c/diy-and-reno

My neighbor said my fence gate was 'angry' and he wasn't wrong

Built a gate in my backyard last spring in Spokane. Looked fine to me. My neighbor, retired carpenter, walked over and said 'that gate looks angry, man.' He was right. The hinges were fighting and the latch was off by half an inch. Took his advice, shimmed the hinges, reset the latch. Swings smooth now. What's the most random feedback someone gave you that actually fixed your project?

I finally swapped my cheap drill bits for a mid-tier set after a disaster in Tacoma

Spent $20 on a random pack of bits and snapped three of them trying to put together a simple pergola frame last weekend. Picked up a Milwaukee Shockwave set for $60 and it cut through pressure-treated lumber like butter. Anyone else have a moment where cheap tools cost you more time and money in the long run?

Pro tip: I saved $340 by mixing my own floor cleaner concentrate

I was going through those ready-to-use spray bottles way too fast for my reno projects. Last month I finally did the math and realized I was spending about $12 a week on just floor cleaner. So I bought a gallon of concentrated cleaner for $18 and a couple of empty spray bottles. That one gallon makes 32 full bottles using the dilution ratio on the label. It took me 3 batches to get the mix right but now I'm saving big time. Has anyone else switched to concentrates for their cleaning supplies?

Plywood shelf disaster at my buddy's garage taught me a lesson

I was helping my friend Mike build heavy duty shelves in his garage last month using 3/4 inch plywood. We followed some online plans and didn't support the middle spans enough. After loading them with about 200 pounds of tools and bins, the whole middle section bowed and cracked within two days. How do you guys figure out span limits for plywood shelves without making them super thick?

Unpopular hot take: I think sanding between every coat of paint is a waste of time

Was talking to a painter who's been doing trim work for 30 years and he told me he only sands if there's actual drips or dust nibs. His finished jobs look flawless and he finishes twice as fast as me. Anyone else ditch the sanding step and still get good results?

My neighbor the electrician made me feel dumb about my outlet spacing

Spent 3 hours last Saturday measuring out outlets in my garage reno and my neighbor Bob (licensed electrician for 20 yrs) walked by and said 'you know code allows for more than one outlet on a 20 amp circuit right?' I was so focused on following some YouTube guide that I forgot the basic rules. Has anyone else had a pro casually drop a truth bomb that made you rethink your whole approach?

Just realized I don't need to tile behind the stove after visiting my sister's kitchen

She redid her kitchen last month in Portland and put up a stainless steel backsplash instead of tile behind the stove. I was dead set on subway tile for mine but after seeing how easy it is to wipe grease off metal versus scrubbing grout, I totally changed my plan. Has anyone else switched to a non-tile backsplash and regretted it or loved it?

The debate on priming bare wood before painting - do you still bother?

I used to always prime bare wood with a high-build primer, let it dry 24 hours, then sand and paint. Now I just use paint with primer built in on pine trim and call it a day, saved me about 2 hours on my last baseboard job in a 3 bedroom house. Old school guys swear you're asking for tannin bleed and poor adhesion, but the paint store guy told me modern formulas are good enough. Has anyone actually had a paint failure from skipping the primer step on interior trim?

Spent a weekend testing brush-on vs. spray-on concrete sealer at my parents' place in Phoenix

I finally stopped believing those magnetic bracelet claims after my own test

Bought a $15 magnetic bracelet from a hardware store for my wrist pain, wore it for 3 weeks straight while renovating my basement drywall. No difference in soreness at all, just a dirty bracelet.

Pro tip: Ditch the mini roller for a 4 inch brush on cabinet frames

I used to spend hours using a tiny foam roller on every cabinet door frame in my kitchen reno thinking it gave a smoother finish. Switched to a decent 4 inch Purdy brush after watching a buddy finish his whole set in one afternoon. The brush lays down paint way faster and I get those tight corners without taping off everything. Anyone else find a tool swap that cut their project time in half?

TIL you can fix a warped door with a wet towel and the sun

I was out on a delivery last week in Austin and the guy's back door was totally stuck, wouldn't close right. He just threw a damp towel over the warped spot and left it in direct sunlight for a few hours, said it relaxes the wood fibers back to shape. Anyone tried this on hollow core interior doors or does it only work on solid wood?

Hit 500 square feet of tile in one day and my back is filing a complaint

I laid 520 square feet of porcelain tile in my basement last Saturday. I prepped the floor with Ditra, mixed thinset in 50-pound batches, and used a 3/8 notch trowel for every row. Got to 500 feet by 6 PM and my knees were screaming. Has anyone else pushed a big single-day tile job and regretted it the next morning?

Tried cheap vinyl floor tiles from big box store, thought they'd peel up in a week

I was super skeptical about those peel and stick vinyl tiles for my basement in Detroit. Spent about $120 on them for a 10x12 room and figured I'd be replacing them in 6 months. But after prepping the concrete floor really well (cleaned it twice, let it dry 24 hours), they have held up for 2 years now with no curling. Even had a small water spill from a leaky pipe and they didn't lift at all. What convinced me was watching a friend use them in a rental property where tenants are rough on floors. Has anyone else had good luck with cheap flooring that everyone says is junk?

Warning about the big box store lumber rack at Lowes on Miller Ave

I was at the Lowes on Miller Ave last Saturday grabbing some 2x4s for a shed frame and I noticed something sketchy. About 3 rows of the studs were all sitting in a puddle of water near the back of the rack, must have been from a leaky roof. I pulled one out and it was already warped and starting to rot on the end, total waste of money if you don't look. Has anyone else seen this at their local store or am I just unlucky?

That time a drywall finisher told me I was wiping the mud too much

Guy walks over while I'm smoothing a joint for the fifth time and says 'ya keep wiping off the mud, not spreading it.' Turns out I was taking material off instead of leaving a thin coat. Has anyone else had a pro call them out on something they thought they were doing right?

Debate: Should you paint over old caulk or rip it all out first?

My buddy swears by just painting over cracking caulk in the bathroom, says it saves time and looks fine for a year. But after I tried that last winter, the whole thing peeled off in my shower in Silver Lake within 2 months. What do you guys do when you get feedback from someone who says your DIY shortcut is the way to go?

My shower valve started leaking at 2 AM last Saturday in Austin

I woke up to a dripping sound and found water pooling behind the tile. Tried tightening the packing nut first but it was already stripped. Ended up cutting out a section of drywall from the closet behind the shower to access the valve from the back side. Replaced the cartridge and had it fixed by noon but what a mess. Has anyone else had to deal with a shower valve that fails in the middle of the night?

Finished my basement with exactly 47 sheets of drywall and zero waste

I was framing out my basement in Columbus and somehow managed to cut every single 4x8 sheet so that I used every last scrap. I had 47 sheets total and the last piece I cut was exactly the right size for a weird little nook above the stairs. It felt like some kind of drywall miracle because I usually end up with a pile of unusable offcuts. Has anyone else pulled off a job where the math just worked out perfectly like that?

Tore out a brand new tile backsplash yesterday after a dumb mistake

I was tiling my kitchen in my 1950s bungalow in Des Moines. Spent 6 hours setting the subway tile on Sunday, looked great. Then Monday morning I noticed the entire row above the stove was a half inch lower than the rest. I must have bumped the laser level while grabbing a beer. Had to pull 12 tiles off, scrape the thinset, and redo it. Cost me an extra $40 in thinset and a whole afternoon. Has anyone else had to redo fresh tile because of a leveling screw up?

PSA: Took me 7 years to realize I was painting trim wrong the whole time

I was painting baseboards in my living room in Phoenix last weekend, normal stuff. My neighbor comes over, been a painter for 30 years. Watches me for like 2 minutes then says 'why are you brushing against the grain?' I had no idea what he meant. Turns out I was doing the final coat perpendicular to the wood grain every single time. Looked fine to me but he showed me his way - one smooth pass with the grain. No brush marks, no bumps. Felt like a complete idiot. Anyone else discover they've been messing up basic stuff for way too long?

First time using a planer on old barn wood, didnt expect that much tearout

I salvaged some oak beams from a torn down barn out near Abbotstown last weekend. Ran them through my Dewalt 735 for the first time and the tearout was way worse than I expected, like deep gouges on almost every board. Figured out I was taking too much off at once and the grain direction was all over the place. Anyone else have tricks for dealing with really old, gnarly wood that wants to fight back?

Burned out on using a roller for everything, finally caved and got a sprayer for my fence

I spent three weekends painting this 200 foot privacy fence with a roller. After the first Saturday my back was killing me and I still had like 80% left. Borrowed a buddy's Wagner sprayer finally and knocked out the whole thing in 4 hours flat. The finish is way more even too, no brush marks or drips. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been doing something the hard way for no reason?

That $80 wet saw blade I thought was a bargain...

Picked up a cheap wet saw blade at a big box store for $80. Figured a brand name was just marketing hype. First cut on some 12x24 porcelain tile? Chattered like crazy. Second cut threw chunks out of the edge. By the third cut the blade was basically smooth. Took me an extra hour to clean up the mess and reset. Ended up driving back to the store and grabbing the $140 blade I should have bought first. The cheap one didn't save me money, it cost me time and materials. Anyone else learn this lesson with tile blades or another tool?

Pro tip: skipping primer on kitchen cabinets was a mistake I learned the hard way

I painted my maple cabinets with just two coats of latex paint last weekend, no primer. Now the stain is bleeding through and it looks like crap in the afternoon light. Anyone got a fix for this without sanding everything down again?