What is your favorite DIY blunder?

[cavalierowner]

I don't know if this has been done before, but what is your favorite/most embarrassing DIY blunder. Maybe by posting ours, we can save someone else from making the same mistakes. I'll start.

Back in 1978 I started building my own house. The foundation was up, I had finished laying out and setting the joists on a portion of the main level. I started laying the floor sheathing and the darn plywood didn't seem to be perfectly square. So I spent some time cursing Weyerhauser for lack of quality control and dealt with it. It wasn't until I started putting sheetrock on the basement ceiling in that area that I figured out what the REAL problem was. Turns out that when I laid out the joists, I got the "x" on the wrong side of the line on one side of the area. So the joists went diagonally by 1-1/2" in 13 feet!! The lesson I learned: PAY ATTENTION! Oh and my deepest apologies to Weyerhauser!

[Cicada]

I have had a few, and they usually include my dad. He is really handy despite these mess ups. I was remodeling a utility room and we needed to put a new door in the stairway. Dad measures (tiwce, to make this worse) and proceeds to cut the top of the door. He flips it around and gets ready to cut the bottom. I questioned why he was doing this. He explained that he measured from the bottom hinge down and the top hinge up so we wouldn't have to change the hinge locations. Ok, made sense. After he made the second cut he handed the door to me and told my brother and me to take it inside. When I picked it up I realized that I could look over the top of the door. It was about three inches shorter than the hole. My brother and I agreed that we should have a drink before we filled dad in on this one. After a lot of cussing on his part, I convinced him that we could repair the door since I was going to paint it and not stain it. We fixed it and filled the seam with wood filler, tried to make some scratches in the filler so it looked like the grain and painted it. Doesn't look too bad and no one really notices until I bring it up, and I don't pass on the opportunity to do so.

The other one wasn't so serious. I was taking out part of a wall to make a closet in my bedroom. We cut the wall out and laid it against my bed. He told me to get rid of it and I told him it was too heavy, being and old house so it was real 2x4's lathe and plaster. He picks up the saw and, before I could stop him, proceeds to cut the wall chunk in half vertically. It was leaning against the bed, so he cut through my comforter, the blanket, the sheets, and the heated blanket (he did manage to miss the wires). I couldn't believe he did that and further couldn't believe he didn't cut he mattress itself. As handy as dad is, we learned to plan ahead for incidental costs.

[WallEYES]

Mine I think was soldering an outside hose bib on a new house towards the end of the day... one of the last things I had left while water piping the whole house...seems the the builtrite sheathing on the rear exterior of the house had smoldered and the house had caught fire....ooooops...good thing my company had good insurance

[MNice]

Well, it wasn't a DIY, it was when I was still plumbing. There was a model that I've done a zillion times and after the first couple I really didn't pay attention to the plan much. Well, I roughed in a entire bathroom in a walk in closet.

[cavalierowner]

Well, it wasn't a DIY, it was when I was still plumbing. There was a model that I've done a zillion times and after the first couple I really didn't pay attention to the plan much. Well, I roughed in a entire bathroom in a walk in closet.

So far you win! I can definately see that happening.

[Gus]

Putting in a new patio slider. Measured once, measured twice, measured 3 bloody times. Yup, 1/2" all the way around. Buy door, get it home, go to lift in the door... does not fit!! ARG!!! Door is 1/2" too big! Mixed up which was which when I measured and compared. All 3 times.

Put my foot through the roof of my newly remodled kitchen when I was doing some attic work.

Did not install shut off valves with vacuum breakers for the outside faucets when re-plumbing. Walls are too narrow for frost free silcocks. I thought if I sloped the lines going outside they would drain themselves without the vacuum breakers. WRONG. It was then that I learned what the vacuum breakers were actually for!

Don't make plumbing repairs on a 60 year old house after hours. You WILL need some part you hadn't anticipated and WILL leave the wife without water overnight. And she WILL never let you forget it.

Cheap products are cheap for a reason. X1000

Many more I can't remember just yet.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Forgot to put the rubber gasket on the water line to the new fridge/ice maker. Could not figure out why it kept spraying water everywhere. Removed the spike connector, checked everything, could not figure it out, and re-installed. Same thing, water sprayed everywhere. Did that one more time, in amazement of how a simple 4 step install was so much trouble, and how much water can blow out of a water line from such a small opening. Well, I wanted to sleep on it for the night but that meant turning off the main water line, which the wife at the time did not want to have happen. So, obviously, up next was a trip to Wally-Mart to purchase plumbers putty and duct tape... this will seal it all up I figured... I gooped on a big mound of putty, took a roll of duct tape and wrenched it down and wrapped and wrapped. I'm telling you, a foot out from each side of the pin point hole...have to pour it on and feather it out, that was my logic.. turn the water back on, and its spraying out of of both ends. This has now gone on for 2 hours, I'm telling you, I've done these things twice and can not figure it out (on the washing machine next to me the whole time is that little rubber gasket).

Next day I call a co-worker and he brings a friend with, they have to cut out that piece of pipe, weld a new one on...only then when they set the old pipe on the washing machine does my friend look at me, laugh and show me the gasket.

[Redlantern]

Didn't get a permit to dig an outhouse in Cook County. Get your permits. Administrative Authorities can make things difficult for you if they choose to. I'm not dogging them, it was my mistake. I knew better, too.

[whos_on_first]

Cicada, your dad sounds a lot like my dad!

One of the worst was siding my grandparents house. My uncle were on one side of the house finishing up a peak and my dad went to the back to finish up the last few pieces. He got on top of the scaffolding and it felt a little wobbly, so what should you do??? Shake it while on top of course. Side brace pops off and the whole thing collapses. Ambulance ride and broken elbow. But I think it was the pride that took the biggest hit!

[jmd1]

Might have been drinking one night and decided to finally fix the drain pipe under the sink. After several trips to the hardware store (wife drove) created and new christmas tree, I put a 5 gallon bucket under the sink and left it for a couple days to sober up. Last thing i did under the influence.

[K_Josh87]

One of the dumbest things prior to my professional career that I can remember doing was standing about 15 foot in the air on those old nail on style wall brackets, with a few 16D sinkers holding them up, with myself and my bro in law, both 6'3ish, and both near 250lbs... on a 2x12 plank, holding a 6' step ladder for my bro in law to paint the very peak of there barn...

Or the time dads bright idea was to take our 32' ladder to replace the bulb and photo eye on the yard light... welp, the ladder wasn't quite long enough... so what do you do, back the pickup up, and proceed to place the ladder in the bed of the truck up to the light, and wala, you can reach...

pretty sure both genius ideas stemmed from my father...

[pinkfloyd4ever]

.. He got on top of the scaffolding and it felt a little wobbly, so what should you do??? Shake it while on top of course. Side brace pops off and the whole thing collapses. Ambulance ride and broken elbow. But I think it was the pride that took the biggest hit!

Funny!! not the broken elbow of course, but can just picture the shaking of the scaffolding

[Cicada]

"Cicada, your dad sounds a lot like my dad!"

Ok this may get scary. Ol' Louie asked one of my brothers and myself to help him remove some siding,that had warped, from his house . We were supposed to get there at 3:00. We golfed and pulled in at 2:45 to see dad up on the ladder pulling a chunk of siding out with a wrecking bar. He pops it under the next one and pulls. Two nails pop out, but one stays in and the siding swings like a pendulum kicking the ladder out from under him. He falls about 15 feet to the ground on top of the ladder. Scared the h-e- double toothpicks out of us. An amublance ride to Fergus Falls, two broken ribs, a concusion, and some wonderful drugs later, and he is resting comfortably. In his 70's, he refuses to act his age and just supervise.

[deerminator]

Says my Dad's electrician friend to him when installing a new ceiling fan and light at our house when I was a kid: "Now, whatever you do, NEVER tighten the screws that hold the light cover in place with a screwdriver. NEVER." He then proceeded to tighten the heck out of the screw with a screwdriver and the light cover shattered and fell to the ground.

[paceman]

Did a silly thing on my last bathroom remodel. While replacing the linoleum, I measured evertyhing like 10 times, it had to go around the tub, vanity,stool, 2 closets... layed it upside down, drew it out, checked the measurements again, looked good so I cut it. Flipped it over to install. Dang I forgot to factor in that it was upside down. Everything was backwards...Got o go buy more linoluem. Wife was impressed.........

[amateurfishing]

my wife laughs at this one every time.....

i once changed a light bulb in the garage....with my wifes car still parked underneath it. instead of backing it out and getting a chair/ladder, i just hopped on the hood but it was right above windshield, so i stood on that, less than a minute later entire windshield cracks and caved comletely inward. i got off just in nick of time but winshild a total gonner just from changing a light bulb. worst part was it was a brand new windshield replaced 2 weeks prior cause of cracks from road debris. wife called insurance company and tried to come up with good story for insurance to cover, she started laughing so hard on phone bout it insurance guy laughed also, insurance covered & replaced in 1 day.