Do insure yourself this Easter weekend

House proud Brits will spend a whopping £90,000 on DIY during their lifetime, according to new research.

With the average family coughing up £634 a year on materials and a further £812 on furnishings and fittings, the annual bill comes in at £1400.

And nipping out to buy extra paint soon tots up - the average adult will drive a whopping 12,000 miles to and from their local DIY store, which works out at £1337 in petrol over a lifetime.

The poll of 3000 adults by leading insurer, Cornhill Direct, also found that 17 per cent of people confess to having a complete DIY disaster - with four per cent of those having to make an insurance claim.

DIY enthusiasts can add accidental damage cover to their buildings and contents insurance, and this covers most mishaps such as paint spilt on carpets or hammering a nail into a pipe.

Simon Coughlin, spokesman for Cornhill Direct, said: 'As an insurer we encourage people to take good care of their homes. The results of the survey suggest that many people are doing exactly that.

'We have seen our fair share of DIY related claims over the years so people should make sure they know what they're are doing and use the right tools for the job.

'DIY enthusiasts should definitely check to see if their insurance policy covers them for accidental damage just in case a DIY job goes horribly wrong.'

The survey also found that it's not just our own house we're improving - more than one in ten of us get roped in to helping the kids too.

A reluctant 12 per cent of people said they lend a hand to their kids at least three times a year - despite most parents living up to 55 miles away from their grown-up children.

But some are less keen to get jobs round the house done with one in twenty people taking up to THREE YEARS to finish a basic DIY job.

A speedy 42 per cent said it would take them a weekend to completely redecorate a bedroom, but 29 per cent would need a week off work to complete the job.

Despite this almost three quarters of people wouldn't bother to get in a professional - preferring to tackle the job themselves.

But an ambitious one in ten Brits admit to tackling electrical and plumbing jobs despite not having any idea what they are doing and two thirds of people also said they regularly start a job despite not having the correct tools.

The poll also revealed that the room that takes the longest to decorate was the lounge followed by the kitchen.

But a keen 10 per cent of respondents said they decorated their kitchen EVERY year - a less demanding eleven per cent only attempted decorating their bathroom once every 20 years.

One in twenty householders confessed to having at least three uncompleted DIY jobs on the go at any one time.