea is that instead of using brushes to paint woodwork, you put a pair of socks on your hands, dip them in paint and start smearing.
The Toolstation pros were adamant that the final finish would be patchy and that the socks would absorb a lot of paint, meaning you’d get through more than you need to.
We won’t be throwing out our paintbrushes anytime soon.
Conclusion
If you’re going to carry out DIY work at home, get expert advice first or call in a professional.
What’s the best or worst piece of DIY advice that you’ve been given? Let us know in the comments below.