Half of the ‘relationship renovators’ said that their sex life suffered, with 8% saying that their sex life was completely killed off by the work.

The study found that one in ten British couples who work on a big DIY project together have been driven to the brink of a break up as a result.

And renovation rowing has lead to 7% of couples actually splitting up.

Little wonder then, perhaps, that the research revealed that doing up a house yourself is one of the most stressful things in life, more so than having a baby, getting divorced or taking exams.

Over three quarters (77%) of the people who’d attempted big building works with their partner admitted they’d had furious rows during the project, with 15% claiming they were constantly at each other’s throats.  

The study, by MyBuilder, found that two-thirds of people (67%) who’d taken on a “fixer-upper” ended up resenting the house and all the time it had taken up.

But you can’t quit because unfinished projects are nearly as bad for relationships, causing arguments for 14% of couples. And those arguments don’t end until the project is actually finished.

So it’s no surprise that 58% of people who’d attempted DIY with their partner said they’d never consider doing it again.

According to the research, just the thought of DIY can make our anxiety levels go through the roof.

14% of the 2,000 adults surveyed said just considering tackling home improvement themselves leaves them feeling stressed out.

And a sensible one in six Brits think that any financial saving from DIY simply isn’t worth the pain.

“Biting off more than you can chew can have serious consequences. No matter what type of project you’re tackling, getting the experts in can save a lot of heartache,” said Ryan Notz from MyBuilder.

Perhaps this explains why 20% of people think they’re much worse at DIY than their parents’ generation. And 17% of people think they have no DIY skills at all.

While we might be in a relationship with someone who thinks of themselves as a DIY dynamo, in fact their efforts might be adding to the stress with 17% of people secretly wishing their other half was better at completing the work.

For those who had never embarked on a project with their partner, the main reasons were because they’d rather work with professionals (38%), they didn’t have time (29%) and they thought they’d end up divorcing (17%).

Interestingly men and women felt very similarly about the DIY projects in general, however 20% of women wish their other half was better at DIY, compared to only 11% of men.

Regionally, Cambridge was the home to most DIY rows, with 87% of projects begun by couples ending in constant rows, whereas in Norwich, people took things more calmly and only two-thirds of the projects caused relationship mayhem.