I bought a $12 gallon of off-brand sealant from a gas station in Phoenix last summer and figured it couldn't be that bad. The next rain turned my deck into a slippery slip-n-slide and half the wood warped within a week. Has anyone else learned a lesson from going cheap on home repair stuff?
Saw a deal on a fancy bidet attachment. Amazon, $200. Thought I was being smart. Watched a YouTube video, felt confident, installed it in 20 minutes. First use at midnight, the hose clamp popped off. Water everywhere. Had to call a plumber at 2am. $400 later my bathroom was dry. Anyone else trust a YouTube tutorial too much?
My uncle said I didn't need new step flashing when I replaced my asphalt shingles last spring. He's been roofing for 20 years so I figured he knew what he was talking about. 6 months later I noticed a dark spot on my ceiling and found water damage across 3 joists above my living room. The roofer I hired to fix it said the old flashing had cracks you could see from the ground. He charged me $2,800 to tear off the shingles, replace all the flashing, and patch the drywall. Has anyone else had a family member give them bad home repair advice that ended up costing way more?
I've always bought those $10 packs of 20 bits from the hardware store, figuring a bit is a bit. Last month I was drilling into a steel beam for a railing install and snapped three in a row, each one lasting maybe 5 seconds. Finally caved and bought a single $8 Milwaukee bit from the contractor aisle, and it went through like butter. That one bit is still going after 30 holes, which makes the cheap ones cost way more when you add up all the trips back to the store. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been paying double just by being stubborn?