Figured I’d discuss a couple of failures and maybe get some advice on how to either fix them or keep them from happening again.
First, while doing the dishes one morning I noticed water dripping….from the ceiling. Ugggh. I’m REALLY not comfortable with plumbing work, so I call a reasonable, reliable plumber. Later that day I have no leak (WOOHOO!!!), but do have a giant hole in my kitchen ceiling (DOH!!!). I go to patch it myself, but the joists and framing are not quite even so I can’t get the new piece of drywall to be even with the existing drywall. Oh, and we’re having a big holiday party the next day too, so I only have a couple of hours to get something up and covering that hole before moving on to the other 10,000 tasks that need my attention that day. Now there’s a crooked, ugly ass piece of drywall above the sink taunting me 10 times a day.
Next, I discover that the fuel filter on my 99 Mercury Grand Marquis is leaking. I look up some videos on youtube, check some forums, discover it’s a super easy fix and a ten dollar part. BOOYAH!!! Get under the car, pull out one side of the fuel line with no trouble at. Go to pull the other side out, and after five minutes of grunting, twisting and turning, the fuel line snaps.
They were both pretty crushing to my DIY mentality. I went in expecting a fairly simple, low cost repair, but came out with a lot of frustration and extra cost after making things worse. Having better tools would have helped (a better jack and jack stands would have allowed me to get a better angle to pull that fuel filter), but I also think that a lack of experience was a problem too. You can buy better tools, but my opportunities to gain experience making similar repairs is limited. Now I have those little lingering doubts about my DIY projects, wondering if I’ll really be saving money or just making things worse and more expensive.
Looking forward to your responses.