Answers to Everyday Questions : What was your worst DIY disaster ever?

What was your worst DIY disaster ever?

22 Responses to “What was your worst DIY disaster ever?”

1. alcatraz said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 1:27 pm

   i got some timber to put on the kitchen roof,to make it look like the old beams you get in farm houses? i lay-ed them in the garden on bricks,and put some petrol on them,lit them to get rid of all the burred out wood,this was going fine until i was pouring on some more when the wife shouted me,i turned round,still with petrol in hand,it caught the flame,and before i knew it i had flames running up my back? i didn’t get seriously hurt,but my ribs were later with laughing about it?
   as the saying goes..play with fire you get burnt?
2. Choclover said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 1:28 pm

   My husband and a drill – say no more!!
3. jammys said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 2:18 pm

   i was turning my old boiler cupboard in to a wardrobe, drilled the holes for the clothes pole , fitted the pole thought I’d done a good job, came out of the bedroom and noticed a pile of plaster on the floor, didn’t realise the wall was that thin n drilled right through to the other side . its still like it now lol
4. D said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 2:44 pm

   Hire a professional its cheaper in the long run
5. Vikki said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 3:26 pm

   This was my ex-husband’s DIY disaster (hence he is now my ex-husband). A few years ago when the Sony Wide Screen flat Screen TVs came out, i was determined to get one so i saved up for ages. I eventually bought one and he said he’d fix it up on the wall in the conservatory. He took ages but it looked great once it was up. I came home from work and fell asleep on the sofa in the conservatory cos i’d just done a 12 hour shift and was tired. I nearly died when the damn thing fell off the wall and smashed to bits on the stone floor – thankfully it wasn’t switched on at the time. I was so upset as it was in bits, all smashed up. It had only been on the wall for about 20 mins when it pulled half the wall down too. Never got another one after that and i didn’t even have the chance to watch it before it smashed! Good luck in your DIY this weekend!
6. teesquareddesign said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 3:52 pm

   i was putting a closet organizer in my closet. i removed the shelf & rod and made a HUGE hole. I didn’t know how to patch the big hole (only knew how to fill tiny nail holes from pictures)… I tried to stuff newspaper in the hole (about 2″diam.) then put spackle over it.. needless to say, the newspaper kept falling through the wall and to the ground everytime id try to put spackle on!!
   the wall to this day is still soft in those areas.
7. OrakTheBold said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 4:09 pm

   Rent “The Money Pit” starring Tom Hanks, or the original
   “Mister Blandings Builds His Dream House” starring Cary Grant.
8. Frogz said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 4:28 pm

   i once killed myself when installing a bird bath
   and i didnt even have life insurance
   how was i suppost to pay the witchdoctor to bring me back to life?!
9. Homosex Is Wrong said :
   May 31st, 2010 at 5:22 pm

   Wrestling a PVC sump pump line. It broke and a jagged edge jabbed me right under my left eye. I bled like a stuck hog. An inch higher and that eye would be gone.
10. luludoodie said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 5:39 pm

    In the summer a few years ago we had a new bedroom carpet fitted (professionally).

    Before the fitter came I stripped out the old carpet and found the creaking floorboards that had annoyed us for years and nailed them down.

    Life was bliss – new carpet and no creaks!

    During the (cold) autumn weeks later we suddenly noticed our lounge ceiling was bowing and starting to drip water!

    I had nailed down the floorboards – and put a nail through the radiator supply pipe! Because the central heating was not used in the summer (and the nail sealed the hole) we did not get any problems.

    When the weather got cold and the pumped (hot) water to the radiator started the pipe expanded and leaked!
11. Don said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    While sanding a large door slab, with a belt sander, a breaker tripped. Naturally I walked over to the panel box, and re-set the breaker. Immediately the belt sander started to bounce between the stiles and rails, putting huge dents and grooves. I had left the trigger locked on. Those things can really move!
12. magic said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 6:33 pm

    I fitted a bathroom cabinet on the wall above the bath and after the room had got steamy a few times the cabinet fell of the wall into the bath putting a hole in it fortunately there wasn’t any water in it at the time or anyone having a bath. A very expensive mistake to repair.
13. cheezy said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 7:15 pm

    I just do little things around the house like mudding & painting the walls. hub does the major improvements.
    we have a loft in our garage (which is awesome–it’s a double sized garage). when we bought this house, the only access up to the loft was by going up a homemade stepladder left by the previous owners.
    we decided proper steps were needed & went & bought all the supplies. Hub worked hard on them & called me out to look once finished.
    the opening to the loft is approximately 3 feet wide. For whatever reason, hub decided to make the steps half as wide. I looked at them & said it doesn’t look safe, someone will fall. Nonsense! said hub. ya just gotta pay attention when you’re using them.
    Later that day, it was hub who fell from the loft (I heard him land from the kitchen) I rushed out to find him in a pile on the cement floor. he was ok–very shaken up tho. his butt landed on a metal pail & smunched it pretty good. had a massive bruise from that but suprisingly, no broken bones.
    The stairs are now spanning the full width of the opening.
14. william v said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 7:48 pm

    THE EVILS OF EXPANDING FOAM!!!!!
    The very first prehung door I ever installed was set on a concrete floor that sloped about 3/4 of an inch across the opening. After the usual plumbing and leveling of the unit, I discovered I had a large gap under the composite threshold.
    Amazingly enough I had heard about this new product just out in an aerosol can that on could use to fill such a void.
    So after a quick trip to town for 1 can of foam and 6 cans of suds, I was fillin` holes!!!
    Needless to say, after a few cold ones, while allowing the product to do its job, I discovered I could only close the door about half way.
    Guess what I had to do? Yep reset the door!!!!!
15. verbalkint said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    years ago i said i could hang wall paper I couldnt then, so I hung 7 rolls of wall paper in my mates living room went to bed next morning all the paper had rolled off i made the paste to thin, I paid her for the paper and then we fel out,
16. estianut said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 8:07 pm

    I was seventeen and it was New Year day. I was on leave from the Navy.
    I thought I’d do mum a favour by painting the dining room ceiling.
    Balancing on top of the step ladder with paint and roller, I was suddenly disturbed by my visiting best friend who kindly passes up a rum bottle, I lean back to take a swig.
    The ladder collapses and I fall on my back to the ground, still clutching the bottle. The paint tray and roller quickly follow and land on my face.
    I swear vehemently as the mater enters the room.
    She stares at me, at the mess, and bursts into tears before saying “that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you swear”
    She hurriedly leaves the room.
    I start giggling.
    My friend starts giggling.
    We ‘loose it’
    In waves of hysterical laughter we roll around in the paint, until the whole room is mono-colour and we can’t breathe or see for the fumes.
17. bubblelator said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    I had to paint a whole bunch of lattice panels white (and forget painting them with a brush, you would go crazy and it would take days). So……instead of spraying them I decided to fill a big “kiddy pool” with the oil based white paint and “dip” them! I got more paint on everything in the backyard AND me then I almost did on the panels. They all dried with this nice drippy stalactite effect.
18. FidelityElectric.com said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 9:17 pm

    2 story remodel with a crazy homeowner who changed her mind every 5 minutes…

    The roof was removed and the three months of rain began…

    sand bags in the house with all their property in the garage covered with visqueen…Tack onto this that the woman was a packrat and had all the rooms stacked to the ceiling with junk….
19. troble # one? said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    not
20. paulj2 said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    Pulling a toilet that was leaking from the second floor and finding the sub floor and the joists were completly gone —rotted!! of course I discovered this by stepping on the floor near the waste opening, which had been covered by the base of the toilet, and putting my foot thru the ceiling of the bath below removing in the process about 4 sq ft of ceiling plaster & lath.
    It was a 2 flat. Most embarassing.
21. A D said :
    May 31st, 2010 at 10:46 pm

    Halfway through building my last extension I was barrowing up some waste on scaffold boards to tip into the skip, I got more or less to the top of the planks and could not manage to tip the barrow, so it went one way and I went the other into the skip and ended up with a bit of metal angle bead in my elbow. Went up the hospital everything alright now. The moral of this story is never overload your barrow and know your limitations!
22. Ugg Special Style Boots said :
    October 26th, 2011 at 2:43 am

    I happily completed the transaction only to receive the products and realize they were a counterfeit.