Admit Your Dumbest Homeowner Repair Mistakes

Slipped off a rafter and leg went through the ceiling in living room. All because I was running a phone line...

It isn't a sexy mistake, but just trying to wallpaper a bathroom. It looked like a toddler's paper mache on a balloon. It almost looked like I threw wet toilet paper on the wall and let it dry.

Never. Again.

Moved our electric gas top range out in order to spray for bugs behind it. All was good as I was pushing it back in, but some how the glass top cracked. The top over hung the counter top and I guess it put to much stress on the glass. 900 dollars later and a pulled back muscle we now have a new range.

Also electrocuted myself changing at the fan in my sons room. Turned off the light switches and verified no power to the fixture. Son came into his room and flipped the switch on when I went to the garage to get my wire strippers. Went to put the wire nut on the hot wire and shocked myself. Note to self turn off the breaker when other people are in the house and doing electric work.

I don't have any because I'm perfect, but the previous owner insisted on DIY'ing and half assed everything, for what that's worth.

I can think of several small things that I just lived with for months...simply due to my ignorance of how simple the fix was.

Anything plumbing related except for replacing a disposal. Setting a toilet...I'm always going to break the flange.

Stupid plumbing mistake trying to repair a small leak. Long story, but we had a renovation done 8 years ago, and the contractor used PEX and tied into the existing copper hot/cold lines. Daughter spotted a leak in the basement, I eyeballed it, took a couple of photos, and was going to cut out the bad section with the crimped joint, and replace with shark bites. Thankfully they had put shutoff valves right after where they connected, so I was able to put it off until the morning. What I didn't realize was they had two hot and cold lines running in parallel. 3/4 inch lines to feed the tub, and 1/2 inch lines to feed the sinks/toilet/shower. I didn't realize I would need a T-joint reducer until after I cut the lines off. I had bought the 1/2 inch T-joint, not the one where 3/4 goes straight through and the 1/2 inch comes off the side. Two trips to Home Depot for maybe $40-50 in parts, where if I had taken a closer look I would have saved a trip and $20.

Owned a residential fourplex. Older, built in 1955. Tenant had an electrical oven problem. Went to the basement and flipped off the main breaker. Went back upstairs and started messing around and got knocked across the kitchen by the 220. It was still live. I can do all the trades with average to decent outcomes if I do it myself but I won't screw around with electrical.

Did this. Couldn’t move my arm for a half our

My first house I bought was the very one I grew up in as a kid and located in the Lower 9th Ward. It was a single, 6 room shotgun and I decided to swap out all the electrical outlets and switches since the ones I had were old and of different brands and looked like crap.

I decided to do this in the daytime so I could shut off the power and get them all done, hopefully in one afternoon. A friend stopped over and we smoked a couple joints while listening to radio and having a couple beers.

He left and I got to doing the outlets first. After removing the plates in the front room I unscrewed the first outlet and reached in and grabbed it to unscrew the wiring and it zapped the crap out of me.

It was then I realized I was listening to the radio plugged into the wall in the next room and had forgotten to pull the main to start the work.

Just glad it wasn't a 220 outlet for a window A/C.