A WOMAN who was quoted £700 for a new staircase has revealed how she did it herself for just £73.
Rachel explained that she was bored of her stairs, so got a professional in to give an estimate of how much a transformation would be.
But when they got back to her with a price, she knew she could take on the challenge herself – and end up spending a lot less.
She took to TikTok to share the process, as she insisted it was a lot easier than she had initially thought it would be.
“Quoted £700 for a new staircase. Decided to try it myself instead,” she wrote over the top of the clip.
Emma then showed herself picking up some wood from the hardware shop, for which she enlisted the help of her carpenter dad to cut into the correct sizes.
Once home, she began the process of dismantling the old banister – using a saw to cut out the middle of the panels, before removing the top and bottom, and the corners.
After that, she used the wood lengths she’d cut to put them at the top and the bottom, before using more smaller pieces in the middle to create the spindles.
Showing off the finished look, Rachel added: “Taadaaaa. Hand rail, base rail, spindles. Total cost £75.”
“My DIY stairs!” she wrote in the caption.
“With the right tools you can do anything you put your mind to.
“So happy and what a saving!”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”I’m a DIY fan & saved £600 installing radiator myself – here’s how you can too” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6369402094112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]People in the comments were somewhat divided in their response to Rachel’s DIY job, but lots praised her for a job well done.
“As long as you have a good fixing at each end of the handrail, then stair handrails are easy to do,” one person, a joiner of over 35 years, wrote.
“Good for you, well done!”
“All the tradesmen getting triggered cause she done it herself showing how easy and cheap it really is,” another added.
“Why’s everyone acting like you’ve just put all tradesmen out of a job by doing this one thing yourself?” a third questioned.
“Looks amaze btw!”
“Not me that’s just paid £1700 to have my banister changed from boards to spindles,” someone else sighed.
“I’m in the trade and do everything myself to save money,” another pointed out.
“Good on you for getting stuck in!”
“You done a amazing job. £73, saved your self £627 for more important things. Good on ya!” someone else praised.
“100% doing it yourself is cheaper than getting a tradey in,” another agreed, adding: “But the quality is unmatched, the time is quicker, it will last 20 times longer.”
However, Rachel hit back as she said: “Wait till you see the finished product – you won’t be able to tell the difference.”
But there were also those in the comments who didn’t think much of the DIY results.
“All the strength and structural integrity of a KitKat,” one sighed, to which Rachel hilariously suggested they should “take a break”.
“Do you expect tradesmen to work for free?” another raged.
“There’s a reason why they charge what they do.. Get a grip!”
“But I’m just one girl who doesn’t wanna spend her money on tradesmen if I can do it myself,” Rachel responded.
