Tell us about your self-inflicted DIY cock-ups
Discussion
Many years ago helping a neighbour build an indoor swimming pool.
Roof is almost finished, bar building the upstand for the skylight. So we agree to empty the pool of rainwater.
Very next day I fall through the hole for the skylight landing in the deep end of the now empty pool. Wake up in the local hospital. Only damage being concussion and a broken elbow.
More recently installing a fence between the front garden of me and neighbour. Making a hole for the fence post with a post hole shovel. Drop them in the hole and there's a large hiss. Yes gone through the next door neighbours gas pipe, obviously the wrong side of the meter so no ability to turn it off.
Luckily the neighbours were away. However British Gas or Transco sent 2 van loads of guys out, possibly as it was a Sunday so they were on double time, to fix the pipe. Only good thing was I had legal cover with my household insurance which paid the bill for fixing it, and as it was legal cover no excess to pay.
Roof is almost finished, bar building the upstand for the skylight. So we agree to empty the pool of rainwater.
Very next day I fall through the hole for the skylight landing in the deep end of the now empty pool. Wake up in the local hospital. Only damage being concussion and a broken elbow.
More recently installing a fence between the front garden of me and neighbour. Making a hole for the fence post with a post hole shovel. Drop them in the hole and there's a large hiss. Yes gone through the next door neighbours gas pipe, obviously the wrong side of the meter so no ability to turn it off.
Luckily the neighbours were away. However British Gas or Transco sent 2 van loads of guys out, possibly as it was a Sunday so they were on double time, to fix the pipe. Only good thing was I had legal cover with my household insurance which paid the bill for fixing it, and as it was legal cover no excess to pay.
Pitre said:
A very, very long time ago (I was about 15) I didn't know you had to turn off the mains to fit a replacement wall light. No expert parent or older relatives around. Got the new one mounted after being thrown across the room. Twice.
That story reminds me of a painter I used to occasionally see on sites. He had false teeth in his 30’s because he blew them all out testing if a cable was live with his tongue 
DickyC said:
It will be the 14th. .
14 tubs?Of Polyfilla?
Was this your kitchen?
I was digging out roots in the front garden with a mattock. With a hefty swoop and a 'chungggggggggg!' sparks bounced off something in the ground, and I think you can work the rest out......
Edited by TimmyMallett on Thursday 9th May 08:52
I’ve got a couple of those kettler plastic sheds.
Anyway used all ok for a while some decent padlocks and the one only recently bought.
So a few saturdays ago I just couldn’t get the padlock to unlock. No matter how much wd40 used it wasn’t budging.
Luckily the angle grinder is kept in the plastic shed !
Anyway tried to use a hacksaw on the padlock but getting nowhere so just hacked the plastic bar to open it. Angle grinder box empty.
So thought it maybe (unlikely as the other has all the gardening stuff in) in the other one. This lock also wasn’t coming undone.
Still can’t find the damn grinder.
Anyway used all ok for a while some decent padlocks and the one only recently bought.
So a few saturdays ago I just couldn’t get the padlock to unlock. No matter how much wd40 used it wasn’t budging.
Luckily the angle grinder is kept in the plastic shed !
Anyway tried to use a hacksaw on the padlock but getting nowhere so just hacked the plastic bar to open it. Angle grinder box empty.
So thought it maybe (unlikely as the other has all the gardening stuff in) in the other one. This lock also wasn’t coming undone.
Still can’t find the damn grinder.
Not me, not DIY, sorry, nonetheless ...
We have two projects on the go at the mo. Fancy greenhouse for wife to prepare us for the coming zombie apocalypse. Big conversation project on ancient timber framed barn.
Digging out the foundations for the greenhouse, out otherwise most excellent builders first managed to hit the water pipe that feeds my MiL's cottage. So now we have a tap inside the greenhouse. Then they managed to hit the oil line to our central heating. So now we have a tonne of contaminated water in an SBC to dispose of. None of us knew the run of the pipes, so it's just one of those things.
For the barn, our otherwise most excellent framer just ordered a load of locally milled lumber to make new rafters and start weather boarding the apex of the gable. It's several cubic meters of lumber. It is exactly as ordered and it is all the wrong length for the barn; a good metre too short. Fortunately he's got another project where he can use the lumber, so it isn't a total financial car crash for him. Just yet more delay for us.
I've been lucky with most of the stuff I've done myself. Jobs are frequently bigger than one expects, but my cock ups have been limited to stuff like not remembering the Hilux had a left handed and a right handed battery. I've managed to buy the wrong batteries twice as a result of that. I also hadn't realised that there were 4 wire and 5 wire 3-port central heating valves (or is it 3 wire and 4 wire??). That cock up was just a challenge and an opportunity to use some relays to interface the valve to the controller and boiler and figure out how CH boilers are actually controlled by timers, thermostats and the valve itself.
"I want the bathroom door to swing into the bedroom, not the bathroom", says wife. Sounds simple enough. Until you realise the door strike is not a plank nailed to the frame, but a step routed out of the frame itself. And then you realise the frame is not set into a stud wall, but is like the goal posts on a rugby pitch and extends into the rafters in the loft. And is infilled with bricks above the door. So removing the frame, rotating it through 180 degrees and then repairing the walls was actually quite a big job. Let's hope the current owner doesn't want the door to swing into the bathroom.
We have two projects on the go at the mo. Fancy greenhouse for wife to prepare us for the coming zombie apocalypse. Big conversation project on ancient timber framed barn.
Digging out the foundations for the greenhouse, out otherwise most excellent builders first managed to hit the water pipe that feeds my MiL's cottage. So now we have a tap inside the greenhouse. Then they managed to hit the oil line to our central heating. So now we have a tonne of contaminated water in an SBC to dispose of. None of us knew the run of the pipes, so it's just one of those things.
For the barn, our otherwise most excellent framer just ordered a load of locally milled lumber to make new rafters and start weather boarding the apex of the gable. It's several cubic meters of lumber. It is exactly as ordered and it is all the wrong length for the barn; a good metre too short. Fortunately he's got another project where he can use the lumber, so it isn't a total financial car crash for him. Just yet more delay for us.
I've been lucky with most of the stuff I've done myself. Jobs are frequently bigger than one expects, but my cock ups have been limited to stuff like not remembering the Hilux had a left handed and a right handed battery. I've managed to buy the wrong batteries twice as a result of that. I also hadn't realised that there were 4 wire and 5 wire 3-port central heating valves (or is it 3 wire and 4 wire??). That cock up was just a challenge and an opportunity to use some relays to interface the valve to the controller and boiler and figure out how CH boilers are actually controlled by timers, thermostats and the valve itself.
"I want the bathroom door to swing into the bedroom, not the bathroom", says wife. Sounds simple enough. Until you realise the door strike is not a plank nailed to the frame, but a step routed out of the frame itself. And then you realise the frame is not set into a stud wall, but is like the goal posts on a rugby pitch and extends into the rafters in the loft. And is infilled with bricks above the door. So removing the frame, rotating it through 180 degrees and then repairing the walls was actually quite a big job. Let's hope the current owner doesn't want the door to swing into the bathroom.
The two paving slabs and in-fill slither slab outside my front door have rocked ever so slightly since we moved in in 2017. It had always annoyed me ever so slightly, but not enough to do anything about it.
After a bout of heavy rain one got slightly worse. Had an odd, quiet afternoon so down to screwfix for a tub of stuff, trowel, and mallet. Watched a youtube guide. Read the instructions on the stuff. Took the old slabs up, scooped, brushed, and vacuumed up the crumbly stuff with a view to "patching" with new and stopping my wobble.
Despite best efforts neither slab (not the in-fill) piece lay flat when dropped back down, and gentle tapping with mallet did absolutely nothing. Got a little annoyed and little taps turned into big taps, that turned into slab number 1 broken into 3. Slab number 2 I got into roughly the right position, and it appeared not to be wobbly. Carefully avoided the area for 24 hours to let it all dry.
I now have one wobbly slab, one broken, wobbly slab, and a wonky in-fill piece. I succeeded only in making things worse.
After a bout of heavy rain one got slightly worse. Had an odd, quiet afternoon so down to screwfix for a tub of stuff, trowel, and mallet. Watched a youtube guide. Read the instructions on the stuff. Took the old slabs up, scooped, brushed, and vacuumed up the crumbly stuff with a view to "patching" with new and stopping my wobble.
Despite best efforts neither slab (not the in-fill) piece lay flat when dropped back down, and gentle tapping with mallet did absolutely nothing. Got a little annoyed and little taps turned into big taps, that turned into slab number 1 broken into 3. Slab number 2 I got into roughly the right position, and it appeared not to be wobbly. Carefully avoided the area for 24 hours to let it all dry.
I now have one wobbly slab, one broken, wobbly slab, and a wonky in-fill piece. I succeeded only in making things worse.
Simpo Two said:
I hacksawed through the rising main.
Win to me I think!
We moved into our house and I was fastening down a few loose floorboards. Without checking first I drilled through the pressurised heating pipe, creating a lovely indoor hot water fountain.Win to me I think!
On Dec 23rd at 6pm. Fortunately the plumber was just on the way to the pub and by funding him enough for all of his drinks he fixed it for me
Thankfully my only contribution is drilling holes for mounting brackets into the wrong place. Problem is I keep making the same mistake with drilling holes into wrong places! Attempted to mount the sound bar onto the wall under the TV, after a screw sheared off within the wall plug for the second time I gave up.
EmilA said:
Thankfully my only contribution is drilling holes for mounting brackets into the wrong place. Problem is I keep making the same mistake with drilling holes into wrong places! Attempted to mount the sound bar onto the wall under the TV, after a screw sheared off within the wall plug for the second time I gave up.
I put up a new TV recently and measured, checked, measured again and then drilled the holes for the mounting bracket just 3mm to low to fit my centre channel under the TV.Pitre said:
A very, very long time ago (I was about 15) I didn't know you had to turn off the mains to fit a replacement wall light. No expert parent or older relatives around. Got the new one mounted after being thrown across the room. Twice.
When I first got married the very first job I did in our brand new house was to put up a curtain pole in the lounge. Managed to put my knee through the big window. Much hilarity for everyone except me.
Holding two bits of wood together managed to put a big screw into my finger using electric drill as screwdriver.
Stepped on a loose paving slab on top of a piece of terracotta flue, it slipped and flipped over and ripped open my shin. 30 staples needed.
Lifting a smallish lump of plasterboard into position I managed to rupture my tendon in my forearm, in hospital for emergency op then plaster for four months.
Fell off a scaffold tower. Ambewlans
, X-ray and MRI scan later and they still didn't find any common sense.
I don't do much DIY any more... You do live and learn, just slowly in my case.
You are Reg Prescott AICMFP.When I first got married the very first job I did in our brand new house was to put up a curtain pole in the lounge. Managed to put my knee through the big window. Much hilarity for everyone except me.
Holding two bits of wood together managed to put a big screw into my finger using electric drill as screwdriver.
Stepped on a loose paving slab on top of a piece of terracotta flue, it slipped and flipped over and ripped open my shin. 30 staples needed.
Lifting a smallish lump of plasterboard into position I managed to rupture my tendon in my forearm, in hospital for emergency op then plaster for four months.
Fell off a scaffold tower. Ambewlans
, X-ray and MRI scan later and they still didn't find any common sense.I don't do much DIY any more... You do live and learn, just slowly in my case.
Cutting floorboards in an ensuite bathroom to re-route the waste to facilitate installation of a new shower. Cut through the gas pipe going to the kitchen (because why wouldn't it go that route?). Turned the gas off, whacked a load of PTFE on it, and called the supplier. This is Saturday of a bank holiday weekend. Turned up within 20 mins, checked it and said "there's a small leak, are you having any work done?". Said that the builders were here yesterday and it might be that (and it definitely wasn't my fault)? Fixed free of charge so gave him a case of beer.
Weedkiller Woes
The top of a new bottle of Kill-O-Death herbicide wouldn't come off. Having read the instructions regarding the contents, I was being careful. Do not get it on your skin, do not breathe the vapour and 101 similarly dire warnings. Study cap. There's a tab with a tear-off strip around the circumference of the cap. Easy. Huh, not easy. Can't shift the tab with my thumb nail; can't shift it with a screwdriver; can stab myself in the thumb with a Stanley Knife. Hmm, quite badly. Blood everywhere. I'm poisoned, I'll need a Tetanus jab, I'll get sepsis. Goodbye, cruel world. When I'd been tended by an understandably unsympathetic wife, I studied the cap again. It wasn't a lift tab, it was a Press Here tab. There was another identical one on the opposite side. Gentle squeeze, top turned, top came off.
Resident Cock-Up Consultant ignores own advice.
The top of a new bottle of Kill-O-Death herbicide wouldn't come off. Having read the instructions regarding the contents, I was being careful. Do not get it on your skin, do not breathe the vapour and 101 similarly dire warnings. Study cap. There's a tab with a tear-off strip around the circumference of the cap. Easy. Huh, not easy. Can't shift the tab with my thumb nail; can't shift it with a screwdriver; can stab myself in the thumb with a Stanley Knife. Hmm, quite badly. Blood everywhere. I'm poisoned, I'll need a Tetanus jab, I'll get sepsis. Goodbye, cruel world. When I'd been tended by an understandably unsympathetic wife, I studied the cap again. It wasn't a lift tab, it was a Press Here tab. There was another identical one on the opposite side. Gentle squeeze, top turned, top came off.
Resident Cock-Up Consultant ignores own advice.
Lad who was working for me... heres 20 quid and a case of beer, go dig two holes for the new gate posts.
He managed to find the electrical supply for not only us (100 bed place), the National Trust next door and about 10 other properties plus the local marina.
Thank god it was a fibreglass handle on the pick axe.
He managed to find the electrical supply for not only us (100 bed place), the National Trust next door and about 10 other properties plus the local marina.
Thank god it was a fibreglass handle on the pick axe.
A couple, not mine but an old flat I used to have.
Previous owner replaced the bath and joined the pvc outlet to the existing lead pipes with mastic. To make things worse there was virtually no fall to the pipe so it eventually silted up and the joint gave way, flooding underneath.
Or when we had it rewired and the electrician nailed the floor back down, with one nail just resting on a copper pipe. Well it took 2 years of the boards flexing before it punctured the pipe. Again flooding underneath.
I’ve had a few…
I had to cut a hole in the side of sink unit, for dishwasher hose.
A bit of a tight corner, I know, i’ll use a flexible drive between drill & hole cutter. I locked the drill on.
Was going well , until the hole cutter jammed in the wood ..
My top half in the cupboard, the drill flapping around!
Luckily it was a mains powered one, it pulled its own cable out..
Mate of mine, using an angle grinder to remove old metal window frame. Put the grinder down on the carpet before it had stopped.
It snagged a thread & it wrapped around the grinder…
Left a line in the carpet the length of the room !
I had to cut a hole in the side of sink unit, for dishwasher hose.
A bit of a tight corner, I know, i’ll use a flexible drive between drill & hole cutter. I locked the drill on.
Was going well , until the hole cutter jammed in the wood ..
My top half in the cupboard, the drill flapping around!
Luckily it was a mains powered one, it pulled its own cable out..
Mate of mine, using an angle grinder to remove old metal window frame. Put the grinder down on the carpet before it had stopped.
It snagged a thread & it wrapped around the grinder…
Left a line in the carpet the length of the room !
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff