Most frustrating DIY job you've ever done?

[paulwirral]

roofer said:

Cutting this tile in took 3 hours of my life and half a box of tiles. I fekkin hate tiling !

Four inch angle grinder laid on it's side , score the front around its arc with the side of the blade then do the same on the backside of the tile until it cuts through , though I'm guessing you worked it out just before you got half way through the box ?

[Bill]

Drilling an 18" stone wall to put the cables through from the TV. I rented a core bit and it took me an hour to get most of the way through before it jammed.

It took three hours of chipping away at the other side in a small cupboard to free it.

[paulwirral]

justanother5tar said:

£10 for a piece of plastic to replace a licked finger?

Exactly this , use the thinnest bead possible with a wet fat finger , ask your wife to help if your mouths dry due to nerves !

[Brother D]

C0ffin D0dger said:

justanother5tar said:

NorthDave said:

C0ffin D0dger said:

I too used to hate all things silicon until I discovered these: http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-smoothing-to...

Makes the job so easy.

As for frustrating jobs I've encountered - frankly too many to list

Or fairy liquid and a finger.

£10 for a piece of plastic to replace a licked finger?

Got mine in Lidl for less than that but I'd never been able to master the old fairy + finger technique probably due to my big uncoordinated (clumsy) hands.

My single and best piece of advice with silicone sealant.

Masking tape. Just mask out edges with masking tape, apply bead, wipe with finger.

Perfect edges, perfect straight lines, peel off when wet and absolutely perfect every time it looks unreal.

[TheExcession]

Bill said:

Drilling an 18" stone wall to put the cables through from the TV. I rented a core bit and it took me an hour to get most of the way through before it jammed.

It took three hours of chipping away at the other side in a small cupboard to free it.

Feck yeah, I did that on an install once in an old farm house, and it took longer than an hour to drill the hole. This was more like a 3 foot wall - my arms, wrists and fingers were numb for days. I didn't jam the drill bit though, just kept pulling the drill out to clear the dust. Weird being sat on the floor with 3 feet of drill wobbling around in front you and having to shuffle back and forth to clear the hole.

[roofer]

paulwirral said:

Four inch angle grinder laid on it's side , score the front around its arc with the side of the blade then do the same on the backside of the tile until it cuts through , though I'm guessing you worked it out just before you got half way through the box ?

Nope, did it with a wet table cutter, sliced into the radius then nibbled and filed.

[paulwirral]

That would account for the time and tiles , try my method next time , works a treat , a time served tiler stood and watched me do it once then called me a fking smartarse . Works a treat around a toilet waste if you can see it . Always do the grind from the back side though .

[bazza white]

muppetdave said:

Anything in our house where we live....

Sounds mad, but bear with me! The previous owner, if they have touched anything, have bodged it to the nth degree. A 'simple' job is never, ever simple. I'm not saying I am the world's best DIYer, but given the right tools, I'm reasonably capable. But any time I have to do anything here, the work will undoubtedly take twice as long and leave me scratching my head. I am in awe of people who do good DIY/building work (PVApour, Scottish Schoold building chap and Muncher are my heroes!)!

Same here everything in the house we are in is bodged, the easiest of tasks takes turns into 5 jobs that need doing.

Decided to clean the shower cubicle a few weeks back, took it apart to clean as the seals were green and it wasn't fitted properly. Well it took 2 of us 9 hours to clean and put the bodged unit back together. Nearly cried several times as the door just wouldn't line up. Its now fitted perfectly for the first time.

[dazwalsh]

I don't really give it enough time to get annoying, before I go ballistic and the hammer comes out

• whack* you bd! *whack*.

now its a clean slate and much less annoying albeit more expensive

The most expensive of my outbreaks was merely trying to remove a bath tap, yet could not for the life of me get in behind the bath with any tools as it was a mess of copper, flexible and waste pipes.

Ended up needing a new bath as I put a mighty big hole in it.

After that I discovered the most wonderful of plumbing tools, the double ended backnut box spanner.

[jas xjr]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Fitting new toilet seats last night..
fking stupid fittings meant you could not tighten them up enough to prevent wobble.

all off again. boxed up. GTF and back to the old ones.

I mean seriously. Fitting toilet seat fail..

You can buy conical shaped washers that prevent this.