c/diy-home-renovation

Drywall sanding dust got in my fish tank, tanks survived but I didn't

Last weekend I was sanding the seam compound in our hallway and didnt think to cover the living room entrance. My 20 gallon tank is about 15 feet away but that fine dust just floats everywhere. By the time I checked, the water surface had a gray film and my filter was sucking in dust. I did a 50% water change and rinsed the filter media, no fish loss but I was panicking hard for a couple hours. Has anyone else had a near miss with fine dust and aquariums or electronics? What do you use to seal off rooms during messy sanding jobs?

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rileyl67•3d ago

My hallway ceiling fell in last Tuesday, patch job went sideways fast

I was changing a light fixture in the hallway and bumped the old plaster with my ladder, next thing I know a 2-foot section crumbled onto the floor. It's a 1960s house in Portland, so the lath and plaster was already brittle, but I didn't expect that much damage from one tap. I tried a quick patch with some joint compound but it sagged overnight, so now I'm ripping out the whole strip down to the studs and putting up drywall instead. Anyone else dealt with old plaster ceilings just giving up on them, and did you use a specific backing board or just screw straight into the lath?

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the_andrew•4d ago

Rental-grade laminate vs real LVP, my hallway experiment in Denver

I laid cheap peel-and-stick planks in the laundry room last spring and upgraded to proper LVP in the hallway this winter, the difference in foot traffic wear is wild. The laminate already shows scuffs near the washer, the LVP still looks brand new after 4 months, anyone else wish they'd just spent the extra $60 upfront?

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viola171•4d ago

My old drywall taping method vs. what I do now, night and day difference

For 10 years I taped drywall the classic way, mud the seam, lay the tape, then mud over it again. Last spring I watched a guy in Tulsa do the 'wet tape' trick, where you pre-wet the paper tape before embedding it. That one step cut my corner cracking issues by almost 80%, no joke. The downside is you have to move faster or the tape gets soggy and tears, so speed matters more. Anyone else try pre-wetting tape, or do you think it's just extra fuss for no real gain?

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riley_bell•6d ago

Caulking the tub took me 3 full days, is that normal or am I doing it backwards?

I spent Monday scraping old silicone, Tuesday applying new beads, and Wednesday redoing the corners because I didn't tape them right, so do you guys mask off first or just freehand and wipe, and how long did your first tub job actually take?

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caleb_sanchez•9d ago

Demo day discovery: hidden surprise behind the drywall in my 1970s bathroom

I was tearing out a shower surround in my fixer-upper in Cleveland last Saturday, planning a simple tile swap. About halfway through, I pulled a chunk of greenboard and found a full newspaper from March 1974, plus a rusty putty knife and what looked like a dried-up tube of caulk someone had stashed behind the wall. The paper had a coupon for a local hardware store that went out of business in the 80s, so I stopped to read the classifieds for a solid 10 minutes before remembering I was dripping sweat into my eyes. I snapped a photo, saved the knife for a paint scraper, and tossed the rest in the dumpster. Anyone else find weird stuff behind walls, or am I just lucky with my house's earlier owners? The plumber I hired said he once found a full set of dentures behind a toilet flange, which I think beats my find.

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singh.blair•10d ago

Hit 500 drywall screws without a single pop, surprised myself in the garage

Took me 3 weekends to finish my 12x14 shed interior in Spokane, and I expected at least a few to work loose after the weather swung 40 degrees, but they all held, anyone else track their screw count or am I just weird?

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nancy929•12d ago

My kitchen reno hit 47 trips to the hardware store, is that insane?

We are gutting a 1970s kitchen in Tacoma and I started counting every run for returns, extra parts, or stuff I forgot to measure. Hit 47 before the countertop template got ordered, and my wife says that's a red flag while my buddy says it's normal for any older house. Some folks plan every cut ahead and do maybe 12 trips, others wing it like me and pay the gas tax. Where did you land on your biggest project, and did the number ever make you rethink your whole approach?

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anna_craig•16d ago

My bathroom tile disaster taught me to always buy extra boxes

I was retiling my small half bath in Austin last summer and ran out of tile with just the bottom row left. Thought I could grab another box from the same batch at the big box store, but they had sold out of that color lot. Ended up having to drive to three different locations across town to find two more boxes that matched close enough. Now I always buy 15% more than I need even if it means returning unopened boxes later. Has anyone else had a same-lot tile shortage ruin their weekend plans?

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the_phoenix•24d ago

Hit 100 outlets installed in my own house this weekend

I was tallying up all the electrical work I've done since buying this 1970s ranch in Phoenix three years ago. Counted every outlet and switch I've replaced or added and somehow hit exactly 100 last Saturday. Never thought I'd rewire an entire house myself but here we are, still haven't burned it down. Anyone else keep a running count of your renovations or is that just my OCD?

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jesse_burns8•27d ago

My neighbor the carpenter changed how I look at drywall mud

So I was chatting with Tim from across the street last weekend while he was fixing his garage siding. He mentioned he never sands joint compound anymore, just uses a wet sponge and a light touch. I laughed at first because that sounded like extra work to me. But he showed me on a patch he was doing and the finish was barely any different from sanding. I tried it on a small repair in my laundry room yesterday and it cut my cleanup time by like 20 minutes. Anyone else ditch sandpaper for the wet sponge method or am I crazy?

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harper_singh18•27d ago

My uncle swore by using a circular saw blade backwards on laminate flooring

He claimed it would stop chipping and give me cleaner cuts. Tried it on a 200 sq ft kitchen floor in Austin and it just burned the edges and made a mess. Had to replace 3 planks and buy a proper fine-tooth blade. Anyone else get bad advice from a relative on a diy project?

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tessa_rivera•28d ago

Rant: That $20 outlet tester took me 3 hours to figure out was wrong

I spent an entire Sunday tracking down a dead outlet in my living room only to discover my outlet tester was giving false readings because the ground screw was loose on the tester itself, has anyone else had a tool betray them like that?

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brookebailey•28d ago

Discovered my kitchen floor is crooked 3 years after buying the house

Last month I rolled a marble across the kitchen and it went straight for the baseboard. I thought it was just a bad tile job but my level showed a 1/4 inch drop over 6 feet. Turns out the subfloor was never leveled when they laid the vinyl planks. Now I'm looking at whether I can pour self leveler over the planks or if I gotta rip it all out. Anybody fixed a similar problem without tearing up the whole floor?

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miaa41•29d ago

Creaky floorboards made me rethink old vs new builds

I was at my grandpa's place last Sunday and he said 'they don't make houses like this anymore' while stepping over a board that squeaked like crazy. Got me thinking about how my parents' 1960s ranch has solid oak floors that have held up through three generations, while my buddy's new construction from 2018 already has some laminate peeling near the kitchen sink. I spent the afternoon looking up how to fix a squeaky floorboard with a simple screw and some carpenter glue, and it felt way more satisfying than replacing a whole panel. Has anyone else noticed that older homes are harder to work on but feel more rewarding to fix?

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loganm52•29d ago

July 4th weekend 2019, the plumber said he couldnt come until Tuesday

The pipe under my kitchen sink burst on a Thursday night. Not a dramatic spray, just a slow drip that turned the cabinet bottom into mush by morning. Every hardware store within 20 miles was closed for the holiday. I spent Friday through Sunday rigging up a bucket system with a pool noodle and duct tape. Has anyone else had to MacGyver a fix while waiting for the holiday weekend to end?

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bell.emma•29d ago

Finally hung my kitchen cabinet doors straight after 6 years of crooked frustration

I used to just eyeball the hinges with a regular screwdriver (you know, the cheap one from the dollar store) and every door would sag after a month or two. Last weekend I borrowed a magnetic hinge jig from my uncle and set aside 4 hours to do all 12 doors at once. The difference is wild - they actually close flush now and the gaps are like 1/8 inch instead of 1/2 inch. I also switched to using an impact driver instead of a drill for the screws, which kept them from stripping. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple tool makes you feel like you've been doing it wrong for years?

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clark.joel•1mo ago

The shower tile spacers at my local Habitat ReStore blew my mind

I was digging through the bins at the ReStore last weekend in Cleveland and found an unopened 500-pack of 1/8 inch tile spacers for $2. I looked it up on my phone and the same bag goes for about $12 at Lowe's. I grabbed three of them because I'm about to start tiling my guest bathroom floor. It got me thinking how much money you can save on small stuff if you just check the ReStore first. Has anyone else found random renovation supplies way cheaper there?

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the_alex•1mo ago

That $20 caulk gun from the big box store cost me a whole day of work

Bought a cheap ratchet rod caulk gun at Home Depot and it kept slipping, leaving globs everywhere on my baseboards. Had to scrape and redo 40 feet of trim caulk. Anyone found a brand that actually holds steady for the full tube?

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linda626•1mo ago

After 15 years of painting trim, I finally realized I was using the wrong brush angle the whole time

It took a neighbor doing the same job in half the time for me to see how a 2.5 inch angled sash brush cuts a line way cleaner than the flat ones I always bought for $8 at the hardware store, has anyone else had that kind of wake-up call with a tool you thought you knew?

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kaiharris•1mo ago

Just realized my old laser level was way off after 10 years

I was hanging cabinets in my kitchen last Saturday and noticed the lines weren't matching up. Took out a new level I borrowed from my buddy in Nashville and found my old one was off by nearly a quarter inch over 6 feet. Had to redo all the marks and now I'm wondering how many other projects I messed up. Anyone else had a trusty tool betray them like that?

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wren_jackson•1mo ago

Just realized my grandfather's old hand plane works better than my $200 new one

Picked up a Stanley No. 5 from the 1940s at an estate sale in Cleveland for $15. I've been using a modern plane for all my door trimming and cabinet work. Figured the old one would be a wall hanger. Sharpened it up and took it to some pine boards I was fitting for shelves. That thing cuts so smooth it feels like cheating. No chatter, no tearing. My fancy new one sits in the drawer now. Has anyone else had luck with old tools beating out new gear?

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baker.simon•1mo ago

Shoutout to the cheap oscillating tool blade that saved my kitchen reno

I was dead set against those no-name multipack blades on Amazon, figured they'd snap in 5 minutes. Last month I'm doing a countertop replacement in my 1950s kitchen in Cleveland and need to cut out old mortar under the backsplash. Spent $18 on a 20-pack of generic carbide blades as a joke, but after 3 hours of cutting through grout and nail heads that sucker was still going. My neighbor Bob who does tile work full time told me he swore by Diablo, but I had to eat my words after this cheap blade did 4 full cuts without dulling. Has anyone else had luck with the budget blades, or did I just get a fluke?

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felix98•1mo ago

Tried painting my kitchen cabinets without sanding them first... big mistake lol

I figured I could skip the sanding step on my oak cabinets because I used that expensive bonding primer everyone talks about. After two coats of paint and a full weekend of work, the paint started peeling off in sheets like three days later. I was so mad I almost threw the whole brush across the garage. Turns out that glossy factory finish just doesn't let anything stick to it no matter what primer you use. I ended up stripping everything down with a chemical stripper from Home Depot, sanding each door by hand for like 6 hours total, and repainting the whole thing. The second time around it came out super smooth and has held up for 6 months now. Has anyone else tried skipping steps on a big project and regretted it?

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perez.mia•1mo ago

My neighbor's advice on sanding floors saved me a big headache

When I refinished my hardwood floors in the living room last month, my neighbor Bob kept telling me to start with 40 grit, not 60. I thought he was crazy because 40 grit seemed too rough. But after ruining the first 6 feet with the finer grit, I switched to his way and it cut through the old finish in half the time. That 40 grit really did the heavy lifting and I only needed two passes after that. Has anyone else had a neighbor give you advice that went against what you read online but turned out to be right?

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