The DIY decline is no longer a vibe — it’s a line item. Just 39% of home-improvement activities were completed do-it-yourself in the first quarter of 2026, down from 48% a year earlier, according to the Farnsworth Group’s quarterly tracking. And this week, the two companies that built empires on weekend warriors will make the shift official: Home Depot reports earnings Tuesday and Lowe’s on Wednesday, and both have spent the past two years pouring billions into serving professional contractors instead of the DIY shoppers their orange and blue aisles were designed for.
If you own a home anywhere in the US or Canada, this pivot says a lot about where home improvement is heading — and it changes the math on your next project.
The Numbers Behind the DIY Decline
The Farnsworth Group’s Q1 2026 tracking shows the do-it-yourself share of home projects dropping nine points in a single year, with homeowners increasingly splitting jobs — doing the demo or painting prep themselves, then handing the skilled portion to a contractor. Industry analysts have taken to calling it the “do-it-for-me” era.
The reasons are practical, not lazy. Material prices never came back down after the tariff run-ups, so the DIY savings on a small job have thinned. Homes are older — nearly 70% of American owners live in houses more than 20 years past their build date — and aging-home repairs (electrical, structural, plumbing) are exactly the jobs you shouldn’t learn on YouTube. And with homeowners splitting into skip-it and go-big camps, the projects still happening are larger and more likely to need a licensed pro anyway.
Billions Are Following the Contractors
Retailers move slowly and spend carefully, which is why the acquisition spree is the tell. Home Depot paid $18 billion for roofing distributor SRS Distribution in 2024, then added wallboard distributor GMS in a deal valued around $5.5 billion. Lowe’s bought Artisan Design Group for $1.3 billion and then went bigger: an $8.8 billion all-cash deal for Foundation Building Materials, adding more than 370 distribution locations across the US and Canada that serve roughly 40,000 professional customers.
The logic is simple. Pros are only a small fraction of big-box customers — but they generate roughly half of revenue, they buy every week instead of twice a year, and the professional building-supply market is worth about $250 billion. While DIY transactions shrink, the contractor is the customer still growing.
What This Means for Homeowners
The do-it-for-me shift is normal now — plan for it. If you’ve been embarrassed to hire out a “simple” job, don’t be; the majority of your neighbors already do. The real question isn’t DIY pride, it’s total cost — we broke down where DIY savings actually end earlier this year, and the crossover point keeps moving toward the pros.
Expect better-equipped contractors — and busier ones. Jobsite delivery, deeper inventory, and trade credit mean small crews can take on more work with less downtime. But demand for good pros keeps outrunning supply, so the best crews book out. If you’re planning fall work — a kitchen remodel or even just repainting before the holidays — start collecting quotes now, not in October.
Split jobs deliberately. The smartest 2026 pattern is hybrid: do the unskilled labor yourself (clearing, prep, haul-away), hire the licensed trades, and put the boundary in writing so nobody’s warranty gets voided.
What It Means for Local Pros
If you run a crew, you’re now the most fought-over customer in a half-trillion-dollar industry. Big-box loyalty perks, distributor pricing, and software tools are all suddenly negotiable — ask for the pro desk’s actual best terms, because they’re competing for you now. The flip side: with two giants consolidating supply, independent lumberyards and distributors will fight harder on service. Either way, the leverage has moved to the trades — one more consequence of the skilled-labor shortage that shows no sign of easing.
The bottom line for homeowners: the industry has decided the future of home improvement runs through professionals. The winning move isn’t resisting that — it’s getting good at hiring. Post your project, set your budget, and let verified pros come to you.
