"Considering their education and skill level, Australian...

"Considering their education and skill level, Australian tradesmen are very well paid. It's at the point where it is cheaper for householders to do repairs or renovations themselves."

The explosion of DIY renovations has led to an explosion in construction related injury, leding to a tightening up of oh&s on construction sites with the costs passed on to the end user. The homeowner is left with a renovation that has devalued their property and increased costs to rectify their own shoddy craftsmanship. Good option for the super smart educated people!

Go ahead and do your own renovation, then give me a call when it doesn't work out as you so carefully planed it to. You can't be taught in a classroom what you will encounter when you start stripping back walls in a house. Any tradesman with basic Reno experience will tell you it's the hardest work to quote as you never know what you will find when you start peeling back the wrapping.

I've finshed several jobs that were half done by desprate homeowners on the verge of divorce, simply because they underestimated how complex the project would be.

And as UT said, if don't already do your own basic routine maintenance you're just plain lazy.