c/diy-disaster-tales

My garage shelf collapsed 4 months after I built it with drywall anchors

I put up a simple 3 shelf unit in my garage for paint cans and tools, used those plastic drywall anchors from the hardware store. About a week ago I heard a crash at 2am, everything hit the floor and it pulled a 2 foot chunk of drywall off the wall. Has anyone else had those anchors fail this fast, or did I just pick the wrong type for heavier loads?

PSA: my $12 drywall patch turned into a $400 water bill mystery in Reno

Last Tuesday I patched a small hole near the bathroom sink with spray foam and joint compound, then two days later the wall started bubbling and dripping. Turns out the foam pushed through a hairline crack in the copper pipe behind it, and I didn't notice until the floor soaked through. Has anyone else had a quick fix hide a bigger plumbing issue until it got way worse?

Two days to fix a shower valve I thought was a 20 minute job

My one-shelf pantry shelf ended up holding my entire garage floor

After 3 tries with those plastic brackets from Lowe's, I finally got the shelf level enough to load it with jars, then the whole thing peeled off the drywall at 9 p.m. and dumped 14 pounds of spaghetti sauce everywhere, so has anyone else just switched to a freestanding metal unit that you nailed into studs?

That $12 paint sprayer tip from a forum saved my kitchen cabinets

I was sure thinning latex paint with water would ruin the finish, but after 3 failed brush jobs on my cabinet doors I tried it anyway. Mixed in about 10% water and ran it through a cheap Wagner sprayer on my porch last Saturday. The coats came out way smoother than any roller I've used, and it only took me one afternoon instead of the usual weekend. My only disaster was forgetting to cover the neighbor's car, which got a fine mist of gray primer. Has anyone else had luck with the water trick, or am I just lucky with this paint brand?

My neighbor's one comment changed how I hang drywall forever

After 15 years of hanging drywall solo, my neighbor watched me struggle with a ceiling panel and said "you're fighting the board, not carrying it." I switched to a drywall lift I borrowed from him for $0 and now I finish a 12x12 room in one afternoon instead of two weekends. Has anyone else had a random piece of advice completely rework their process?

My ceiling fan install in 2005 versus the one I did last month

Back in 2005 I just strapped the fan to the old box and hoped for the best, and it wobbled like crazy for years. Last month I actually used a proper rated box and spent $15 on a stud finder and level. Has anyone else gone back and fixed an old install that made you cringe at your younger self?

Had a chat with my uncle who builds furniture for a living

He told me my "seasoned wood" shelf project was doomed because I used kiln-dried pine from Home Depot and called it good. Said I should have let it acclimate for 6 months in my garage first - who has that kind of patience?

Tried to fix a leaky faucet and flooded my kitchen instead

So I noticed a slow drip from my kitchen faucet last Tuesday and thought 'how hard can it be to swap a washer?' I watched a 5 minute YouTube video and felt ready. Long story short, I cross threaded the new part and when I turned the water back on it sprayed everywhere like a garden hose. By the time I got the shutoff valve closed I had about 2 inches of water on the linoleum. My wife came home to me standing there holding a wet towel and a wrench with a stupid look on my face. Cost me $85 for a plumber to fix my mess plus the $4 for the washer I never even used. Has anyone else had a simple fix turn into a full disaster like that?

That $12 IKEA furniture assembly tool snapped my shelf in half

I tried using their little L-shaped hex key on a bookshelf from the Renton store last Saturday and it twisted right off after the third screw. The shelf panel cracked and split before I even got halfway through the instructions. Has anyone else had that cheap metal strip ruin a project or am I just too heavy-handed?

Paid $150 for a fancy stud finder and still drilled into a pipe

Bought this top-of-the-line Franklin Sensors thing at Home Depot thinking it would end my drywall nightmares, but it beeped happy right over a copper pipe I somehow missed. Anyone else spend big on a tool that still let you down in the end?

Hit the stud finder for the 100th time and still got it wrong

I was mounting a TV bracket last Saturday and used my stud finder like I always do. Beeped solid on one spot, so I drilled right in. Turns out it was a pipe shield or something, not a stud. Now I have three spare holes in my drywall and a bracket that's half an inch off level. My wife just looked at me and said 'you did this exact thing 2 years ago.' Has anyone else had a stud finder lie to them that badly?

I tried to fix a squeaky floorboard and punched a hole through my ceiling

I was in my upstairs bedroom last summer trying to stop this one annoying squeak near the door. I figured I'd just drive a few finish nails through the carpet from above, but my aim was way off on the third one. It went straight through the floorboard, through the drywall underneath, and left a golf ball sized hole in my living room ceiling below. My wife was watching TV down there and said it sounded like a gunshot, then stared at me for a solid minute. Anyone else manage to break something in a completely different room than where you were working?

Shoutout to the time I tried to fix a leaky faucet and flooded my kitchen

I was at my buddy's place in Portland last weekend and he showed me his brand new kitchen sink, which reminded me of my own DIY disaster. A few months ago, I tried replacing a washer on my bathroom faucet because it was dripping like crazy. I spent 45 minutes wrestling with a wrench, only to snap the supply line clean off. Water sprayed everywhere for a solid 3 minutes before I found the shutoff valve behind the toilet. My bathroom floor looked like a swimming pool and my wife just stood there laughing. Anyone else have a simple plumbing fix turn into a full on flood?

Warning: I tried to rewire a ceiling fan in my 1920s Chicago apartment last Sunday and ended up with a flickering light that won't stop after 6 hours of troubleshooting.

My landlord's quote said $200 to fix it, so I figured I'd save cash by doing it myself, but now I'm stuck with a fan that hums like a angry bee on low speed and only works when the bathroom switch is off - has anyone else dealt with old knob and tube wiring mixing with modern fixtures?

PSA: I picked the cheap store brand spackle over the name brand and paid for it big time

I was patching holes in my living room drywall last month in Phoenix and stood in the hardware aisle for like 10 minutes deciding between the $3 store brand spackle and the $7 DAP stuff. Figured hey, it's just spackle, how different can it be? Man, what a mistake. The cheap stuff dried with these weird cracks and craters no matter how smooth I spread it on. Had to sand it all off and start over with the name brand. The texture was way better and it didn't shrink like the cheap one did. Ended up spending more money and losing an afternoon. Has anyone else gotten burned by skimping on something that seemed like a no-brainer?

My uncle's advice about using a level for shelving was apparently optional

He told me just eyeball it, level is for perfectionists. Six shelves and a cracked mug later, I spent $12 on a level from Home Depot. Anyone else have a relative give bad DIY advice that cost you more in the end?

The day I flooded my kitchen with a $15 sink repair kit

I tried to replace a simple washer in my kitchen faucet last Saturday and ended up with water spraying everywhere for about 20 minutes before I got the shutoff valve to work. My wife came home to me standing in an inch of water holding a wrench and a soggy paper towel. Has anyone else had a basic repair turn into a total mess like that?

The 'before and after' on my concrete patio slab took 18 months to show up, and it was my fault

Stop paint mixing by feel, that cost me a whole wall

I used to mix paint colors by eyeballing it, adding a little of this and a splash of that until it looked right. Last Tuesday in Phoenix, I tried matching a light gray for a touch-up job and ended up with a stripe of purple-gray across the living room. Now I measure every drop with those little mixing sticks and write down the ratios. Anybody else have a color matching disaster that made you swear off guessing?

My $15 shelving project turned into a $200 wall repair

I thought I could put up some floating shelves in my living room last weekend without checking for studs. After the third shelf ripped out of the drywall and smashed my coffee table, I finally bought a stud finder from Home Depot. The before was a mess of spackle patches and the after is shelves that actually stay up. Now I'm out $215 and three bruised toes. Has anyone else learned this lesson the expensive way?

Chipped a floor tile trying to cut it with a borrowed wet saw in my basement last Saturday

I was tiling my laundry room in my house near St. Louis, and I borrowed my neighbor's wet saw. I set the tile wrong on the tray and it flew off, chipping the corner bad. Cost me $12 for a whole new tile from the hardware store plus an extra afternoon waiting for it. Has anyone else wrecked a tile with a borrowed tool and had to eat the cost?

My first drywall patch job turned into a 3 day mess after I forgot about outlet boxes

I was fixing a hole in my living room wall, maybe 6 inches across, and thought I had it all planned out. Cut the patch, screwed in some backing, slapped on the mud. Then I went to sand and realized I had completely covered over an outlet box on the other side of the wall. Didn't even mark where it was before I started. Spent 2 hours chipping away dried joint compound to find the screw holes, then had to redo the mud around the edges. By the time I was done, there was a weird bulge near the outlet that I couldn't smooth out. Took me three coats and a lot of cussing before it looked halfway decent. Has anyone else buried something dumb like a switch or pipe behind a patch?

Saw a guy at Home Depot fix a stripped screw with a rubber band

Kept stripping cabinet hinge screws in my 80s kitchen remodel, thought I had to drill new holes. Tried the rubber band trick out of desperation and it actually held. Anyone else got a one-second fix that saved a bigger headache?

Heads up: I tried that cheap epoxy river table kit from Amazon and it cured weird and cloudy

I dropped $80 on this kit last month for a coffee table project and now the whole thing looks like fogged glass with bugs trapped inside. Anyone else have a brand of tabletop epoxy that actually stays clear?