DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Best DIY Screwups?

Since we've bought a house we've been doing a lot of DIY work. We've painted five rooms of various sizes, redid shelves that needed anchors, and a few other things.

Yesterday we took on the task of refinishing some end tables and a coffee table. We inherited them from the people bought the house and the color scheme didn't match our furniture. We decided to sand them down to take off the finish, and then stain/ polyurethane them black.

At first I thought I needed to paint, but I found black stain/polyurethane combo at the hardware store. So I figured that would do the trick without black paint. We opened the can, and it turned out it was just stain with a hint of black. So I rushed to the hardware store, bought some black paint, and called it a night after we coated the end tables.

This morning I took the pieces outside while my wife redid some painting on the coffee table. I started putting on the mixture, still clear on the brush, and then I moved to the second end table. The liquid was getting a little bit lower in the other can, so I have to dip the brush in further. After dipping the brush in further, out comes a very black tip of the brush. Stupid me didn't realzie you have to shake and mix the stain/polyurethane can. So I redid the other one after I finished the second.

I sure hope we enjoy our black as night with a slight shine furniture!

Any of you have some great DIY goof ups from your life?

This is exactly what I worry about when hammering or drilling into drywall.

Ya know how you're supposed to "call before you dig"?

Turns out, there's a reason for that.

Putting a deck on our first house. Using a 2 man auger. Hit the gas line - just nicked it, no leak, thankfully.

Putting a deck on this house, in front. Chewed up the wire for the outside light.

Putting a partial privacy fence in at this house. Hit the drain tile for our downspouts.

Putting a basketball hoop up.......drilled into another drain tile.

Never assume conduit. Go into your attic and look to see what the wiring is like. If it’s in conduit up there, chances are good it’s in the walls too. If not, know the wiring will follow a stud in the wall. Always know where your studs are before you cut anything. Then, don’t use a sawzall on sheetrock. It’s easy enough to cut with a hand blade or razor knife that you can use without attacking it with such a brutal tool.

Rule one of DIY..

If you finish the project and never once bled, got shocked, smashed part of you with a hammer, or smacked your head on something when you stood up, then most likely you did your project wrong and it will collapse in 3 days.

j/c:

I am pretty handy. I have tons of tools and do almost all my own work. However, I always do a ton of research before starting a new project. It's always good to see how other people do things.

YouTube is great for these types of projects. For example, I have built a huge pool storage box and a new shed this summer. I knew how to do both, but I found some really good tips.

If you can read and/or follow directions, you can learn to do about anything. Seriously, take advantage of the internet in general and YouTube in particular. But, don't just go to one source. Research as many as you can and look for themes that are woven like threads across multiple sources.

With due respect to Florida Fan, the first rule of home repair is:

When you screw up a plumbing job, somebody gets wet. When you screw up an electrical job, somebody gets dead. Call a pro for electrical repairs.

"Felt good about not hitting any wires."

I'm a planner also. I've gutted every room in my house at least twice in the 30yrs I've lived here. Despite all the planning and calculating, most of the major projects cost twice as much and took twice as long as I planned. Make sure you take overages in time and money into account.

One thing I'll freely admit...I have really become less motivated to do the work myself as I get older. Back in the day, when the boss(wife) would get an idea, I'd get excited and plan out exactly how to do it. Now when she gets an idea, I get heartburn.

I enjoy learning and figuring things out. I also get a good feeling when I do things myself. Well, after the fact. LOL

You mentioned one thing that I struggle with. The jobs I do always take much, much longer than what they are supposed to. My wife claims that is because I am a perfectionist and I go overboard making sure everything is just right. I guess that is part of it, but I also think some of those things don't come naturally to me. I have to learn by doing and making mistakes.

Anyway..............I don't want to derail the thread, but I read the OP and a couple of others and just wanted to say that researching will help solve a lot of the unknown things that come w/doing it yourself.

I totally wired my barn/shop. Very little experience. No shocks.

I've replaced windows on the main floor of our house.

On my old house, I tore off 2 layers of shingles and re-roofed it. I also re-sided it, tearing off the cedar siding, blew insulation in the walls.............then re sided it. The only help I had was my uncle that told me how to do the starter strip at the bottom.

The guy that bought that house when I sold it had a high dollar builder put an addition on. To this day, I'm amazed how good my siding on that house looks, and how bad the high dollar dude's siding looks.

But, like Jfan, I am now of the mind to pay someone else to do things like siding, and roofing, as well as other things. I just don't have it in me like I did when I was younger.

Yeah, I roofed my shed............but my roofing days on a house are long gone.

I wish we had Youtube back in the day. All I had was the Time-Life series of books on home improvement and what info I could get from my dad and friends. Those books really bailed me out at times and were full of good info. I still look at them sometimes when I run into a specific issue like cutting molding or something. But for the most part, there's a Youtube video for just about anything.

Still have some of those Time Life DIY books... Jam packed full of helpful stuff!

Now I subscribe to Family Handyman - love that mag.

We're cut from the same cloth here bro. Things have to be pretty much perfect or I feel like I wasted my time.

I've made plenty of goofs but I'm all about planning, taking your time to do five-star work.

My brother-in-law and father-in-law are the exact opposite... "Get 'er done!" Bottom line is they are about the best dudes in the world, but always in a terrible hurry. We butt heads if we're working on my house lol. That's why it usually amounts to... "Need any help?" "Nope, I'm good"... Pops is such a kind hearted guy that I usually plan projects around him because I know he wants to help. Get most of it done while he's playing golf - and then ask for a hand putting things back together when he gets home.

I've rehabbed two of my own homes now. First one was a mess (starter home), second was bought at an auction and was going to be a flip. By the time I was about halfway done, my wife fell in love and wanted to keep it.

Started with plaster walls and got pretty good with drywall. Boy oh boy, that's a trade where you pay your dues lol. Now that I'm good, all the relatives give me a buzz. Sucks because I can't stand it but usually do it anyway. Acquired some good tools, got pretty proficient with trim and woodwork. I like the fact that it challenges me and I always keep learning. Last few projects it seems like everything "clicks", gives you a lot of pride in everything you've learned.

*************

Probably my worst goof was working on a drop ceiling in my bar. A lot of it was tight against some return air ducts. I was basically switching out a previous system for black grid and tiles. I was about 3/4 done and pushing a little to hard to get one to fit against the duct...

BOOM! The entire system crashes down. Destroyed half the tiles, bent up rails, face full of dust and about knocked me off the ladder.

What did I learn? Well, I knew that things would be tight around the ducts and I knew it was okay and workable because there was a previous system in place... What I didn't think about is structural integrity, and the fact that it doesn't exist until the entire grid is full. I should have filled in everything around the perimeter, even if only in checkerboard fashion, before I worked with the troublesome tiles.

You live and you learn!

I'm a 'do it right' person. My wife is a perfectionist.

Replacing windows..........she was all worked up because there were some gaps (not to the outside, mind you). I had to tell her "that's where the trim comes in."

Finishing our garage. "Arch, your panels aren't reaching all the way to the top, OR the bottom. There's like almost a half inch of gap." Yeah, that's what the trim is for.

Building our deck out front.....her "that board isn't straight." I know. I'm not putting that board down, I'm putting THIS board down, and it's straight. I probably don't need your help.


I did, on purpose, put 1 , I don't know how to describe it. Putting up a railing on the deck. We bought pre-fab railing posts?? I guess that s the best way to describe it. I purposely put 1 support rail in upside down, just to piss her off. It did, but she didn't say anything for 2 years.

DON'T DO IT.

When I built my pool bar, I ran trenched and run all the plumbing and electric, including adding a new circuit to the fuse panel to keep it on a separate circuit.

But as I've mentioned in other threads, I had uncles in all the trades that I learned a lot from growing up, and always had a source when I had questions.

As long as you do it right, and do it to code, then there should be no issue.

Several years back, I was remodeling a bathroom for my aunt.
It was a complete gut to the studs type of remodel.

Part of the remodel was removing the old tub and turning it into a walk-in shower. To do this, I had to tear out the old wet wall and frame up a new one, which included replacing the exhaust fan that was in there.

In this pic, you can see the wire that fed power to the fan, and the separate bare ground wire, wrapped around the shower head riser shortly after demolition: pic 1

And, another view: pic 2


To set the background, I was doing this remodel in an old Lakewood century home that did not have A/C, in August, and it was like 90 degrees and humid, and the bathroom had no window.... so, when I was in there working, it was HOT and I sweated a LOT. Every day, I came out of there drenched completely through with sweat.

So, during the process of wiring up the new fan, after framing up the new wall, I was sweating my ass off. I'd done plenty of electrical before, and 110v has never bothered me because I'm generally very careful of being mindful of the wires in front of me, so I rarely shied away from working on a hot circuit. Well, this day was a little different because as I was working, and I was sweating my butt off, I was completely unaware that in the process of shuffling around that bare copper ground wire had flopped forward as I was holding the Romex with the hot & neutral in it. Completely unbeknownst to me, when it flopped forward, the end of the wire came to rest in my zipper area.... just about the time my sweaty knuckles brushed against the hot.

Wham! 110v right to The Tip.
That was in 2011.... I have not worked on a live circuit since

Horrifying and hilarious at the same time.

Every time I cut myself on a project, I say the same thing: "a little bit of me goes into everything I do."

You should title that story, The Day the One-Eyed Jack Went Blind.

Not your normal game of "just the tip"!

My favorite DIY line: "I cut it twice and it's still too short".

Sounds like a Lorena Bobbit quote.

How long does poly urethane stain smell? I couldn’t find anything else in town other than poly stain, so I know it wasn’t exactly optimal to use.

The can tells me it should dry in 6 hours. It’s been close to 24 and both end tables smell a bit.

Depends on ventilation and other environmental factors. But, a few days is normal.

A bit of advice about staining and poly.

--I noticed you mentioned shaking the stain in your first post. I wouldn't do that. Stir it. Shaking can lead to bubbles and you don't want those nasty critters on your wood.

--Oil based stains and polyurethane work best. But, they have harmful vapors. Always try to use them outside or in your garage. If you don't have a garage, maybe try a porch. I would not recommend applying them w/in the house.

--There are water based stains and polycrylic. Neither smell, but don't protect quite as well and you can't use them for things that will get wet.

--Always use two oil products together or two water-based products together. For example, an oil based stain w/polyurethane or a water-based stain w/polycrylic. Don't use one oil-based product w/a water-based product.

--Stir frequently. Try not to saturate your brushes or other applicators. I like the dry-brush technique the best. Of course, you will need to apply multiple coats. I typically apply 3 for inside projects and 4 for outside projects. You can get away w/two for things that are traffic free, such as wooden signs, picture frames, etc.

--Make sure to follow the directions on whether or not to sand between coats and how long to wait between coats. Also, most stains ask you to rub them off. The longer the stain remains on the wood, the darker it will be.

--Lastly, take your time. Consider it an art project where you are creating something beautiful, rather than just getting a job done.

Actually, before anyone gets on my case......I really like some of the varnishes to finish a project......but, I was just trying to offer some advice to Rocket and other beginners.

Also, you might want to look into chalk paint. It provides good coverage and it is very easy to use. If you like modern things w/colors like blues, greens, shades of white, black, etc instead of a traditional wood look, chalk paint might be a good option for you. The shabby-chic thing is pretty popular right now and it's easy to capture the distressed look w/chalk paint.

First toilet I ever plumbed was connected to hot water.

Are toilets normally connected to hot water...?

That toilet could be a big hit with hemorrhoid sufferers.

I have never had a DIY screwup.

I'm gonna guess that you have the same rule about DIY jobs that my Dad had:

There's two kinds of home improvement jobs. There's the ones I can afford to pay a pro to do, and there's those that can't be done.

In most cases yes lol

Be thankful it wasn't a bidet, lol!

At least you won't have that cold toilet seat on a cold winters night. The bowl will be toasty warm, and probably steam your behind clean if you stay seated when you flush.

I bet that would actually be kinda nice in winter, lol!