Comments on: Contest: DIY Disaster

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:51:29 +0000

As a tradesman from the cleaning industry I was recently involved in a sewridge/water damage where we required the help of a plumber.

Unfortunately the first plumber to arrive turned up with a premise of a relatively cheap price but no sooner did he arrive and the price he mentioned over the phone hit the up and up by a staggering amount. When we asked him to leave he tried to hit us with a call out fee…what a joke.

The good news for us is we eventually utilised the services of a wonderful company that had their act together.

The lesson here is don’t hire a plumber just because they offer a cheap price. Always ask qualifying questions like:

Are you insured? what guarantee do you offer? How committed are you to finishing my job before you go off to start another.

By asking these questions we hired the man for the job and had the plumbing fixed within an hour and a half so we could then start our work.

By: Tom In Indy

Tom In Indy — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 19:47:04 +0000

Two bits on advice from an old sage who has been updating and improving houses for over three decades now…

Read (no, MEMORIZE) the installation manual that came with your project piece before you start on it. Wait a day, if you can, read it again, and be sure you have all the tools it calls for and any extra parts necessary for the installation…speeds us the project. Oh, and as one of the submitters on this site intoned “don’t do it drunk!”
Invest in a good tool set from one of the major manufacturers…not some cheapie set. Invest in a good 12 volt (plus!) cordless power drill, and a quality bit set as well…you won’t regret it! (When I started working and earning my own money way back in my high school days, I invested weekly in a quality tool, usually on sale, to build up my toolbox. Over 35 years later, I still use these tools, and value them!)

Good Luck with all your projects, and work smarter, not harder!

By: Pamela White

Pamela White — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:10:03 +0000

My husband and I needed to replace wallboard. My husband started to cut the wallboard while I was at work. He used a saber saw. There was plaster dust everywhere. All over the house. I had to tell him all he needed was a utility knife.Then I spent the next 8 hours vacuuming and dusting.

By: Nicholas Roussos

Nicholas Roussos — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:45:51 +0000

Well, the contest is closed (no further comments will be entered). I’ve enjoyed all the entries. Some are helpful and others are humors. So keep posting them (even thought the contest is over) because we still love to hear your stories.

Also, if you didn’t get in, it’s alright, we’ll be running a new contest in just a few days.

By: tammy christiansen

tammy christiansen — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:06:59 +0000

our disaster was the time my husband got done with a remodeling project of drywalling a room and only to discover he drywalled his flat bar in the new ceiling.

By: Angela Thompson

Angela Thompson — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:20:55 +0000

As with Crystal, we tried to save money putting a storage building together. After several hours we went and bought a power screwdriver

By: Samantha freeman

Samantha freeman — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 03:21:07 +0000

year after year in the fall we put the pool cover over the pool to keep the blowing leaves out, and every year while trying to take it off we lose everything that has collected on it back into the pool. well needless to say that this year was no different expect with the exception that not only did we get all those nast leaves and pine needles to fall in anyhow the hubby went in with em.. thank god for digital technology..lol

By: C S

C S — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:29:38 +0000

We were camping out in our house during remodeling and trying to use the clothes washer with a garden hose as input in front of the garage. Somehow, that didn’t work out so well and that washer croaked. It was back to hand washing for the duration.

By: Alecia Gibson

Alecia Gibson — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:24:14 +0000

My parents decided to try to level their house by themselves. After they got it level, they realized that everything else became crooked: the woodwork, windows, etc. They ended up selling the crooked house for a loss.

By: Timothy Sternberg

Timothy Sternberg — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:46:23 +0000

My cyclone fence was looking very shabby so I decided to paint it.