57 Home Improvement Fails That Clearly Forgot To Do The “Improvement” Part

I worked for a general contractor for years, and a big part of the job was fixing things people tried to do themselves. And look, I get it. DIY sounds great in theory. Save some money, learn a skill, feel accomplished.

But there’s a fine line between a solid DIY project and something that immediately creates more work for someone else. And we saw plenty of those.

These are the kinds of home improvement fails that skipped the “improvement” part entirely, and yeah, a lot of them look very familiar.

1. A Driveway Crew Was Pouring Concrete At A New House Next To A Duck Pond. They Went To Lunch And Came Back To This

2. Good Lord. Are Those Jairs?

3. Husband Went Into The Attic To Fix A Leak. Lost His Footing And Fell Through. He’s Ok. The Whole Floor Level Of Our Home Is Not

4. My Boss Thought These Were A Good Idea

5. Dorm Was Renovated Over Summer… I’m Only 5’7

6. Amazing Work

7. Looks Like The Ceiling Fan Sorted Itself Out

8. Concrete Overflowed Out Of The Toilet

Concrete contractor unknowingly broke the sewer line while digging for a retaining wall. The concrete pumper came and literally pumped the entire sewer line full of concrete until it overflowed out of the toilet.

9. Not Exactly Your Normal Door

10. Just Finished The Bath Remodel In My Mother-In-Law’s Condo

11. This Is Not What We Wanted To Find While Opening Up The Walls During A Remodel

We’ve had the place for a few years and we’re a bit shocked (or not, rather) that nothing has happened yet.

12. Angles I Never Knew I Didn’t Want To See

13. A DIY Shower I Saw While House Hunting

14. Landlord Renovation Special, Mosquito Sealed Under Countertop Epoxy

15. This House Under Renovation Collapsed

16. They Said Kitchen Remodelings Are Hard, I’ve Done It In An Afternoon

17. Too Broke And Lazy To Buy Shower Curtain Rings When I Moved Into My Apartment, So I Present To You My Solution. Zip Ties

18. We’ll Use Liquid Nails To Put This Mantle On The Wall For Our TV, And It Should Be Perfect

19. My Brother Moved Into A Recently Remodeled Apartment And This Is How They Did Every Single Cabinet

20. Apparently They Called It A Day And Officially Finished My Renovation Today

I am not an expert in geometry, but I don’t think bricks are supposed to be like that.

21. This Remodeled Bathroom With A Carpeted Step Blocking A Vanity Drawer

22. Drop Cloth Performed It’s Job Only In Theory

23. That’s Why Home Depot Was Out Of Caulk

24. Partener Tried To Dye Our White Couch Because It Had Some Stains. I Said We Shouldve Got Couch Covers But No

25. $1100 To Replace A Door That Wouldn’t Close All The Way… For A Nice Door That Doesn’t Close All The Way

26. Badly Renovated Bathroom With Odd Shower Door

27. This Is My Dad’s Home Made Dog Door. It Lives On. In Fact, It Now Has A New Custom Door Stopper

28. Came Home To This In Our Only Bathroom. Property Company Didn’t Tell Us Work Was Being Done… It’s 9pm On A Wednesday

29. The Bathroom Renovation Was Going Well

Sat the bathroom mirror I just brought home up against the wall while I opened the bathroom door. The mirror was hit by a cat. The cat Is okay. The mirror and my new carpet in my new house are not okay. The hand-made, irreplaceable, family heirloom table is largely dented.

30. Just Putting The Last Touches On A Kitchen Renovation. New Dishwasher And Fridge Are Great

31. Guy I Hired To Do Some Work For Me Broke My Brand New Range

32. The Family I Work For Just Renovated Their Home And This Was The Can Light Configuration They Ended Up With That I Get To Be Annoyed By Every Day

33. First Time Doing Drywall. Think I Did Pretty Good

34. I Now Have Less Of A Bedroom

Dad hired construction workers to renovate certain parts of the house. They did a bad job, and since it’s raining season in ‘Nam, I MIGHT sleep in my bathroom.

35. Oven Handle Interferes With Top Drawer

We had our kitchen remodeled with custom cabinets, designed by a local firm. After installing the oven, we realized that the handle prevents the top drawer from opening all the way.

36. Last Piece To Go In The Renovated Bathroom Was The Shower Door. Exploded While Carrying It Down The Hallway

37. New Home Molding

38. Probably Needs More Holes Tbh

39. The Floor In The Bathroom Of My New Place Is Just Aluminium Tread Tiles

40. Just Installed My New Sink

41. These Bricks On A Renovation Project

42. Bought Our First House. Get Contractors To Remove Stucco And Put New Siding To Update The Look. Now They Find We Need A Alot More Than Siding

43. Dang

44. After Having My Bathroom Profressionly Remodeled, I Drilled Into A Drain In The Wall When Trying To Put Up A Hand Towel Rack

45. I’m 5’4” And This Was A Custom Basement Bathroom Remodel

46. My Grandparents Recently Remodeled Their Bathroom

47. When You Use Every Drop Of Foam Sealant To Fix A Leak

48. I Remodeled This Bathroom Myself A Few Years Ago At My Moms House. Nobody Was Even Home When The Shower Door Exploded

49. This Tiling Job On A Remodeling Show I Was Watching

50. My Neighbor’s New Walkway. They Are Doing Their Own Renovations Before Trying To Sell

51. Ex-GF Ignored Sign And Used The Shower After Shower Screen Was Installed

52. I Love My New House But I Cringe A Little Bit Every Time I Walk Past This

53. New House. Previous Owner Framed All Of The Mirrors With Matching Tile By Individually Hot-Gluing Each Piece Directly To The Mirror

54. The Remodel At My Workplace In The Shower Room

55. It’s Been About Two Weeks Since I Remodeled The Shower, And I’ve Only Just Realized The Faucet And The Handle Don’t Line Up

56. A Somewhat Handy Family Member Of Mines Shower Remodel

57. Remodelers Put Tile Finish At Door Instead Of Carpet Or Hardwood, Refused To Let Us Buy The Materials To Change It