c/diy-home-projects

Rented a tile saw instead of buying one and it paid off big time

I was dead set on buying a $400 wet saw for my kitchen backsplash in Phoenix. Then I rented one from Home Depot for $48 a day and finished the whole job in a weekend. Saved myself a tool I will literally never use again. Has anyone else had luck renting specialty tools over buying them?

1 comments

hugo_bennett•23h ago

I ignored a carpenter's feedback on my deck joist spacing for 2 years

He told me to go 12 inches on center instead of 16, and after the deck started bouncing last spring, I had to rip up all the decking and redo it - cost me an extra $400 and a full weekend of work. Has anyone else had to eat crow on a structural shortcut that an expert warned you about?

2 comments

the_jamie•4d ago

Swapped my flat pry bar for a cats paw after 12 years

Always thought a flat bar was all you needed for demo work, but trying to pull nails with it on a bathroom remodel in Denver last week drove me crazy. Two pulls with a cats paw and I was done in half the time. Anyone else find one tool that made them rethink their whole approach?

2 comments

hayden_butler27•4d ago

Serious question about electrical boxes in poured concrete walls

I framed up my basement in Denver last month and a retired electrician walked by and told me I was burying my junction boxes way too deep in the forms. He said if the concrete shifts at all you'll never get a flush cover on there and I had to chip out 3 inches of dried mix from one box to fix it. Has anyone else had to deal with boxes sinking or twisting after a pour?

2 comments

hayden_butler27•5d ago

Hit 100 board feet of reclaimed lumber in my garage and now I get the obsession

I started collecting old pallets and barn wood about 8 months ago just for little projects. Last weekend I finally stacked and measured everything out of curiosity and hit exactly 100 board feet. That number surprised me because I never planned to hoard this much but here we are. It matters because now I can actually start planning real furniture builds without buying anything new. Anyone else accidentally become a lumber hoarder without meaning to?

2 comments

sam17•5d ago

My attempt to build a custom desk shelf ended with me using cardboard and duct tape

Was at Lowe's last week pricing out hardwood for a nice live-edge desk shelf. Got home, cut the first board wrong, tried to fix it with a pocket hole jig, and snapped the wood in half. Now I've got a rolling pin shelf thing made from a cardboard box and silver tape. It actually holds my monitor fine. Has anyone else had a planned project turn into a total hack job but still worked out?

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kevin_dixon•7d ago

Tried to swap a single faucet cartridge and ended up rebuilding half the bathroom

What I thought was a 20 minute fix turned into a 6 hour ordeal because the old cartridge basically disintegrated inside the valve, and then the shutoff under the sink started leaking when I touched it. Has anyone else had a simple repair snowball into a full Saturday project?

3 comments

elizabethg18•8d ago

My neighbor told me to stop using a putty knife for spackle...

I was patching up some drywall holes in my hallway and my neighbor saw me using a putty knife to spread the spackle. He said I needed a 6 inch drywall knife because the putty knife makes it too thin and you end up with bubbles. I switched to the drywall knife and it smoothed out way better on the second coat. Has anyone else found a tool swap that made a big difference for small repairs?

2 comments

vera_campbell•9d ago

Tried to fix a leaky faucet myself, ended up flooding the kitchen

Picked replacing a cartridge over calling a plumber to save $120. Broke the old one off inside the valve, water sprayed everywhere for 10 minutes before I got the main shut off. Has anyone successfully dealt with a stuck cartridge without breaking it?

2 comments

michaelchen•10d ago

That day I cut a hole in my ceiling for a new vent and found a family of raccoons living up there

Spent four hours patching drywall, laying new insulation, and calling animal control all because I ignored the scratching noises for two months thinking it was just the pipes settling.

2 comments

nelson.nancy•11d ago

Hit a water pipe with a nail gun putting up shelving in the garage yesterday

I was hanging some heavy duty shelves in my garage last Saturday morning. Thought I checked for pipes with a stud finder but missed a small copper line running through the wall. Nail went right through it and water started spraying everywhere. Had to shut off the main valve to the whole house fast. Spent the next 4 hours cutting out drywall and soldering in a new section of pipe. Took me two tries to get the solder joint to stop dripping too. Now I got a 2 foot square hole in my drywall to patch this weekend. Anyone else ever put a nail through a pipe and got a quick lesson in plumbing?

2 comments

nina_johnson86•11d ago

Putting in a tile backsplash at my sister's place last month sparked a debate about grout vs no grout lines

I was helping my sister do her kitchen backsplash in Austin last month. She wanted big format tiles with barely any gap, like 1/16 inch. I told her that's asking for trouble because the floor wasn't perfectly level and those tiny lines would make any mistake stick out. She pushed back saying she hates cleaning grout and wanted that seamless modern look. We ended up compromising with 1/8 inch lines and a color-matched grout. Now I'm wondering if she was right and I'm just stuck in old habits. Has anyone else tried the super tight grout line trend and actually had it hold up after a year?

2 comments

abby_black•11d ago

Just figured out I was painting trim wrong for years

I've been painting baseboards in my 1920s house for like 6 years. Always did the same thing, cut in with a brush and then rolled the flat parts. Last weekend my buddy who does houses for a living watched me for 5 minutes and goes 'why are you fighting the brush like that? Use a 4 inch mini roller on the whole thing.' Tried it on my living room and it took half the time with way less brush marks. Anyone else have a lazy shortcut that actually works better than the 'right' way?

3 comments

keithbennett•12d ago

My neighbor told me my deck stain was ruining the wood, now I do it totally different

I spent a whole weekend last spring staining my deck with a thick coat of solid stain, looked great for about 2 months. Then my neighbor who builds decks for a living walked over and said I was basically painting the wood instead of letting it breathe. He showed me how the stain was peeling off in sheets because I never prepped the surface right. I sanded everything down and used a semi-transparent oil based stain this time, cost me about $60 for a gallon. It soaked in way better and actually let the cedar grain show through. Has anyone else gotten surprise home improvement advice that totally changed their approach?

3 comments

danielmason•13d ago

Tried painting my kitchen cabinets without sanding first. Huge mistake.

Watched a YouTube video that swore by liquid deglosser and a good cleaning. Spent 4 hours on Saturday prepping with that stuff, applied two coats of Sherwin-Williams Emerald urethane enamel. By Wednesday the paint was peeling off around the handles. Lost about $60 in paint and my wife won't let me forget it. Anyone else get burned by a shortcut on cabinet refinishing?

3 comments

hugo825•14d ago

Tried to move a load-bearing wall without a permit

Was remodeling my basement in Austin last fall. Took a sledgehammer to what I thought was a partition wall. Brought down half the ceiling with it. Had to call a structural engineer, cost me $1200 for the inspection and fix. Anyone else make a mistake that turned a $300 project into a $1500 headache?

3 comments

alice_kim•15d ago

I always thought you had to prime walls before painting until my buddy showed me a test patch

Been painting rooms in my house for years, always did the whole primer coat thing. Last month I was painting my guest bedroom and my neighbor (he's a contractor) stopped by. He grabbed a roller and just went straight paint on a small section of the wall. Waited for it to dry and I couldn't tell the difference from the primed part. He said if the wall is already painted and in good shape, primer is mostly a waste. Saved me like $25 on a gallon of primer for that room. Anyone else been doing extra steps for no reason?

3 comments

robertgreen•15d ago

Half my basement ceiling came down when I tried to hang drywall without locating the joists first

I was up on the ladder in my utility room around 11 PM last Tuesday, screwed the first sheet right into what I thought was a joist, and the whole thing ripped loose taking a chunk of old plaster with it, has anyone else had to patch a ceiling they weren't even planning to touch?

3 comments

jordan_young•1mo ago

Finally realized I was sanding in the wrong direction for 2 years

I was refinishing a table last weekend and kept getting these weird scratches that wouldn't come out no matter how fine of grit I used. My dad walked over, looked at it for like 5 seconds, and said 'you know you gotta go with the grain, right?' I thought I was but I guess I was just doing random circles this whole time. Felt pretty dumb. Has anyone else had a basic technique click way later than it should have?

3 comments

the_riley•1mo ago

Pro tip: Painters tape can wreck your walls if you leave it on too long

I was talking to my dad last weekend while helping him repaint his garage. He mentioned he left some green frog tape on a window frame for like 3 weeks before he got around to painting. When he peeled it off, it took chunks of paint and drywall with it. I had no idea the adhesive bonds stronger over time. Now I never leave tape on more than 48 hours, and I always use the delicate surface stuff for trim. Has anyone else had tape ruin a project like that?

3 comments

olivia_bailey•1mo ago

Found a weird trick for getting old paint lids off without denting them

Honestly I was struggling with a 5 year old can of trim paint last weekend and about to smash the lid with a screwdriver. Then I remembered this tip from a painter in Portland who said to run a putty knife around the rim and tap the lid edge with a hammer. Worked perfectly on the first try and the lid didn't even bend. Has anyone else got a go-to method for stubborn paint cans?

3 comments

terry_thomas•1mo ago

Warning: I painted my whole living room ceiling without primer

Honestly, I thought I was saving time by skipping the primer on my ceiling paint job in Des Moines last spring. After about 6 months, the paint started peeling in big ugly strips right above the window where moisture hits it. Took me a whole weekend to scrape and redo it. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way with paint jobs?

4 comments

tarag28•1mo ago

Drywall taping trick I picked up from a guy in Memphis

I was fixing a crack in my living room ceiling and kept getting bubbles in the tape. A retired painter I met at Lowes told me to spray the joint compound with water before laying the tape down, and it worked perfectly the first time. Has anyone else tried wetting the compound on tricky seams like that?

3 comments

mila_perry13•1mo ago

Found a hidden water leak behind my bathroom mirror using a dry sponge trick

Last Saturday I was redoing the caulk around my upstairs tub and noticed the mirror felt weirdly warm. Touched it and the backing was peeling off. Pulled it down and found a slow drip from a pipe joint behind the wall that had been going for months. That one drip cost me about 40 square feet of drywall damage and a mirror I gotta replace now. Whole thing started because the caulk seam above the mirror was cracked and water from shower steam was getting in. Has anyone else found hidden damage behind bathroom fixtures like this?

2 comments

hayden466•1mo ago

Can we talk about hitting 100 paint samples before settling on a color?

I grabbed like 8 paint swatches for my living room remodel, thinking I'd pick one in a weekend. Six months and 100 samples later, I finally decided on a shade that looked totally different on the wall than the little paper card. How many samples did you go through before you landed on the right color?

3 comments