c/diy-and-reno

Water stains on my ceiling appeared 3 weeks after a hidden leak

Back in March I noticed a tiny yellow spot on the bathroom ceiling, maybe the size of a quarter. I figured it was just old paint or a smudge, so I ignored it. Three weeks later that spot turned into a brown ring almost two feet wide, and the drywall started sagging. Turned out a pipe joint behind the wall had been dripping slowly for months, and the moisture had been traveling along the joists before it ever showed. Cost me $480 to have a plumber find it and another $220 to patch and repaint the ceiling myself. The lesson is that any stain, no matter how small, means water is doing damage somewhere you can't see. Has anyone else had a slow leak hide like that, and how did you track it down before it got worse?

2 comments

colegarcia•1d ago

The $14 harbor freight caulk smoother that fixed my trim work

I spent 14 bucks on one of those little silicone caulk tools after fighting with my finger for years. First try on the bathroom baseboards in Seattle and it came out cleaner than anything I'd done before. My finger method left these weird dips that I'd always have to sand and redo, this thing just glides over the bead. Ended up redoing all the trim in the hallway last weekend, about 30 linear feet, and it took half the time. Anyone else use those things or am I late to the party? Curious if the metal ones are worth the extra cash.

2 comments

kevinw94•2d ago

The rental flip that taught me about tile layout in one afternoon

Had a tenant in Phoenix ask me to retile her kitchen floor while she was out of town for work, so I laid everything out square to the walls. She came home, stared at the slight hallway offset, and said 'why didn't you start from the doorway so the eye follows straight?' That one comment changed how I plan every tile job now. Has anyone else had a customer spot a layout flaw you completely missed?

1 comments

matthewking•4d ago

That inspector who laughed at my outlet spacing, still bugs me a year later

Guy at the county office in Knoxville told me my 18 inch spacing on a kitchen backsplash was a hack job and then showed me his own house had 22 inch gaps, so is there actually a real standard or are we all just making this up as we go?

2 comments

ryan_hart38•4d ago

Bought a $90 stud finder, a $5 magnet did the job better

Last month I was wiring up a new outlet in my laundry room and my fancy stud finder kept giving false readings on the old plaster walls. I finally got frustrated, dug a cheap neodymium magnet out of my toolbox, and found the drywall screws in about 10 seconds flat. The magnet trick works perfect on any wall, you just slide it until it sticks and you know you are dead center on a stud. I wasted a whole afternoon going back and forth with the electronic one, checking the manual and re-calibrating it twice. Has anyone else ditched the high tech gear for the dumb simple method on something like this, or am I just bad at using the tools? That $90 could have bought a lot of drywall compound. What other basic tricks have saved you money on a reno?

2 comments

caseywalker•4d ago

The $900 moisture meter that lied to me on a flip house

Picked up a pinless moisture meter from a big box store, figured it was fine. Used it to check a basement wall in a place I was flipping in Tacoma before buying new drywall. Meter said 12 percent, dry as a bone. Went ahead with the install. Three weeks later the drywall was sweating and molding. Actual reading with a borrowed probe meter was 28 percent. Cost me $900 in materials and my own labor to rip it all out and start over. Anyone else have a tool that gave them a false sense of security and cost more than the damn tool itself?

2 comments

dakota_miller93•4d ago

Swapped vinyl plank for tile in my bathroom, no regrets now

I was dead set on vinyl plank for my master bath reno in Austin. Waterproof, cheap, easy install. But my buddy who does tile work kept pushing porcelain. He said vinyl hides moisture under the seams and you won't see mold until it's bad. Finally caved and spent $1,200 extra on tile and proper waterproofing. Three months in, shower every day, zero issues. The grout lines are a pain to clean though. Has anyone else switched materials mid-project and felt it was worth the added cost?

2 comments

linda_butler•4d ago

The 2x4s in my garage wall were load bearing and I found out the hard way

Spent last Saturday tearing out a wall in my basement thinking it was just a partition, then the ceiling joists started sagging two inches before I grabbed a jack post from the rental place in Akron, has anyone else trusted a framing nail pattern only to regret it?

2 comments

finley_roberts27•5d ago

Dug up my grandma's old chisel set and it kicked my new one's butt

My father-in-law gave me her old Stanley set from the 1960s after I complained about my $50 chisels not holding an edge. Spent a Saturday afternoon flattening and sharpening them on a wet stone, took about 2 hours total. First dovetail joint I cut with the vintage ones came out cleaner than anything I've done in the last 5 years. Anybody else find older tools just feel better in the hand, or is it all just nostalgia?

2 comments

drews55•9d ago

Overheard a guy at the tile supply store say thin-set is cheaper than grout and it clicked

I was standing in line at Floor & Decor last Saturday getting ready to drop $80 on grout for a bathroom floor. The guy behind me was telling his buddy he uses thin-set for everything because it's half the price and holds up way better in wet areas. I always thought grout was the only option for between tiles because that's what everyone does. But he showed me photos of his shower floor from 5 years ago using just thin-set and it looked brand new. I ended up grabbing a bag of thin-set instead of grout for my 6x6 tile job. Going to try it on my basement floor next week where moisture has always been a problem. Anyone here ever skip grout and just use thin-set instead?

2 comments

joseph_green13•9d ago

Built a shed with a nail gun instead of hammer and nails - never going back

I spent 3 weekends framing a 12x16 shed by hand last summer and my wrist still aches thinking about it. This year I built a second one for my neighbor using a basic Paslode nail gun and finished in 2 days flat. The difference wasn't just speed either, every joint came out tighter with way less splitting on the pressure treated lumber. I even did the roof sheathing standing on the ground with a siding attachment which saved me from climbing up and down a hundred times. My neighbor asked if the nail gun was worth the $350 rental and I told him it paid for itself in saved time on the first wall. Anyone else switch to nail guns and refuse to go back to hand nailing for big projects?

2 comments

rowan_ross•12d ago

That expensive caulk gun I laughed at my uncle for buying is actually amazing

My uncle Paul showed up to help me redo my shower in Des Moines last summer with this $60 caulk gun that looked like a spaceship. I was like seriously dude you got ripped off. But after watching him lay down a perfect bead on my tile without any drips or mess I asked to try it. Not a single squeeze wasted and the rod didn't pop back like my $8 one from Home Depot. He let me borrow it for the rest of the job and I ordered one that night. Anyone else have a tool they thought was overpriced junk until they actually used it?

2 comments

rowanr88•12d ago

Tried painting my kitchen cabinets with a foam roller instead of a brush

I decided to give my 1980s oak cabinets a facelift last month in Austin. Used a fine-finish foam roller from Home Depot for the flat panels and it came out looking like orange peel texture instead of smooth. Learned the hard way that foam rollers trap too much air in latex paint, need to go back with a high-density microfiber roller to fix it. Has anyone else dealt with this weird texture problem on cabinet doors?

2 comments

parker_webb•14d ago

Why nobody talks about galvanized pipe failures in old basements

I was working on a reno in a 1950s house near downtown Portland last month. Everything looked fine on the surface, but when I cut into a section of the main water line, the inside was almost completely clogged with rust and mineral buildup. The pipe walls had corroded down to almost nothing in spots, maybe 1/16 inch thick. I had to replace about 40 feet of pipe because one small leak would have flooded the whole basement. Has anyone else run into this with old galvanized plumbing, or did I just get the worst house in the neighborhood?

2 comments

the_rowan•16d ago

Chose a cordless nail gun over a pneumatic one - did I mess up?

I'm in the middle of trimming out my living room with new baseboards and window casings. I had to decide between a pneumatic brad nailer and a cordless one. I went with the cordless Ryobi because I didn't want to mess with an air compressor and hose in my small house. After using it for two weekends, I've noticed the nails don't sink as flush on harder pine. I've had to hand-set maybe 1 out of every 10 nails. Anyone else dealt with this, or is there a trick I'm missing with the depth adjustment?

2 comments

angela728•17d ago

Tried using a drywall anchor kit instead of just hammering nails into the studs for once

For years I just hung shelves by poking nails straight into the studs in my garage here in Cleveland. Then last month I put up a heavy bookcase in the living room and figured I'd finally try those plastic anchor kits from Home Depot for $8. Took me an extra 20 minutes per shelf but nothing wobbled or pulled out of the drywall like before. I even hung a 50 pound mirror over my couch without it crashing down at 2 AM. Has anyone else switched from the old school way to anchors and had a way easier time?

2 comments

miaprice•18d ago

Took 3 weekends to hang one ceiling fan, was it worth the hassle?

I decided to swap out an old ceiling fan in my living room for a modern one with a light kit. Thought it would be a 2-hour job, but between the weird bracket that didn't fit and rewiring the junction box because the old one was installed wrong, it took me three full Saturdays. By the end, I was covered in drywall dust and questioning if I should have just paid an electrician the $150. Has anyone else had a simple swap turn into a whole project, and did you feel proud or stupid after?

3 comments

kimdixon•20d ago

Finally got my basement floor level without using self-leveler after 5 tries

I tried using a long 2x4 and shims to screed the concrete myself and it actually came out flat enough for the laminate, has anyone else had luck skipping the expensive stuff?

2 comments

casey342•23d ago

Spent a whole Saturday ripping up tile that looked fine to everyone else

My wife thinks I'm crazy but that 15 year old linoleum in the kitchen had to go. I spent 8 hours with a scraper and a heat gun getting every last piece up. The subfloor underneath had water damage in a 2x3 foot spot near the sink. Found out the hard way that the previous owner just laid new tile over wet plywood. Anyone else deal with hidden damage behind stuff that looks okay on top?

3 comments

max_schmidt77•28d ago

Insulation choice that cost me $200 extra upfront

I had to pick between spray foam and fiberglass batts for my garage ceiling last month. Went with the spray foam because everyone says it's better. Big mistake for a diy guy like me. The kit was $450 compared to $250 for batts and I still ended up with a mess on my hands and some gaps I had to patch. Has anyone else had trouble getting that spray foam to actually seal right on their first try?

3 comments

aaronroberts•1mo ago

Can we talk about the guy at Home Depot who told me I was doing it all wrong

I was in the lumber aisle picking out 2x4s for a simple shelf project and this older gentleman walks up and starts telling me I'm grabbing the wrong wood. He said you need kiln dried for indoor stuff and pointed me to a whole different section. I stood there for ten minutes listening to him explain grain direction and moisture content. Has anyone else had a random stranger completely change your approach on a simple build?

3 comments

casey268•1mo ago

Painted my own kitchen cabinets instead of refacing them - saved $1,200 but took 3 weekends

My oak cabinets from 1998 were driving me nuts. The finish was peeling in spots and the honey color felt so dated. I was about to pay $2,800 for refacing until a guy at Home Depot said just sand and paint them yourself for way less. I bought a sprayer for $60 and used cabinet paint from Sherwin Williams. It took way longer than I expected but the finish actually looks good. Has anyone else tried the paint route and regretted it or was it worth the labor?

3 comments

the_olivia•1mo ago

Just realized I've been painting walls completely wrong for like 15 years

I used to think cutting in meant painting the edges first with a brush and then rolling the middle. That's what my dad taught me. Last month I watched this old painter on youtube named Mike from Boston and he said to roll first then cut in after. I tried it on my living room walls in this 1920s house I bought near downtown and man the difference is huge. The roller texture blends way better when you cut in after. No more visible brush lines around the edges. Has anyone else tried this trick or am I just late to the party?

3 comments

zarag17•1mo ago

I finally finished tiling my kitchen backsplash after 3 months

So I started this little project back in June thinking it would take a weekend. Ha. Three months later I just grouted the last tile last night and honestly I'm shocked I actually stuck with it. I did maybe two rows a week because I kept messing up the cuts around the outlets and had to redo them. The total square footage was only like 18 feet but I bet I used twice the tile I needed because of all the waste. The best part is my wife walked in while I was cleaning off the haze and just said "it doesn't look crooked" which is basically a trophy in this house. Has anyone else had a small diy job turn into a months long thing or was it just me being stubborn?

3 comments

taylor.brooke•1mo ago

Tried to tile my bathroom backsplash and ended up with a wavy disaster

Spent last Saturday tiling the wall behind my sink in my condo, used a level and spacers but somehow the tiles started shifting as I went. Now I've got this wavy line near the top that's driving me nuts, probably from the thinset drying too fast in the heat. Anyone had luck fixing a tile line without pulling everything off?

3 comments