“What Could Go Wrong” — 35 Home Improvement Projects Gone Horribly Sideways
I bought my first house not too long ago, and I’ve been itching to start some kind of home improvement project ever since. Nothing major yet, just enough browsing the internet and watching renovation shows to feel inspired. I haven’t actually committed to anything real, which might be the smartest decision I’ve made as a new homeowner so far.
These fails are exactly the reason why.
Every one of them started with someone just as confident and just as inspired as I currently am, and somewhere along the way things went horribly sideways. I’m considering this my crash course in what not to do before I get ambitious enough to actually attempt something myself.
Lesson learned before I even picked up a hammer.
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. “I’ve Heard Of ‘Painting Yourself Into A Corner’ But My Wife Took It A Step Further. I Don’t Even Know”
3. “My Dad Isn’t So Great At Remodeling, So I Turned His Work Into A Work Of Art”
4. “We Just Moved Into A Brand New House, Painters Came By To Touch Up Some Walls Upstairs. This Poor Guy Fell Down The Whole Staircase With A Full 5 Gallon Bucket Of Paint”
“He screamed the whole way down, I thought he was going to be hurt but thankfully he wasn’t. Paint splattered all the way across the living room onto my brand new furniture.”
5. “Just Finished Installing The New Dishwasher”
6. “My Lovely Wife Bought A New Screen And A Cat Door To Go In It. Took A Few Hours And She Was So So Proud Of Herself”
7. “My Father Forgot To Tell Me The Renovations Would Be Taking The Stairs Out Today”
8. “I Picked The Ladder Up Forgetting The Paint Was On Top”
9. “Landlords, Please Don’t Paint Over Cockroaches”
10. “Brother-In-Law Repairing His Awning”
11. “I’m Doing Renovations And My Roomba Found A Tiny Piece Of Sheetrock”
12. “A Couple Years Ago, My Neighbor Decided To Paint His House Bright Orange… Then Gave Up Halfway Through”
13. “You Had Just One Job, Just One”
14. “So Much Room To Store Your Neck Brace”
15. “My Wife Said Measure The Door, I Told Her All Doors Are The Same Size”
16. “Just One Spot Left To Paint Now”
17. “Fixing A Toilet Leak. I Took 2 Trips To Home Depot, Worked With A Hernia, Had A Hard Time Putting The Wax Ring And Screws On”
“Only to install the toilet and forget about the door. I’m an idiot”
18. “There Are No Words”
19. “My Landlord: Is It Ok If The Replacement Tile Is Not An Exact Match? Me: Yeah That’s Fine. The Tile:”
20. “This Addition”
21. “A Friend Is Renovating His House. He Also Has A Cat”
22. “What Could Go Wrong If My Neighbor Uses The Longest Possible Drill Out There?”
23. “Could Be Worse”
24. “Lockdown Renovations Look So Easy On Instagram”
25. “That Flood Light Won’t Be Much Help”
26. “A Lovely Paint Job”
27. “My Mom’s Garage Is Being Renovated. I Think It’s Pretty Obvious That They Have 3 Dogs”
28. “I May Have Used Too Much Spray Foam Insulation To Fill A Hole On The Other Side Of This Wall”
29. Fiancé Was Being Thoughtful And Taking The Paint Cans To The Basement. Turns Out He Tried To Carry Too Much At Once (Also We Just Bought This House)
30. “This Is Why You Don’t Hire Contractors Who Secure Cabinets To Dry Wall Only. Thousands In Damage Last Night”
31. “My Mom Had Her Guest Bathroom Remodeled While She Was Out Of Town”
“She wanted the shower head up high so tall people didn’t have to crouch or lean way back. Came home to find this, which shoots the water straight across to the opposite wall”
32. “Askew Angles”
33. “I Mean, You Could’ve Rotated The Toilet, But Whatever”
34. “We Got Our Doors Painted During A Remodel And The Painters Forgot To Put The Plastic Covering On The Ground”
35. “Someone Installed A Projector With 40+ Cm (15+ Inches) Screws Up To My Apartment. And As It Wasn’t Bad Enough, I Have To Pay For The Floor”
