c/diy-home-projects

Checked out a Habitat ReStore and found a major plumbing issue

I stopped by the ReStore on Elm Street last weekend and noticed almost every used sink and toilet had old supply lines with corroded nuts. You should inspect those before buying, or expect to replace all the hardware. Anyone dealt with hidden damage from their ReStore finds?

Appreciation post for cheap touch-up paint pens

I always thought those little paint pens from the hardware store were a gimmick, but after scratching my hallway wall moving a couch last weekend I grabbed a $6 one on a whim. It matched my off-white wall perfectly and the scratch is completely gone, no brush strokes or mess. Has anyone else found a surprising use for a paint pen that actually worked better than expected?

Drywall dust ruined my shop vac - here's the fix I wish I knew sooner

I spent $60 on a new filter after my last sanding job clogged everything up. Has anyone tried those cyclone separators or are they just another gadget?

My neighbor yelled at me for using the wrong paint on my fence

Last weekend I was repainting my wooden fence with some cheap exterior latex I found on sale. My neighbor Bob came out and started shouting that I should be using solid stain instead, said paint would peel in a year. He showed me his fence he did 3 years ago with a $35 gallon of stain and it still looks perfect. I ignored him at first but now I'm seeing little bubbles in my paint after just one rain. Has anyone else had a fence fail because they picked the wrong product?

Took a chance on a used tile saw off Craigslist for $80... actually works great

I finally admitted vinyl plank flooring is better than my old hardwood

I spent years hating on LVP. Thought it was fake plastic junk for cheap flips. Then I installed it in my basement after a pipe burst wrecked the old wood floors. Three years later and zero issues even with the kids and dog. The old oak would have warped twice by now. What's a project you were dead wrong about?

Why does nobody talk about using a cheap laser level for hanging tile?

I tried a $25 laser level from Harbor Freight last weekend when I was tiling my backsplash in the kitchen. I figured it would be way off, but honestly it kept everything straight and saved me from drawing a million pencil lines. The trick was clamping it to the counter edge instead of using the suction cup (which fell off twice). Has anyone else had good luck with a budget laser for projects like this?

Saw a guy level a whole shed with a phone level app. Worked fine.

My neighbor was building a 10x12 shed last Saturday. He pulled out his iPhone, propped it on a 2x4, and called it good. I laughed. Then I checked with my 4-foot torpedo level. Dead nuts. Made me think how much money I've wasted on bubble levels over 15 years. Has anyone else junked their old tools for a phone?

Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop using deck screws on subfloor

I was nailing down OSB in a basement remodel near Lancaster last month, and this old carpenter walks by my job site. He stops and says 'you're gonna regret those screws in six months when they start popping up.' He showed me how ring shank nails actually hold better under pressure from flooring. Switched to a pneumatic nailer halfway through the job and it went way faster. Has anyone else had a random stranger give you advice that totally changed how you work?

Tried to fix a leaky faucet in August and ended up flooding the bathroom

I thought I knew what I was doing. Watched like 4 YouTube videos, felt confident. Turned off the water, took apart the handle, replaced the cartridge. Then I turned the water back on and water was spraying everywhere from under the sink. Turns out I didn't tighten the compression nut enough. Took me another hour to clean up the mess. My wife just stood there shaking her head lol. Anyone else learn the hard way that watching a 10 minute video doesn't make you a plumber?

Tried a cheap paint sprayer vs a professional one on my kitchen cabinets, huge difference in results

I spent last weekend painting my kitchen cabinets in Austin (ikea ones, nothing fancy). Picked up a $40 Wagner sprayer from Home Depot to save some cash. What a mess. Splatters everywhere, uneven coat, and I spent more time cleaning it than actually painting. Borrowed my neighbor's Graco (he's a pro painter) for the second coat. Night and day. The finish is smooth, no drips, and it took half the time. Has anyone else had this experience with budget vs pro sprayers? What brand did you end up sticking with?

So tired of people painting over peeling paint instead of scraping first

My neighbor just spent 3 days repainting his front porch and it already looks like garbage because he painted right over flaking paint. I told him to scrape and sand first but he said "it'll be fine" and now the new paint is peeling off in strips after one rain. I see this all the time on my block here in Austin and it drives me crazy because they end up doing twice the work later. Why do people think slapping new paint over old crud actually works?

Spent 6 hours patching drywall because I skipped one step

I was fixing a hole in my living room wall about the size of a baseball. Figured I'd just slap some joint compound on it and sand it smooth, no big deal. Three coats later and it still looked like a crater, so I finally watched a YouTube video and realized I needed to use a mesh patch first. Took me about 6 hours total when it should have been a 45 minute job. Anyone else ever waste a whole afternoon on something that simple?

Learned the hard way about painting over knotted pine boards

I tried painting over some knotted pine boards in my living room last weekend and within 2 days the knots bled right through the paint. Has anyone else had this issue with pine and found a good sealer to stop it?

Three hours to hang one door because I didn't check the frame for level

Bought a prehung interior door from Home Depot in Denver, figured it would take me an hour tops. Turns out my 1950s house frame was off by nearly half an inch, so I spent the afternoon shimming and re-cutting until it finally closed without dragging the top corner. Anyone else find that older houses just fight you on every single "simple" project?

After a shelving unit collapsed in my garage last month, I'm debating between heavy-duty brackets or floating shelves for a new setup.

I had six 4-foot shelves loaded with paint cans come crashing down because I used the wrong wall anchors, and now I'm torn between going with steel L-brackets that look ugly but hold 300 pounds each or floating shelves that look clean but might put the weight on the studs wrong, so has anyone found a middle ground that actually works long term?

That week I tried to fix a leaky faucet and ended up flooding the kitchen

Last month I thought I'd save $150 by swapping a worn out cartridge in my bathroom sink. Turned out the shut-off valve under the counter was ancient and basically crumbled when I touched it. Water shot out everywhere for a solid 3 minutes before I found the main house shut-off in the basement. By the time I got back upstairs, there was a quarter inch of water across the whole linoleum floor. Had to rent a wet vac from Home Depot and run fans for two days straight. Has anyone else had a simple fix turn into a total disaster like this?

My fancy $600 tile saw barely paid for itself

Bought a big wet tile saw from the hardware store thinking I'd use it for like 5 bathroom projects. Two years later I've only fired it up twice and the blade is probably rusted by now. Should have just rented one for $40 a day or hired a pro for that small backsplash in my kitchen. Anyone else buy a tool thinking you'd get way more use out of it than you actually did?

The debate over painting tile floors instead of replacing them

I was at my neighbor Carol's house last weekend helping her with a backsplash and she showed me her bathroom floor. She had painted those old pink tiles from the 50s with a special epoxy kit and it looked pretty good for $60. But then she admitted the paint started chipping near the shower drain after just 6 months of use. I told her I would have just ripped them out and put down vinyl planks for about $200 more. She got real defensive and said the painted look was more authentic to the house's era. So here's my question for you all. Have you ever painted tile flooring and did it actually hold up, or is it just a temporary fix that sounds better than it works?

Framing nail gun jammed every 10 nails on my shed build

Everyone says stick with a pneumatic framer for speed, but mine spent more time jammed than firing. I swapped to a cordless model halfway through and finished the last 80 nails in 20 minutes. Has anyone else had better luck with battery powered nailers on bigger projects?

Vent: I tried the 'paint over wallpaper' trick in my old bathroom and it actually held up

My bathroom had this ugly, bubbly floral wallpaper from the 80s. I really didn't want to spend a whole weekend steaming and scraping, so I read online about just painting over it. I was sure it would peel or look awful. First, I smoothed down all the loose edges with a putty knife and used a heavy-duty primer, the Zinsser Cover Stain kind. I did two coats of that, letting it dry a full day between each. Then I used a basic semi-gloss bathroom paint. It's been about eight months now, through all the steam from showers, and there's not a single bubble or peel. The texture is a little weird if you run your hand over it, but you can't see it. Has anyone else tried this on a really bad wallpaper job? I'm curious if I just got lucky.

Changed my mind about using a cheap paint sprayer for a kitchen cabinet job

I figured I'd save cash and bought a $80 sprayer from a big box store for my cabinet repaint. It clogged every ten minutes, left a rough texture, and I lost a full day just cleaning and fixing it. Ended up renting a professional unit for another $60 and redoing the whole first coat. All told, I wasted about $140 and two days of work. Has anyone found a decent budget sprayer that actually holds up for more than one project?

My dad said to never use a regular screw in drywall without an anchor, and my bathroom shelf collapsing at 2 AM proved his point.

Pro tip: skip the peel and stick backsplash for real tile

I redid my kitchen in my Phoenix condo last month and everyone online said to use the vinyl peel and stick stuff to save money. I tried a small section and it looked fine at first, but after three days near the stove, the edges started lifting from the heat. I switched to actual ceramic subway tile with proper thin-set mortar, and the difference is night and day. It cost about $200 more total, but it's solid and looks professional. Has anyone else had the peel and stick fail on them?

Vent: People keep using regular drywall screws for outdoor projects and it drives me nuts.

I saw a neighbor's new cedar planter box already rusting after one rain because he used standard screws, not the coated ones that cost maybe $2 more a box.