Kids doing THIS at home could cost be costing you up to £3,000

published 8 March 2019

Are the kids, quite literally, leaving their mark on your family home? Kids having the run of the house is all well, but it could be costing you a small fortune in repairs when they've finished running around.

Totally unbeknown to them of course, their actions could be causing damage that'll cost parents greatly.

Research, carried out by Selco Builders Warehouse, revealed the extent to which children can innocently damage a home.

With everything from pasta sauce spillages and blackcurrant squash stains to the latest craze – slime. All of these seemingly innocuous things are leaving their mark on our beautiful homes.

The poll revealed one in five parents have had to pay up to £200 to repair damaged flooring repaired.

While one parent admitted they faced a staggering bill of £3,000 to repair damages!

living space with carpet flooring and wall photo collage

'The research shows parents everywhere have to deal with serious spillages,' says Carine Jessamine of Selco Builders Warehouse. 'Everyone accepts children are going to have incidents when they are growing up, but when the repair bill drifts into the thousands it can prove costly for parents'.

The study found two thirds of families have had their flooring seriously damaged or stained by clumsy little ones.

But three in 10 of the parents named liquids as the worst thing children spill. Followed closely by cosmetics and food.

kids tea table with blue chair and carpet flooring

The bedroom is the most common room in the house for flooring to be ruined, with 39 per cent of spillages occuring in this room.

Closely followed by the dining room and kitchen. Food, including peanut butter and beetroot according to respondents, are the main culprits for stains.

white kitchen with wooden flooring and dining table

Carine added: 'Carpets are clearly the worst type of flooring for damage and stains from a child’s activities. The general perception is that one of the big benefits of having laminate flooring in your home is that it is more resistant to spillages and stains. A theory certainly backed up by the research.'

The most common age for kids to make a mess was revealed to be between new-born and three.

How have you kid proofed your family home?

Ginevra Benedetti has been the Deputy Editor of Ideal Home magazine since 2021. With a career in magazines spanning nearly twenty years, she has worked for the majority of the UK’s interiors magazines, both as staff and as a freelancer. She first joined the Ideal Home team in 2011, initially as the Deputy Decorating Editor and has never left! She currently oversees the publication of the brand’s magazine each month, from planning through to publication, editing, writing or commissioning the majority of the content.