Toronto Renovation Stories & Expert Advice

DIY Gone Wrong

I am a lover of Do It Yourself projects. Anything that will save me a few extra dollars has my attention. The only thing is, I keep forgetting that those people on TV have years of training under their belt and that's why they make whatever they're doing look so easy. Take home improvement for example; last year we had our bathroom painted. Now, I know what you're thinking: you're thinking that if I'm such a fan of saving a few dollars why didn't I just paint the bathroom myself? The answer is because it was the ugly old gray ceramic tile (rusted and stained in places) and I knew at least that that was one job I couldn't handle. Anyway, in order to save myself an hour on the painter's clock I removed the pedestal sink and toilet tank myself. Ha! That wasn't so hard, I thought. Bob Vila, eat your heart out!

Putting the sink and toilet back, however, was another story. When I was reattaching the water pipes to the toilet tank, I had a little trouble with the 50 year old tap that fed into the toilet. It wouldn't budge without a monkey wrench. So I used one and it moved, really, really easily, until, poof! It broke off. So I stood there with a monkey wrench clamping a tap realizing with that sinking feeling I couldn't turn the main water supply on until it was fixed. Do you think I learned? Of course not. I actually attempted to fix it myself with the sage counsel of our local hardware salesman. I won't go into the details, except to say that eventually some welding was required and I didn't think my creme brule torch would do the trick.

DIY is great, until you realize you that there's a reason for those licensed contractors. I needed a plumber - and fast! I found one on HomeStars (naturally) who was able to come that day. Needless to say, he knew what he was doing and the water was back on three hours later. Whew!

What's your "DIY Gone Wrong" story? How far did you let things get before throwing in the towel and calling a professional? We all have these stories. Write a review and title it "DIY Gone Wrong." The top 3 stories will be published in next month's newsletter, and the top 10 stories published on the Toronto and Boston Blogs. From comic to tragic, we all have our DIY Gone Wrong stories, so share yours now!

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Labels: DIY gone wrong, painting, plumbers

Posted by Cathy
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