Your biggest DIY cock-up.

Pottler

What with the whole "Recession" thing, more and more people are turning to DIY(the fastest route to A&E, apparently) to try and save a few squid. Lad at work decided to plumb in a boiler himself leading to a night of chaos and exploding hot-presses plus a massive bill from a proper plumber the next day. Being as I'm a builder I get to see a lot of the aftermaths - floods, drilled wires, blocked drains and collapsed attics. Ever cocked up royally at the DIY(damaged it yourself)?

Lando Griffin

Well, where do I start?

alphabeat

i thought the whole principle of DIY was not getting a cock up

tomtherobot

Biggest DIY cock-up, hmmmm, let me see. Id have to say my 12 inch home made dildo

IM0

Pottler wrote: »

What with the whole "Recession" thing, more and more people are turning to DIY(the fastest route to A&E, apparently) to try and save a few squid. Lad at work decided to plumb in a boiler himself leading to a night of chaos and exploding hot-presses plus a massive bill from a proper plumber the next day. Being as I'm a builder I get to see a lot of the aftermaths - floods, drilled wires, blocked drains and collapsed attics. Ever cocked up royally at the DIY(damaged it yourself)?

I laffed

Damathon111

None, personally but my dad built my house and a cowboy builder would've have done a better job.

Mr. Rager

Went a little bit like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bHXMogzEm0

drunkmonkey

I once went about building an epic thread, ended in carnage. Weirdos got locked up and Mary Mc Aleese got away with looking like the back of a Hiace chewing a blue bottle while the mods got High on turps.

Everybody had a good time

Sparks43

Electrocutions burns cuts explosions

Just a normal day in my house

Btw i offer a Pc Repair service quite cheap as well Pm me for details


:pac:

GreeBo

Taking up some floor boards when I was replumbing the house and the genius builder hadnt taken enough out of the joist when he ran the copper, so he notched the floorboard instead. Cue my perfectly set circular saw cutting 2mm through the 3/4" pipe. Fountain of water coming up through the floor board (which was exciting as it was hitting the saw)
Thankfully I had the wherewithal to drop the saw and close the cold feed in the hotpress before any damage was done.

I guess that isnt my cock up though...right?

One that was purely me was as I was moving the shower waste pipe on the outside of the house I accidentally (and without realising) broke the seal with the trap. Next morning most of the water from the newly installed 3 bar pumped shower was raining down onto the kitchen table.
Had to cut a hole in the (newly plastered) kitchen ceiling to re-attach waste and then reskim & paint...painful.

Pottler

Sparks43 wrote: »

Electrocutions burns cuts explosions

Just a normal day in my house

Btw i offer a Pc Repair service quite cheap as well Pm me for details


:pac:

Wasn't my angle, but laughed anyway:D Also laughed a lot hearing the tale of the exploded hot-press, seeing as the same lad works side by side with a plumber but was too mean to throw him €20 to do it for him, properly.:)

eth0

There was a time I tried to lift a bag of horse**** with a 2.5 ton digger (someone got me to do this, thought it was a hairbrained scheme myself). A good solid bag now about one of these. Jaysus to see the thing burst open when I had it lifted a meter or 2 off the ground was priceless. No harm done though.

First time I used a chainsaw with a brand new chain, was a narrow escape. Block hit me in the leg but that wasnt so bad.

Shryke

I'm not a towny so I have a bit of sense. Family is full of tradesmen too so some of it rubs off.

Pottler

I chucked a block down onto a pile of timbers - a lump of 4*2 shot back up and I stuck my arm up to deflect it - arm broke with a very satisfying crack - much to the hilarity of the rest of the mugs present. Off to the A&E, where I'm on first name terms:D Plaster in the eye- steel in the eye, steel chunks in the hand, severed arteries, smashed fingers, cracked neck vertebrae, electrocution(not fatal Whoopsadasiedoodles).jasus, it's a miracle I'm still here..

Happyman42

15/16 yrs of age, decided to buy my mum suprise new lino for the kitchen with the holiday money I was earning.
Organised it all, got brothers on standby as it had to be fitted when she was off at a meeting.
Brother 1 was late, so panic ensued, but got it all in place and trimmed, looked fab.
Panicked putting back of furniture etc, dropped micro wave and bursted a big flap in new lino.
Dispatch brother 2 to hardware store for new fangled sticky stuff called Super Glue.
Lash a load of it under flap and tell brother 1 to stand on it until it sets.
Brother 1's shoe sticks to lino, panic some more, and then a bit more and end up cutting lump of shoe off. Mum's reaction...'God Bless My Soul!'
1 inch of brother 1's sole still there. :rolleyes:

1ZRed

Don't have one myself but Mom and Dad say I'm theirs

Sparks43

Pottler wrote: »

I chucked a block down onto a pile of timbers - a lump of 4*2 shot back up and I stuck my arm up to deflect it - arm broke with a very satisfying crack - much to the hilarity of the rest of the mugs present. Off to the A&E, where I'm on first name terms:D Plaster in the eye- steel in the eye, steel chunks in the hand, severed arteries, smashed fingers, cracked neck vertebrae, electrocution(not fatal Whoopsadasiedoodles).jasus, it's a miracle I'm still here..

#

You should look for Paddys Sick note on youtube

Where To

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW4cM68KPbA

keith16

years and years ago my oldest brother was painting the living room. So not having a roller, he needed step ladder to get the upper parts of the wall obviously enough. The top 'step' on the ladder was a bit bigger and he was using it to rest the bucket of paint.

I think you can see where this is going.

So, I was in said living room at the time, lying on the ground naturally enough, watching "Art Attack", with the guy making a huge picture of a dinosaur using old carpets, tyres and boxes of washing powder...whatever he could get his hands on. Essential viewing basically.

So, of course, the bucket of paint falls off the ladder. And this was a big bucket, not the small tins you get, a big plastic fcuking vat of a thing.

I get splashed, I jump up and see paint ALL OVER THE NEW FCUKING CARPET! DISASTER.

So my brother and I decided the best thing to do would be to get the biggest spoons we could find and scoop the paint back into the bucket. Once we had that done, we got a load of old rags trying to get the paint that had soaked into the carpet. We then had to borrow the neighbours carpet cleaner machine (they always had nicer stuff) and it actually wasn't too bad in the end.

Never got to see the rest of "Art Attack" though.

Mickey H

Pottler wrote: »

Wasn't my angle, but laughed anyway:D Also laughed a lot hearing the tale of the exploded hot-press, seeing as the same lad works side by side with a plumber but was too mean to throw him €20 to do it for him, properly.:)

That would go nicely here Pottler.

eth0

One recently I tried to put a bit of woodfiller into a rotten part of a sink. Anyway first had to take all the rotten wood out, so I dug some out with a screwdriver, and some more till I had 2 massive gaps in the bloody thing, could have took out more but wanted to call it a day. Then had to fill up the dried woodfiller with more woodfiller. No end to the shoite, good nobody was around. Patched it up and tis only slightly better than it was when I started.

Installed a dimmer and forgot the earth, kept getting little shocks off this till I figured it out.

Years ago the Folks tried to make cider by putting the apples into a petrol driven shredder (still have it, mighty piece of kit). They thought they made a complete hames of it until a few years ago they tasted a bottle of organic cider I got in tesco and they said 'hmm.. tastes a bit like the stuff we used to make and we thought we done it all wrong'

Tried to power wash the gate one day using an ordinary electric power washer connected to the jenny and siphoning water into it. No disaster it just didn't work. Serves me right for being too stingey to buy a proper petrol one.

Went for a drive and forgot to tighten the wheel nuts. Nothing bad but some biddy spotted me stopping to tighten them in the middle of the village.

Cutting the grass one day the mower hit a pebble in the grass, sent it flying and put a hole in the window.

We had a proper registered everything above board plumber in one day to install a boiler. He made a complete balls of this, thing would only heat the water till it was luke warm and he was fierce surprised the pressure would rise in a closed system after switching it on. If I hadn't copped it the safety (not connected at the time) would have opened and covered the brand new boiler with water. Last plumber we ever left into the place.

Know a lad who fell through a ceiling more than once.

Melted the tip off one of them phase tester screwdrivers, back when I was a wee boi

Capt'n Midnight

It started with a drip from the ceiling ... :eek:

Leaking valve on a radiator upstairs. Bit of freeze spray to ice it all up.
When I unscrewed the valve the lump of ice came out with it.

So put everything back together but it's still leaking, and the kicker is that there isn't a drain valve on the system so I had find one and fit it in between running upstairs to empty the pans.




Also DIY stores should not be allowed sell handheld circular saws.

Wompa1

Nothing big yet. Put together a tv cabinet thingy. The bottom leg is backwards so the wood side is showing forward. Also one of the drawers is off center a bit...

randylonghorn

1ZRed wrote: »

Don't have one myself but Mom and Dad say I'm theirs

I think you'll find that wasn't the result of DIY ...

... though a cock-up I'll grant you! :pac:

Man of Aran

Pottler wrote: »

I chucked a block down onto a pile of timbers - a lump of 4*2 shot back up and I stuck my arm up to deflect it - arm broke with a very satisfying crack - much to the hilarity of the rest of the mugs present. Off to the A&E, where I'm on first name terms:D Plaster in the eye- steel in the eye, steel chunks in the hand, severed arteries, smashed fingers, cracked neck vertebrae, electrocution(not fatal Whoopsadasiedoodles).jasus, it's a miracle I'm still here..

,,,,,and that was only Monday, wait til I tell ye what happened Tue!

Jayze Pottler , did yer mates nickname you "Lucky".:D

jugger0

Was mixing cement, never heard before that cement causes burns, cue the worst pain i have suffered in quite some time, couldn't wipe my ass for 2 days.

GreeBo

jugger0 wrote: »

Was mixing cement, never heard before that cement causes burns, cue the worst pain i have suffered in quite some time, couldn't wipe my ass for 2 days.

Yeah thats basically safety rule #1 for mixing cement...dont use your ass.:pac:

danniemcq

There was that time i tried to hang up a mirror for my ma in the spare room

never figured that the hot water pipe runs right above the hot water tap (makes sense now) and drilled through and burst the pipe.

Queue water everywhere major hassle and no hot water in spare room anymore.

Happened the day the iraq invasion kicked off so i'll always remember that fecking mirror

Giselle

I was defrosting a freezer and decided to speed things up with a chisel.

It didn't end well.

ejmaztec

Giselle wrote: »

I was defrosting a freezer and decided to speed things up with a chisel.

It didn't end well.

You should change your name to Chiselle in honour of that.:P

Frynge

Tried to fix three doors one day. Ended up costing over €400 and the cieling came down.
But the cieling was nothing to do with me, just coincidence

gbee

Not sure if this applies, doing a garden shed as a project, no rush, doing a bit now and again.

Took a couple of weeks to clear a plot, taking it nice and easy, well maybe not easy enough, reported my slight chest discomfort to my doctor and had a triple bypass.

Broken hearted by shed is still a pile of lumber.

humbert

jugger0 wrote: »

Was mixing cement, never heard before that cement causes burns, cue the worst pain i have suffered in quite some time, couldn't wipe my ass for 2 days.

Does cement still have lime in it? I handle often but I don't mix it with my hands!

Eve_Dublin

Mmmmmmm cock up.

the keen edge

Pottler wrote: »

I chucked a block down onto a pile of timbers - a lump of 4*2 shot back up and I stuck my arm up to deflect it - arm broke with a very satisfying crack - much to the hilarity of the rest of the mugs present. Off to the A&E, where I'm on first name terms:D Plaster in the eye- steel in the eye, steel chunks in the hand, severed arteries, smashed fingers, cracked neck vertebrae, electrocution(not fatal Whoopsadasiedoodles).jasus, it's a miracle I'm still here..

Jesus, its also a miracle that anybody trusts you enough to give you a job:pac:

What a list of injuries: You didn't happen to insult a gypsy a some stage did you?; Or do you work mainly in Afghanistan?

ejmaztec

The first shelves that I ever put up fell off the wall two hours later, smashing a dinner service that someone bought us as a wedding present. We couidn't afford to replace it because it was so feckin expensive and the people who bought it must have wondered why we never ever invited them round for dinner.:(

Rabidlamb

I laid a laminate floor on a lovely spongey carpet underlay.
It was great for about 2 days until it started to click, then crack, then fall apart.
I had to lift the entire floor where some planks were beyond repair due to tongue & groove damage.
I blame the missus for suggesting it to save €15 on the foam underlay.

starbelgrade

When I was putting up the tool shed I accidentally nailed the door shut.

Now, I have nowhere to put my hammer.

Pumpkinseeds

When my brother was about 17 he decided to take up the carpet in his bedroom. He wanted to sand the floorboards and just have the exposed wood instead. So off he went and while he was sanding he hammered down a nail that was sticking out a bit. That night I was out with a friend, she got drunk and stayed at our house as her dad is/was a Garda sgt and she didn't want to get in trouble if she went home drunk.

She slept on the sofa and woke up in a panic the following morning to find that all the wallpaper had come away from the livingroom walls, the ceiling was soaked, water dripping through it and the furniture and carpet were destroyed. Apparently the nail had gone through a water pipe and had been leaking from his room above the livingroom. My parents went absolutely mental about it. Needless to say there was no more mention of floorboards after that

Capt'n Midnight

humbert wrote: »

Does cement still have lime in it? I handle often but I don't mix it with my hands!

lime mortar has lime

cement is made from limestone, but the heat and other ingredients in the furnace means that's it more complex than just quicklime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_chemist_notation

franorzxrh2

Giselle wrote: »

I was defrosting a freezer and decided to speed things up with a chisel.

It didn't end well.

haha dne the same with a sharp knife!!!

GreeBo

eth0 wrote: »

Installed a dimmer and forgot the earth, kept getting little shocks off this till I figured it out.

I think that means that more than the earth was incorrectly wired...:eek:

Everlong1

Giselle wrote: »

I was defrosting a freezer and decided to speed things up with a chisel.

It didn't end well.

I do this all the time! Never had any mishaps though.

franorzxrh2

Everlong1 wrote: »

I do this all the time! Never had any mishaps though.

b careful!!if you hit the gas pipes bye bye freezer

enricoh

sawing through a wavin pipe in a muddy hole (no pun intended!) n sawed through the electrical cable of the water pump. getting electrocuted for what seemed like ages - wouldnt be laughing about it now if it was 220v instead of 110!
a friend decided to save a few quid doing the oil change in his car with the aid of the internet. car is rather noisy changing gear after it - he had drained the gear oil outta the gear box n topped up the engine! total cost 600 to replace gear box

franorzxrh2

enricoh wrote: »

sawing through a wavin pipe in a muddy hole (no pun intended!) n sawed through the electrical cable of the water pump. getting electrocuted for what seemed like ages - wouldnt be laughing about it now if it was 220v instead of 110!
a friend decided to save a few quid doing the oil change in his car with the aid of the internet. car is rather noisy changing gear after it - he had drained the gear oil outta the gear box n topped up the engine! total cost 600 to replace gear box

have heard this one again and again and again!!!so many people do this!!!

ctrl-alt-delete

One that always seems to get me,

Screw off the trap from underneath the sink, carefully done with tongue sticking out, careful now not to spill a drop of water from it or else I'll have to remove all the bottles and tubs of stuff to wipe it up,

While caught up in the joy of not dropping any water my brain convinces me the best place to empty the water out of it is in that conveniently located sink above me,

Ahhh curse of fcuk on it!

kylith

OH drilled some holes an inch to the right of where they should have been.

Oh, how I laughed.

I once electrocuted myself whilst changing a bulb... "Is this a bayonet or screw fitting? I'll just stick my finger in and have a feel...AAAAAHHHHHH!"

GreeBo

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

One that always seems to get me,

Screw off the trap from underneath the sink, carefully done with tongue sticking out, careful now not to spill a drop of water from it or else I'll have to remove all the bottles and tubs of stuff to wipe it up,

While caught up in the joy of not dropping any water my brain convinces me the best place to empty the water out of it is in that conveniently located sink above me,

Ahhh curse of fcuk on it!

every poxy time!

dodzy

Giselle wrote: »

I was defrosting a freezer and decided to speed things up with a chisel.

It didn't end well.

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

One that always seems to get me,

Screw off the trap from underneath the sink, carefully done with tongue sticking out, careful now not to spill a drop of water from it or else I'll have to remove all the bottles and tubs of stuff to wipe it up,

While caught up in the joy of not dropping any water my brain convinces me the best place to empty the water out of it is in that conveniently located sink above me,

Ahhh curse of fcuk on it!

Here I am in work. Hit this thread for a quick look. Jesus, I thank you both deeply, for truly brightening my afternoon.

I can actually see ctrl-alt-del, carefully handling the trap with the same level of care you would apply to a newborn baby, gently lifting it ( full ) towards the lip of the sink, and that very brief moment of sheer pride in the knowledge that no moving cluttered cleaning fluid bottles and other sh1te was necessary in advance of this operation. Then, whoosh.... immediately followed by "bollox"

1ZRed

randylonghorn wrote: »

I think you'll find that wasn't the result of DIY ...

... though a cock-up I'll grant you! :pac:

CVNT

Nah, they're positive about it.. well Dad is anyway :pac: