c/diy-home-projects

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?

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the_riley•13d 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?

c/diy-home-projects

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

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

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

Warning: I painted my whole living room ceiling without primer

Drywall taping trick I picked up from a guy in Memphis

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

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

The $20 laser level I almost tossed in the trash turned out to be worth every penny

Finally tried hot water for fixing a sticky paint roller cover...

Bought a $40 caulk gun that wouldn't stop dripping and ruined my baseboards in the kitchen

Last week my basement flooded after a bad storm in Cleveland and I learned a hard lesson about sump pumps

I finally measured my lumber before cutting yesterday

Spent $80 on a cheap paint sprayer for my kitchen cabinets and it clogged after 10 minutes

After 3 tries i finally got my floating shelves level using a 4ft level instead of my 6in one

Showerthought: I just used my 100th zip tie on a single cable management project

A contractor in Denver said my plan for a floating shelf was a waste of time

Shoutout to the cheap paint that ruined my kitchen cabinets

Finally tried that painter's tape trick on my baseboards after freehanding them for years...

Shoutout to my neighbor Frank for changing my mind about laminate

My basement floor drain backed up during a heavy rain last Tuesday

My deck railing gave out during a family cookout

My neighbor in Phoenix told me his deck collapsed because he skipped the joist hangers

My bathroom floor tile cracked right down the middle after a year

I used to think painting a room was a weekend job until last month

My brother-in-law swore by using a 3/4 inch plywood subfloor, but my contractor friend said it was overkill for my old house in Portland.