c/diy-and-home

Vent: My garage shelf project took 6 hours because of one dumb mistake

I was building a simple shelf in my garage last weekend. I measured everything twice, cut the boards, and started putting it together. After 3 hours of fighting with brackets and leveling, nothing lined up right. Turns out I used the wrong size screws that were too long, and they pushed the whole thing crooked. Had to take it all apart and drive to the hardware store twice. Has anyone else spent way too long on a simple project because of one little thing like that?

Just realized my neighbor was wrong about painting over wallpaper

Overheard a guy at the hardware store last Saturday saying you should always peel old wallpaper before painting. But I tried painting right over a textured wallpaper in my hallway bathroom two months ago and it's holding up fine. No peeling, no bubbles, just needed a good primer coat first. Am I missing something or is the extra work sometimes not worth it for certain wall conditions?

Finally switched from cheap latex to urethane caulk for window trim

Used to just grab whatever $2 tube of latex caulk was on sale at Home Depot. Chalked up all 12 windows in my rental house with it over two weekends last summer. Now every single one of them has cracks and gaps around the edges after one winter. Just finished scraping it all out and redoing it with big stretch urethane at $8 a tube. Wish I had just paid the extra 6 bucks the first time around. Anyone else have luck with a specific brand that actually lasts?

Picked tile over hardwood for my kitchen remodel and honestly I'm kicking myself

I had to choose between luxury vinyl plank and ceramic tile for my kitchen floor. Tile seemed like the no brainer for water resistance. But after 6 months I'm dealing with grout cracking near the dishwasher and my feet hurt every time I stand there more than 10 minutes. The LVP would have been warmer and softer and probably held up fine. Has anyone else regretted their tile choice just because of the comfort factor?

The outlet swap at my buddy's 1950s bungalow that taught me about aluminum wiring

Helped a friend replace some old outlets last weekend in his place over by Lakewood. I just grabbed standard stuff from the big box store but his dad showed up and stopped us. Said we had to use special outlets rated for aluminum wire and this antioxidant paste stuff. Apparently houses built between 1965 and 1972 used aluminum wiring a ton and it can get loose connections and start fires if you use the wrong stuff. Never knew that. Has anyone else run into this with older homes and what do you do for it?

Had to choose between laminate and LVP for our basement floor after the last rain

We had a small flood in our basement last spring, and I was stuck deciding between cheap laminate or pricier luxury vinyl planks. I went with LVP at $3.50 a square foot because it's waterproof and my buddy said laminate would swell up again. Did anyone else pick one and regret it later?

Unpopular opinion: painting over wallpaper is lazy and makes future renovations a nightmare

I spent 8 hours removing 3 layers of painted-over wallpaper in my 1950s bungalow because the previous owner thought slapping on some latex paint would save them $200 on removal costs, and now I'm curious how many of you have dealt with this mess and actually preferred it to just tearing the paper off first?

That $8 caulk gun I swore was junk actually worked better than the $30 one

I bought this cheap caulk gun at Lowe's three years ago because I forgot my good one at home. Thought it would snap after one use with the silicone I was putting around my basement windows in Cleveland. But that thing has lasted through two bathroom remodels and a kitchen backsplash. It's got a simple ratchet mechanism that just keeps going, while my fancy one with the smooth rod started slipping after six months. Anyone else find that the no-name tools sometimes outlast the name brand stuff?

Painted my kitchen cabinets without sanding first and now I'm paying for it

I got so excited about refinishing my kitchen cabinets last month that I skipped the sanding step. Watched a bunch of YouTube videos where people said liquid deglosser works just as good, so I wiped everything down with that stuff and started painting. Three coats of paint later they looked amazing for about a week. Now the paint is peeling off in big chunks right where I grab the handles. The deglosser left this weird waxy layer underneath that the paint couldn't stick to. I learned the hard way that nothing replaces actually roughing up the surface with sandpaper. Has anyone else tried those liquid sanding alternatives and had them fail too?

Had to choose between patching drywall or building a bookshelf around it

I punched a hole in the wall moving a couch last Saturday, and after staring at it for an hour I decided to just build a floating shelf right over the spot instead of mixing up joint compound. Now I've got a permanent reminder of my bad aim that holds my coffee mug collection, so honestly I'm calling it a win. Anyone else ever just build over a screw up instead of fixing it properly?

My shelf project turned into a lesson in physics last week

I was building a simple floating shelf in my hallway last Tuesday, figured three brackets would be plenty since the manual said two max. The shelf was 4 feet of solid oak, looked nice for about 20 minutes until my cat jumped on it to look out the window. Whole thing came crashing down, took a chunk of drywall with it and scared the cat so bad she hid under the couch for two hours. Turns out I attached the brackets wrong into the drywall anchors instead of hitting the studs behind it. Has anyone else had a quick project completely backfire like that because you skipped reading the fine print?

Finally figured out why my garage shelves kept sagging after 3 attempts

I spent a year reinforcing plywood shelves with different brackets and still got a 2 inch dip in the middle, then a neighbor pointed out I was using oriented strand board instead of actual plywood. Has anyone else made that mistake or am I the only one who didn't know the difference mattered that much?

Vent: My old way of fixing a wobbly table involved a stack of coasters and a prayer

For about two years, my kitchen table in my apartment in Tacoma was propped up with three coasters and a folded napkin. I finally got sick of it last month and watched a video that said to measure the gap, cut a shim, and glue it under the short leg. I used a piece of scrap oak and some wood glue, and now it's solid. Has anyone else tried a more permanent fix for something they ignored for way too long?

PSA: That $15 caulk gun from Home Depot is garbage for big jobs

Was sealing the baseboards in my 1800 sq ft basement last weekend and the plunger snapped off halfway through the first tube. Had to finish the whole project using a butter knife and sheer anger. Anyone else found a caulk gun that actually lasts more than one job?

TIL my neighbor's deck collapse in Portland changed how I build anything.

I saw it happen last summer, the whole thing just dropped about 6 inches on one side. He used those cheap plastic composite deck boards and didn't space them right for drainage. The trapped moisture rotted the joists underneath in less than 3 years. Now I overbuild every outdoor structure, use pressure-treated wood for the frame no matter what, and leave a bigger gap between boards than the instructions say. Has anyone else had a project fail because of a small detail you thought didn't matter?

I just read that a standard 2x4 is actually 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Found it in a lumber yard pamphlet in Tacoma.

Pro tip: I always thought a $40 paint sprayer was a waste for a small room until last week in my garage.

I borrowed my neighbor's Wagner Flexio 3000 for a single accent wall and it cut my time in half with no brush marks. Anyone have a favorite sprayer for furniture projects?

Vent: My old drill was stripping every screw head until I tried a weird trick

I was putting up some new shelves in my living room last week and it was a total mess. Every single screw I tried to drive in, the head would just get chewed up by my drill bit. I was about to lose my mind. Then I remembered something I saw in a video a while back. The guy said to put a tiny bit of bar soap on the threads of the screw before you drive it in. I was super skeptical, but I grabbed a bar of plain soap from under the sink and gave it a shot. It worked like magic. The screw went in smooth as butter, no more stripping. I guess the soap acts like a dry lubricant and cuts down on the friction a ton. Has anyone else tried this, or do you have a different go-to trick for this kind of thing?

Warning: The new 'smart' faucet at the hardware store demo station in Tacoma just sprayed me in the face.

I was checking the motion sensor at the big box store and it activated from a reflection, soaking my shirt and proving you should test these things with water off first.

Update on that spray foam insulation kit I bought last fall

I was sure it would be a messy waste of money, but sealing the rim joist in my basement made a huge difference. My heating bill dropped by almost $80 this January compared to last year. The kit cost about $300 and took me an afternoon, but the draft is completely gone. Anyone have tips for the attic, or is that a pro job?

My uncle showed me his trick for fixing a sticky door in his old farmhouse

We were working on his place in rural Ohio last fall, trying to fix a front door that kept jamming. He took a plain bar of soap and rubbed it along the top edge of the door frame. He said, 'Been doing this for 40 years, kid. Sometimes the fix is in the kitchen, not the toolbox.' The door slid smooth right after. Anyone know other simple household items that work for quick fixes like that?

I just hit 50 gallons of paint mixed for my own house projects

That number really hit me because everyone online says to hire out painting. I've redone every room, the trim, and the garage myself over 4 years. The cost for that much pro work would have been huge, maybe over 15 grand. I learned how to cut in without tape and which rollers don't shed. Has anyone else kept track of a material amount that made DIY worth it for them?

TIL my paint roller covers have a 400 square foot rating

I was painting my living room in my apartment and finally finished the second coat. When I checked the sleeve on the Wooster Pro roller cover, it said it's rated for 400 square feet. I got through about 380 square feet of wall before it started to really shed, which is way more precise than I expected. Has anyone else found that the listed coverage on a tool is surprisingly accurate?

My $40 smart plug turned my living room into a disco at 3 AM.

I set it up to turn on a lamp at sunrise, but a power flicker reset it to factory default and it started cycling my floor lamp on and off every ten seconds until I unplugged it, so has anyone found a brand that doesn't lose its mind during a brownout?

Appreciation post: Spending $40 on a proper stud finder saved my entire bathroom tile job last weekend

My old magnetic one kept giving false positives on the plaster, but the new electronic one pinpointed every stud perfectly so I could securely mount the cement board.