c/diy-home-projects

Warning: That $30 plastic gutter guard roll is a total lie

I spent a whole Saturday last spring installing this cheap roll of gutter guards from the hardware store in Maplewood. The plastic mesh was so flimsy it sagged right into the gutter after one good rain, and leaves and gunk just piled up on top of it anyway. I thought I was being smart saving $70 over the metal mesh kind, you know? Three weeks later I had a waterfall coming off my roof edge because the water couldn't even flow. Had to take the whole thing down and it ripped into pieces, so I couldn't even return it. Now I'm looking at the metal leaf blaster style guards for $90, but I'm scared of getting burned again. Anyone else have luck with a specific brand that actually works for heavy tree coverage?

Finally gave in and tried sanding between coats of polyurethane

I always figured sanding between coats was a waste of time on my kitchen cabinets. Did a test on a scrap piece of oak last weekend with 220 grit and it made the final coat look like glass. The difference was night and day even just after 2 coats. I used about 10 minutes per cabinet door and it was totally worth it. Has anyone else skipped this step and regretted it later on a big project?

TIL caulk guns have a 'drip stop' and I wasted 45 minutes cleaning up

I was finishing up some baseboard gaps in my living room and kept getting goop everywhere until I googged why. Can't believe it took me 3 years of doing this stuff to learn that little lever actually does something.

Fixed a leaky pipe under my sink with a $3 part, no plumber needed

Last Saturday I noticed water pooling under my kitchen sink. I figured it was going to be a big deal and cost me like $200 for a plumber. But I watched a 10 minute video and found out it was just a worn out O-ring on the drain pipe. I grabbed a pack of assorted O-rings from Ace Hardware for $3.49 and swapped it out in about 20 minutes. Now I'm checking all my other sink connections this weekend just to be safe. Has anyone else had luck fixing small plumbing issues without calling a pro?

I was sure reclaimed wood was overhyped until I built my own table

Kept seeing fancy barn wood tables online for like $2,000. Rolled my eyes every time. Then I found a stack of old fence boards from a 1940s farm in Ohio for $40. Took me three weekends to de-nail and sand them down. The grain and color are nothing like new lumber from Home Depot. I built a dining table for under $100 total. Has anyone else had luck with free or cheap salvaged materials?

PSA: I spent 5 years painting my kitchen walls in the wrong order before a neighbor pointed it out

Was doing cut-in after rolling for years with lap marks everywhere until my 70-year-old neighbor Margaret watched me one Saturday and said 'honey you're supposed to cut in first and let it dry before you roll' - so which is it for you, cut-in first or roll first and why?

Fixing a sagging garage header from 1972

Bought a house from 1972 in Cleveland last year. Noticed the garage door header had a 2 inch sag over the middle. I jacked it up an eighth inch at a time over 3 weeks using a bottle jack and a 4x4. Did that actually fix it or did I just make new problems for later?

Took out a ceiling and found 3 layers of old shingles hiding up there

I was tearing down a dropped ceiling in my 1950s ranch house last weekend and discovered the previous owners just drywalled over an old roof. There were three full layers of asphalt shingles still nailed to the rafters above the living room. That can't be safe for weight or fire risk, right? Has anyone else pulled open a ceiling and found something this ridiculous hiding in their attic space?

Pro tip: paint color matching works great on old tile

I was redoing my mom's bathroom in Columbus last month and couldn't find replacement tile for a 1980s backsplash. Took a chipped piece to Sherwin-Williams and they color matched it perfectly in a satin enamel. Two coats with a small foam roller and it looked brand new. Has anyone else tried this on old shower tile or just backsplashes?

That hardware store seminar in Wichita that changed my whole approach to trim work

Back in 2015 I went to a free Saturday morning demo at a True Value in Wichita, just killing time because my wife was at a craft fair next door. An older guy named Gene showed how he copes inside corners on baseboard using just a cheap coping saw and a file, no miter cuts that gap up over time. I had been wrestling with miters for years, filling gaps with caulk, never really happy with the result. He let me try his technique on a scrap piece of poplar, and I got a perfect joint on my third try. I went home and redid my entire living room trim over that weekend, and it still looks tight today without a single bead of caulk. Has anyone else had luck switching to coped joints for interior trim, or do you still stick with miters?

Figured out I was installing toilet flappers wrong for like 15 years

Last weekend I was swapping out a leaky flapper in my master bath and something just clicked. All this time I was hooking the chain to the closest hole on the arm, thinking that gave the best flush. Then my neighbor Bob watched me do it and said dude you're choking the valve, move it to the second hole. Sure enough the toilet flushes way better now and uses less water. How long did it take you guys to realize you'd been doing some basic fix wrong the whole time?

Tried sanding drywall compound with the 120 grit I use for wood... big mistake

Spent a whole afternoon on a patch job in my hallway last week, sanding joint compound with the same paper I use for furniture. Left these ugly scratches that showed right through the primer. Anyone else learned the hard way that you need like 220 grit minimum for compound?

My 10 year old drill finally died on a fence repair last Tuesday...

Picked up a new brushless one from the hardware store and the difference in torque on those rusted screws was night and day, has anyone else noticed how much better the motors have gotten in the last 5 years?

Appreciation post: my neighbor's old manual auger saved my backyard project last weekend

I was digging post holes for a new fence along the back line of my property, 6 holes total. About 3 feet into the second hole I hit a solid rock the size of a basketball. My electric auger just started smoking and gave up on me. My neighbor came over with this ancient manual auger his dad left him, and we got through all the rocks in about 2 hours. Has anyone else had better luck with manual tools than the fancy electric stuff?

Overheard a guy at Home Depot talking about painting his kitchen cabinets

He said he was using a brush and roller. Took him 3 weekends and he hated every minute. I wanted to chime in but didn't. My buddy in Cleveland did his cabinets with a cheap HVLP sprayer from Harbor Freight. Cost him $60. Whole kitchen took one weekend and looked like factory finish. Made me think about how many people just don't know about sprayers. Or they think sprayers are too hard to clean. The cleanup really only takes 15 minutes if you do it right. Has anyone else switched over to a sprayer for cabinets and felt dumb for not doing it sooner?

Tried spray foam vs. fiberglass for my attic. Big mistake with the foam.

I insulated my attic last fall in Austin. Started with spray foam in one section. That stuff expanded way more than I expected. Had to cut back half of it with a saw. Switched to fiberglass batts for the rest. Took half the time and no mess. Anyone else pick one and regret it?

Finished painting my kitchen cabinets after 3 weekends... what a difference

I finally wrapped up painting my oak cabinets in the kitchen this past Sunday. They were that dated honey oak from the 90s and I just couldn't look at them anymore. I went with a warm white semi-gloss and spent about 14 hours total between sanding, priming, and two coats. The change is honestly wild, like a completely different room. I used a small foam roller for the flat panels and a brush for the corners, which made it look way smoother than I expected. The biggest pain was waiting for each coat to dry fully before flipping the doors around. Now I'm second-guessing if I should swap out the old brass hardware for something more modern. Has anyone else done a similar refresh and regretted the hardware choice later?

Shoutout to the guy at Lowe's who talked me out of a $400 tile saw

He just pointed at the $150 wet saw and said 'you're doing a 6x6 bathroom floor, not a commercial job.' That thing got me through three bathroom remodels before it finally died.

My neighbor's trick for leveling a shed foundation saved my back

My neighbor Bob told me to use a string line and a line level instead of a long board and a bubble level. I thought he was crazy because I'd always used a 4-foot level on the joists. But I tried it on my 8x10 shed last spring and it took me like 20 minutes instead of 2 hours. The string line showed me exactly where the high and low spots were in the gravel base. Has anyone else used this method or do you swear by something else for getting a flat shed floor?

My neighbor the plumber told me I was wasting time with those plastic push-fit fittings and now I got a pro press tool rental for $80 this weekend

He said 90% of his service calls are from SharkBite failures after 5 years and that sold me on trying crimp rings instead, anyone else ditch the quick fittings for something more permanent?

Dropped $50 on a cheap drain snake and it snapped inside my pipe

Bought a plastic one from the hardware store to clear a kitchen clog and the cable twisted off in the line. Now I'm looking at a $300 plumber bill to fish it out. Anyone ever get a broken snake out themselves without calling a pro?

I finally checked the actual R-value on my attic insulation and holy crap

So I bought this house 2 years ago and the inspector just said 'looks adequate' about the attic insulation. I was up there last weekend running some ethernet and noticed it looked kinda thin. Got curious, grabbed a ruler, and measured. Turns out I only have about 4 inches of fiberglass up there, which is maybe R-13. For my zone in the midwest that should be like R-49 minimum. I found this fact on the Energy Star website and did the math on what it's costing me. Rough estimate says I've been throwing away like $400 a year on heating and cooling because of that. Now I'm looking at blown-in cellulose and renting the machine from Home Depot for like $50. Has anyone else done this themselves and regretted NOT doing it sooner?

Vent: Why does nobody check their stud finder battery before starting?

Spent last Saturday hanging some heavy shelves in my living room. Third hole I drilled, the bit just spun free and I knew I hit a void. Turns out my stud finder was beeping at air gaps because the battery was dying. I pulled it out of the wall and patched it, but now I have three useless holes. Has anyone else had a stud finder lie to them because of low power?

Visited a Habitat ReStore and noticed all the doors were organized by size not style

I stopped by the Habitat ReStore last weekend looking for a cheap interior door for my basement. They had maybe 60 doors stacked up but they sorted them all by width and height, not by panel style or color. It actually made way more sense than how regular hardware stores do it. Has anyone else found a surprising organization trick at a used building material place?

Picked up a used tile saw on Facebook Marketplace for $40 and it changed my whole bathroom project