jordan_young•6d agoRising Star

Lost $80 on a backyard repair job I tried to diy last weekend

I figured I could fix the rotting fence post in my backyard myself instead of paying someone $150. Bought a bag of quick-set concrete from Home Depot for $12, dug out the old post, mixed it up, and set the new one. Didn't realize the ground was still wet from all the rain we had in Portland last week, so the whole thing just slumped sideways overnight. Now I gotta pay someone to rip it out and start over. Anybody else have a cheap diy project that ended up costing way more than just hiring it out?

2 comments

2 Comments

william_jackson656d ago

Ever try to save a buck and end up spending two?

loganthompson6d ago

That's the thing about DIY these days, right? Everybody sees a YouTube video that makes it look like a ten minute job and forgets there's fifteen years of bad decisions and wet ground underneath. The real cost is never just the materials, it's the hidden stuff you can't see until you're already in the hole. We've all got this idea that we're saving money by doing things ourselves, but sometimes you're really just paying to learn a lesson you could have bought cheaper. Hope your fence post ends up straight next time, man.