General Discussion > Welcome and General Discussion
DIY Horror stories
surfhb:
I design and author Blu Rays and DVDs. Had a producer go out on his own after I gave him my fair rate and he delivered the incorrect file set while having a replicator who didn't bother to have any a amount of due diligence.
Long story short, he spent $20,000 on discs that failed to play on people's players and were placed on retail shelves around the world. I think he's still in court on this
webguy:
I was recently using paint stripper to try to remove paint from my deck. I poured the paint stripper into a small plastic tub so that I could apply it with a brush. I then left that plastic tub containing paint stripper on my laminate kitchen floor over night. The next morning I went to continue stripping my deck to find that the paint stripper had eaten through the bottom of the plastic tub along with an 8" square patch of the surface of my laminate floor. I'm yet to figure out how to repair it.
seanc0x0:
My DIY horror story is how a $60,000 house ended up with $230,000 worth of renovations.
First a little back-story. Way back in 1992, my dad bought a house to rent out. He kept this place until 2008, when he decided to divest himself of the place, selling it to us for what was left on it. The house was pretty much perfect for my wife and I... huge yard, relatively small, great neighbourhood. The only problem is that it was a little on the run-down side. But hey, we were only paying the $60000 left on the mortgage and closing fees. Similar houses in the area were going for $325k+, so we'd do some renos and get it all fixed up nice and pretty and be way ahead of the game, right?
We started the reno by ripping out the basement suite. It predated my dad's ownership and was not really legal under the current code anyway, so no big loss. This was relatively easily accomplished by hiring a dumpster and buying a couple cases of beer and inviting my brothers-in-law over for a smashing good time. So far so good.
The next step was to gut the upstairs. This house was built in 1952 and used stone-lath and plaster upstairs, which made it hard going. But we got it done. This is where the whole thing went off the rails. Turns out the previous owners had decided they wanted a bigger kitchen, so they moved the kitchen wall over about 2 feet. This wall ran the length of the house, originally, and was directly over another wall in the basement. People who understand terms like 'load-bearing' will be wincing about now, but not the previous owner! Just move that wall on over, no biggie!
There were some external indications of the problem, that had I known then what I know now, I would have questioned. For instance, the stucco on the back of the house has a crack at the top of the poured foundation that runs almost exactly the length of the kitchen (and the moved load bearing wall). This was my first house though, and since it was so cheap I didn't question like I should have.
Anyway, we had to get a contractor in to fix the issue. By then I was stressed out and tired of the whole thing, so I got them to do the rest of the reno as well. They originally quoted $80000 to fix the problem and do the basic reconstruction, but every time we turned around another problem would crop up. I got used to phone calls costing about $10k.
In the end, we spent $230,000 to fix everything, the bulk of that being to satisfy the structural engineer. By the end we had a great house that was exactly the way we wanted it, and still came in around the average price for a similar house in the same neighbourhood without all the work. I still consider the move a win, but talk about a stressful start to the new place! I'm now a lot more reluctant to think "oh, that'll be a snap to do myself".
jordanread:
For me, only one thing was a disaster, and only the first 3 times I tried it: tiling. I initially tiled a kitchen in an old house I had, and didn't do enough research...what is this cement board people keep talking about? Obviously, the tile started coming up about 3 days later. I redid it the following weekend, still without researching, and decided to use a mortar with some type of epoxy...reused the tiles, and all was good...for a week or two...then I decided to say screw it, and tried to polish the subfloor (pretty sure I was drunk), once again without doing research. It didn't work that well, and the moldy spots pretty much dissolved. New house, actual research, and it turned out great, with the exception of some slight give in the subfloor. Cracked the grout, but manageable. We're redoing the floor in the whole house before we rent it out next year, and since then I did the bathroom on my own, doing a mosaic out of all the left over tile, and that was damn near perfect. I continue to get better, and now I research a lot more before trying something new. :-) Live and learn.
Joggernot:
--- Quote from: webguy on August 10, 2014, 12:22:22 PM ---I was recently using paint stripper to try to remove paint from my deck. I poured the paint stripper into a small plastic tub so that I could apply it with a brush. I then left that plastic tub containing paint stripper on my laminate kitchen floor over night. The next morning I went to continue stripping my deck to find that the paint stripper had eaten through the bottom of the plastic tub along with an 8" square patch of the surface of my laminate floor. I'm yet to figure out how to repair it.
--- End quote ---
Similar problem here. I used brake cleaner to clean some parts on the kitchen table. I thoughtfully put down a couple layers of newspaper to soak up any extra cleaner. When I was done I lifted the newspaper to throw it away and lo' the finish had been completely stripped from the nice oak table. After suitable discussions with the wife, I ended up completely stripping and refinishing the table. Still looks good, and the brake cleaner stays in the garage.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version