c/diy-home-projects

Hot take: My neighbor was right about painting over wallpaper

Back in March, old Mr. Henderson told me to just paint over the ugly floral wallpaper in my hallway instead of stripping it. I thought he was crazy and spent three weekends with a steamer and scraper, only to end up with damaged drywall that needed patching anyway. Now I'm looking at $60 in joint compound and primer just to fix my mistake. Has anyone else actually had success painting over wallpaper in a bathroom where moisture is a concern?

My brother talked me out of using pressure treated wood for raised beds and I'm glad he did

Last weekend my brother came over to help build some raised garden beds. I had already bought pressure treated lumber from Lowe's because I figured it would last longer. He stopped me and said dude you don't want that stuff near your vegetables. Told me about how the chemicals can leach into the soil over time. I argued with him for like 20 minutes before I looked it up on my phone. Turns out there's real evidence that the copper and other stuff can get into your food especially with acidic soil. I ended up taking it all back and spending $60 more on cedar instead. Has anyone else changed their mind on materials after someone called them out like that?

Pro tip: Stop using painters tape to hold trim while glue dries

I spent 3 hours last weekend redoing baseboard in my hallway because the tape let go and the trim sagged overnight. Grab a few spring clamps from Harbor Freight for like $4 each and your corners will actually stay tight while the glue sets. Anyone else dealt with sagging trim on a long run?

Used to glue PVC with just primer and cement until a pipe burst in my basement

I had a joint fail in my laundry room after 2 years because I didn't clean the fitting or let the primer dry enough first. A plumber buddy told me he always wipes the pipe with acetone first and waits 30 seconds after primer before the cement. How many of you actually follow the glue manufacturer's steps to the letter?

Tried using a heat gun to strip old paint from my kitchen cabinets

Thought it would be faster than chemical stripper but I ended up scorching three panels before I got the hang of it. Had to sand those down twice as much to get the burn marks out. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific temperature setting for cabinet-grade paint?

Drywall patch cracked in 3 days - should I go mesh or paper tape?

Hung a big patch in my hallway last Tuesday. 3x4 foot hole from a plumbing fix. Used paper tape and pre-mixed compound. Cracking right along the seam by Friday. My buddy swears by mesh tape for patches this big. Says it holds better on wide gaps. But I've read mesh can crack worse over time. Tried sanding and re-mudding the paper tape tonight. Already seeing tiny hairline cracks forming. What's the general consensus here? Mesh tape on big repairs or stick with paper and live with the flaws?

My attempt to paint kitchen cabinets without sanding was a disaster

I tried that no sand paint bonding primer on my oak cabinets last weekend. Seemed great at first but after 3 days the paint started peeling off in big sheets right where the handles were. Turns out those glossy cabinet doors really need roughing up even if the can says otherwise. Anyone else get fooled by that no prep claim on cabinet paint?

Tried to save $50 fixing a leaky pipe myself, ended up paying $300 for a plumber Sunday

I thought I could just tighten a compression fitting under the kitchen sink last Saturday. Water sprayed everywhere and I had to call an emergency guy at 3x the normal rate. Has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way?

Thought my old drill was fine until I tried drilling into a load-bearing beam

Spent three hours fighting a 1/2" bit through a pine beam in my basement before I realized my cordless drill from 2012 just didn't have the torque. Borrowed my neighbor's hammer drill and it went through in like 30 seconds flat. Has anyone else hit a wall with older cordless tools on unexpected jobs?

Can we talk about how bad cheap paint rollers really are?

I spent last weekend repainting my living room in Austin, and it was a mess. I grabbed a pack of those 3-dollar rollers from the hardware store, and by the third wall, the nap was shedding little fuzzies into the paint. I had to stop and pick them out with tweezers, which added an extra hour to the job. Switched over to a 12-dollar Purdy roller I borrowed from my neighbor, and the difference was night and day. The coverage was way smoother, and I used less paint because it didn't soak up everything. That cheap roller probably cost me more in time and frustration than the good one would have. Has anyone else found a specific brand that holds up better after multiple uses?

Hot take: IKEA furniture lasts longer if you ignore the instructions

I visited my buddy's place in Austin last weekend and saw his IKEA desk that's been holding up for 8 years. He told me he skipped half the plastic brackets and used wood glue and extra screws instead. His TV cabinet from 2015 is still solid too, no wobble at all. Meanwhile my own IKEA stuff that I built by the book started sagging after 2 years. Has anyone else ditched the included hardware and gone rogue?

I cringe every time I see someone using drywall screws for deck boards

Was helping my buddy replace a rotted step on his porch last weekend and the previous owner had used regular drywall screws everywhere. They snapped off in like 3 seconds when we tried to remove them. Drywall screws are hardened steel and way too brittle for outdoor use, they get even worse with weather changes. Spend the extra $12 on a box of #9 deck screws with a coating on them. Your deck will last longer than one season. Has anyone else pulled apart a deck held together by the wrong fasteners?

Spent 3 hours patching drywall in my hallway and forgot to check the light angle now every patch glows like a treasure map at sunset

Had a dimmer switch on and didn't notice until I walked in with the overhead light on full blast has anyone else accidentally created a spotlit disaster with their joint compound?

Rented a tile saw for $45 and it beat my manual cutter by a mile

I needed to retile my small bathroom floor here in Portland. Thought I could save money by using my old manual snap cutter from a garage sale. After fighting with angled cuts and chipped edges for two hours, I gave up and rented a wet saw from Home Depot for $45. The difference was night and day - clean cuts in 30 seconds and zero waste. Has anyone else had a tool rental completely save a project?

Three days of drywall mudding non stop and I finally get why people hate it

I spent 48 hours straight last weekend patching holes from a pipe leak in my basement in Akron and the sanding dust got into everything including my coffee mug. Has anyone found a trick to keep the dust from spreading through the whole house or is that just part of the deal?

My uncle said I could paint over wallpaper and it worked... sort of

So my uncle Bob swore up and down that painting over wallpaper was totally fine, just use a good primer. I had this ugly floral pattern in my hallway that I wanted gone, so I gave it a shot. Used a $35 gallon of Zinsser primer and two coats of flat white. Looked great for about 6 months, then the seams started peeling right up. Spent a whole weekend scraping off bubbled paint and wallpaper chunks. Anyone else fall for the "just paint over it" trick?

Just realized my cheap Harbor Freight tile saw cuts just as straight as the big name brand ones after 20 bathroom floors

I was dead set against the $90 model for years thinking you had to spend $400 for precision, but after renting a nice one twice and still chipping edges, I grabbed the cheap one on sale and have had zero issues with straight cuts even on 12x24 porcelain tiles - anyone else notice the expensive stuff doesn't always deliver?

Heard a neighbor say their deck stain peeled in 6 months

I was grilling last Saturday and my neighbor Bob came over complaining about the $80 Behr stain he put on his deck in May. He said it already looks like crap and he followed the directions to the letter. Anyone had good luck with a specific brand or prep method for cedar decking in humid climates?

Appreciation post: My $20 pipe clamp saved a crooked shelf project

Ngl, I kept seeing people online swear by these expensive parallel clamps for any woodworking. I was about to drop $60 on a set when my neighbor loaned me his old pipe clamp from the 80s. Honestly, it held my shelf joint tighter than anything I've tried before. Found out later that pipe clamps can handle up to 300 pounds of force per inch according to a Fine Woodworking article from 2019. Has anyone else had better luck with cheap gear than the fancy stuff?

Noticed something weird at the Habitat ReStore yesterday

I was at the Habitat ReStore in Denver yesterday and saw two identical bathroom vanities sitting right next to each other. One was $45 and the other was $85. Same brand, same size, same scratches. The only difference I could spot was the $85 one had its original hardware still in a bag while the $45 one had screws that were slightly rusted. That's a $40 markup for a 30 cent bag of screws. I asked a worker about it and she just shrugged and said "pricing is random based on who stocks it." Has anyone else noticed wild price gaps like this at your local ReStore?

TIL cheap vinyl flooring and mid-range stuff are totally different beasts

Put down $1.49/sq ft vinyl plank in my Denver basement last year. Looks terrible now, chips and gaps everywhere. My buddy used the $3.50 stuff from Lumber Liquidators and his floor is still perfect after 18 months. The thick wear layer makes all the difference. Anyone else regret going too cheap on flooring?

My big mistake with a cheap paint sprayer cost me $150 and a weekend

Bought a $40 HVLP sprayer off Amazon to paint my kitchen cabinets. Ended up with drips everywhere and had to strip it all back down to bare wood after the paint started peeling in 2 months. The rental at Home Depot would have been $60 for the day and actually worked right. Has anyone else learned the hard way that cheap tools just end up costing more?

Update: I was team cordless drill until my dad handed me his old DeWalt 20v hammer drill

I always thought cordless was the way to go for everything DIY, but after trying to drill through a concrete wall in my garage last week, my little Ryobi just couldnt cut it. My dad brought over his corded hammer drill and it went through that wall in about 30 seconds flat. Has anyone else found a situation where corded tools just work better for a specific project?

Realized I was cutting drywall backward for two years

I was scoring the face paper then snapping it away from the score line. A contractor buddy watched me do it and said "you're snapping it the wrong way, man." Turns out you score and snap toward the cut so the back paper tears clean. My joints look way better now and I'm not cussing at every panel. Anyone else have a basic drywall habit they did wrong for way too long?

Took me 3 tries to get a simple shelf level on a plaster wall