The handy skills we all secretly wish we had

They say that tradies get the ladies, but according to new data, tradies are just as attractive to men. Well, their skills are, at least.

ServiceSeeking.com.au has conducted a new survey of its users to determine which skills were not-so-secretly coveting, and it turns out that men have a tendency to be envious of tradies who possess technical skills, whereas women are (perhaps unsurprisingly) more interested in tradesmen who are good with their hands. 

The most common skill that men would like to possess is the ability to work with and solve electrical problems—46 per cent of men marked this down on the survey. Women weren’t far behind, with 33 per cent wishing they could get the job done themselves rather than having to call a licensed electrician. 

Landscaping was the next most popular, although there was a definite swing towards women, with 26 per cent wanting to improve their green thumb as opposed to only 18 per cent of men. Plumbing and tiling were also popular skills for men, whereas women preferred painting skills. 

Despite the fact that almost half of the men surveyed were likely to try their hand at a DIY task before calling in a professional, 40 per cent of men ended up feeling like DIY tasks were a waste of time, and complaining that the end result doesn’t look how they pictured it. Only 34 per cent of women viewed DIY as a waste of time.

While many view a leaking tap as a fairly minor problem, the most despised DIY job of all was fixing a clogged toilet. That’s something we can all agree on, although men are 22 per cent less likely to be bothered by having to fix the problem; perhaps they’ve just gotten used to being called on to fix the bathroom in times of need. 

More than 1,700 ServiceSeeking.com.au users were surveyed for this DIY battle of the sexes. 

What’s your most hated DIY task?