What has been your biggest DIY disaster ?
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We all have made some mistake while doing a project. What was your biggest disaster and how did you fix it?
12 answers
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I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I think it's an important message for others to think about. Never use a framing nail gun if you have to hold the pieces together with one arm stretched in front the business end of the gun. My hubby sent me in to get dinner started, but instead of doing other things he thought he'd go ahead and keep nailing the frame together for the screened in porch we were working on. I barely got inside when he came in holding one hand in the other saying "I think we have a little problem". I turned and saw his precious blood dripping on a white kitchen tile. The nail gun had double shot and a nail went right through one of his fingers on his left hand. It was not pretty.
Z
on Jan 21, 2013
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Yikes, that is a good lesson.
3po3
on Jan 21, 2013
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A very painful one. Those nails have ridges on them so it had to be somewhat unscrewed out.
Z
on Jan 21, 2013
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A very painful lesson to learn !
The Phoenix Wood Co
on Jan 22, 2013
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I'm thinking no one is willing to admit to a DIY disaster @Phoenix. I'm sure if I asked my hubby he could think of something. I tend to forget things like that. Now if you were asking about our first outings with our recently purchased boat, I could think of quite a few. You might get the idea by the name I came up with for her... "Miss Adventure". Which is a play on words since they were more "misadventure".
Z
on Jan 22, 2013
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@Z, ummmm.....been to the ER 2x with the husband due to his work and a nail gun. Lucky both times. One was in the finger years ago and then another in his thigh. He's an accident just waiting to happen.
Becky P
on Jan 23, 2013
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Yikes @ once was more than enough for me. I think if that happened again I'd never let him use it again. I pray and watch him like a hawk each time we use power tools since. We do enjoy using all our power tools, but they scare the heck out of me at the same time. I'll use the finish nailer and have used most of our other power tools, but I refuse to use the framing nail gun. It's scary even when it's not plugged into the air compressor for me now.
Z
on Jan 23, 2013
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Ouch! I read the title and was going to say - 'The time my husband drilled into my leg!' - but your story makes mine look more like a minor mishap.
Bernice Wood
on Feb 21, 2015
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I was thinking there would be stories of cabinets crashing off the walls or pink paint turning puke brown.....I never thought about nail gun disasters! Yikes! Yep, the winner is Becky's husband, twice!!!!!!!!!
Deb Martin Knaff
on Jun 04, 2015
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1-Our first atempt at putting down a subfloor, hammering nails by hand every 2 inches, 2-Renting a heavy hopper (holding it overhead) to re-stucco a popcorn ceiling (it was an expert's suggestion...supposed to be easier than painting...NOT!!!)...We ended up making a bigger mess, and later scraped it all off. :) We were young and foolish.
B. Enne
on Jun 04, 2015
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we completely gutted a bathroom, moved the toilet (with plumber's help), put in completely-tiled 6' x 3' shower ourselves (poured concrete base, built new wall for plumbing, put in cement board and tiled), new vanity etc. etc. etc. When we went to put the trim on the door, we realized that we could not open the drawers in the vanity - we had left no clearance between the end of the vanity and the wall. We thought about it for ages, and just painted a door jamb onto the wall directly!
Jeanette S
on Dec 28, 2015
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I wanted an orange accent wall in my kitchen and would brook no "think about this" pessimistic talk from my husband. I picked out the paint, there are a lot of oranges, and put on the first coat. I should have listened to my inner self then but no, that was only the first coat, that never looks good, so put on the second and third. I dont know if I thought it would get "better" or what but it was so awful. All those oranges and I picked the very worst one it seemed. I admitted defeat. I don't remember how I found out but I found I could peel this paint off like wallpaper and it stretched like plastic wrap. I had pictures but since deleted them. It took a lot of time peeling my orange. It was like I'd put latex over oil. Anyway, it got repainted a soft "chicken hearted" green and decorated with some great prints with orange in them. We are about to repaint the cabinets and walls but maybe this time I will try chartreuse.
Lori
on Jan 04, 2016
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