c/diy-and-home

Shoutout to my friend who called my paint prep lazy

Honestly, I was painting my kitchen cabinets in my apartment and just wiped them down with a wet cloth. My friend came over, ran a finger over one and said 'You're gonna have peeling paint in a year, you didn't degrease them.' She was right, I totally skipped that step. I stopped, went to the hardware store for a bottle of TSP substitute, and scrubbed everything down. It added a whole extra hour to the job, but the primer stuck way better. Anyone have a different cleaner they swear by for greasy kitchen surfaces?

My bathroom tile went from beige to bright blue because of a kid's bath bomb

I mean, I left my five year old alone for maybe ten minutes during bath time last Tuesday. Came back and the whole tub looked like a Smurf exploded, and the grout lines on the white subway tile had turned this weird sky blue. It took me two full days of scrubbing with a paste of baking soda and a stiff brush to get it mostly back to normal. Has anyone else had a cleaning product or toy totally stain something in their house?

Showerthought: I was at a hardware store in Boise and a guy showed me a trick for hanging a picture that changed my whole weekend.

I was trying to hang a shelf and kept messing up the level. This older guy next to me saw me struggling and said, 'Just use a piece of painter's tape on the wall first.' He showed me how to mark the holes on the tape, level it perfectly, and then drill right through it. I went home and hung three pictures and a mirror in under an hour with zero new holes in the wall. It seems so simple, but I'd never thought of it. Has anyone else picked up a simple tip like that from a total stranger?

My basement sump pump gave out right before the big storm last week

It was the original pump from when the house was built, so about 15 years old. I heard a weird grinding noise on Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning there was a puddle. I had to run to the store and grab a new Zoeller M53, which set me back about $230. The install wasn't too bad, but cutting the old PVC discharge pipe was a pain. Has anyone had better luck with a different brand for a really wet area?

My brother told me to use a 2x4 as a temporary support while I replaced a deck post. The whole thing shifted and now I'm out $300 for a new beam.

My dad said to always use a 3/4 inch plywood subfloor, and I'm glad I listened

I was redoing my kitchen in my old house in Springfield and almost went with the cheaper 5/8 inch stuff to save a few bucks. He insisted the thicker plywood would stop any future tile cracking from floor flex. Two years later, not a single grout line has shifted, even with my heavy fridge. Anyone else have a piece of advice from a family member that saved a project?

Serious question, how many coats of paint does a wall really need?

I was painting my kitchen in our Denver house and read the fine print on a can of Behr Marquee, which claimed one-coat coverage. After three coats to get rid of the old dark green, I looked it up and found a study showing most paints need two coats for proper durability, even if they look fine after one. Has anyone else had a paint can promise fall flat like that?

TIL my garage door opener's plastic gear is a $15 part that always fails after about 7 years.

Mine stripped out last Tuesday, so I ordered the replacement gear kit online and had the whole thing swapped in under an hour with just a socket set, saving myself a $200 service call.

I just hit 15 years in the same house and realized I've never painted a single wall.

It's a 1978 ranch in Akron. When we moved in, the beige was fine. Then it was just a 'next year' thing. Saw the date on the mortgage statement and did the math. It's not that I'm against it, I just always had a more pressing fix. Now the color feels like part of the structure. Anyone else have a basic maintenance thing they've somehow never gotten around to for over a decade?

My bathroom floor tile job cracked after the first cold snap

I laid down that new porcelain tile myself about three months ago, right before fall. Used a standard thin-set mortar from the big orange store, followed the bag directions to the letter. Woke up yesterday morning and there's a hairline crack running right through the center of the floor. I'm guessing I didn't leave a big enough expansion gap at the edges when it contracted in the cold. What's the best way to fix this without pulling the whole floor up?

Why does nobody talk about the right way to store paint brushes?

I was cleaning out my garage in Toledo and found three brushes ruined from last summer. They were stiff and bent. My neighbor said to just wrap them in plastic, but that's wrong. You need to wash them, then hang them bristles down in a jar with water just covering the bristles. That keeps the shape. How do you guys keep your brushes good between projects?

PSA: I see so many people skip the primer step on interior doors, and it always shows.

Painted six doors in my house last fall, and on the first two I just sanded and went straight to the top coat. Within a year, the paint started to chip around the knobs and the grain was showing through. My painter friend in Springfield took one look and said, 'You didn't prime, did you?' He was right. The next four doors, I used a good oil-based primer, let it dry a full 24 hours, and they still look perfect. That extra day of work saves you from doing it all over again. What's your go-to primer for trim work?

Remember when everyone used to just slap paint over wallpaper?

I was helping my buddy in his 1950s house in Toledo and we found four layers of paint over old floral paper. The wall was bubbling in the bathroom from steam. We had to strip it all back, which took a full weekend with a steamer and scraper. It's a mess that just gets worse for the next person. Anyone else run into this nightmare during a reno?

Update: My neighbor said he fixed his leaky faucet with a single washer from a kit he got for $4.

I was talking to him over the fence yesterday and he mentioned the drip had been driving him crazy for weeks. He said he watched a short video online, turned off the water, and had it done in maybe 15 minutes. I always assumed you had to replace the whole cartridge or call a plumber. Has anyone else had a simple fix like that work out when you thought it would be a bigger job?

Shoutout to the guy at the hardware store in Boise who saved my project

I was building a simple bookshelf and kept having trouble getting the pocket holes to line up right. A guy in line behind me saw me struggling and asked if I was using a clamp. I wasn't, and he showed me how to use a basic bar clamp to hold the pieces flush. I went home, tried it, and the whole thing went together perfectly in about an hour. Anyone have other simple tricks for keeping wood from shifting during assembly?

PSA: I was at the hardware store in Bellingham and noticed they're finally carrying that low-VOC deck stain I've been waiting for.

After checking their stock for about 8 months, I spotted two cans on the shelf yesterday and grabbed one to finally finish my backyard project.

My dad told me I was using the wrong kind of sandpaper for my furniture project

Honestly, I was refinishing an oak table last month and just grabbing whatever grit I had on hand. He came over, watched for a minute, and said, 'You're jumping from 80 to 220? You're skipping all the middle steps, that's why it looks streaky.' I felt pretty dumb. I went back, did the full progression with 80, 120, 150, then 220, and the finish came out perfectly smooth. Anyone else have a simple tip that fixed a project you were messing up?

Question about the right way to mix joint compound. I was doing it wrong for a decade.

The way I fix a squeaky floor has changed a lot since the 90s

Back when I first bought my house in Tacoma, I'd just drive a regular nail down through the carpet to stop a squeak. It worked, but it was messy and you could see the nail head. Now, I use a special screw kit from the hardware store that you drive in and then snap off below the surface. The change came after I ruined a good piece of carpet in 2005 and my brother-in-law showed me the new way. Has anyone else found a better trick for old hardwood floors?

Warning: my bathroom floor tile job in Phoenix almost ended in disaster

I was laying down 12x24 inch porcelain tiles last Tuesday when I realized the thinset was setting up WAY too fast. The Arizona heat had it drying in like 20 minutes, and I had a whole section that wasn't level. I had to scrape it all up with my margin trowel, mix a fresh, smaller batch, and work in tiny 3-tile sections to beat the clock. Has anyone else had to fight rapid-setting mortar in a hot climate, and what's your trick?

My neighbor insisted I needed a 20 amp circuit for my garage fridge, but the electrician just laughed

I was setting up a new garage workshop in my house in Springfield and wanted to add a small fridge for drinks. My neighbor, who's always tinkering, swore I had to run a whole new 20 amp line from the panel, saying the old 15 amp outlet would trip constantly. I called a local electrician to get a quote for the new circuit, which he said would be about $400. He looked at my setup, checked the fridge manual, and just said, 'This old outlet is fine, save your money.' I've had the fridge plugged in for 2 months now with zero issues. Has anyone else gotten overly complex wiring advice for a simple appliance?

Hit 100 hours on a single DIY project and it made me question my whole approach

I just finished a built-in bookcase for my living room and my time tracker hit 102 hours. I was aiming for a weekend project, maybe 20 hours max. On one hand, I'm proud of the custom fit and hand-cut joints, and the thing is rock solid. But on the other, that's over four full work weeks for one piece of furniture. I could have bought a nice one for less than the cost of the lumber and my time. Has anyone else had a project balloon like this? At what point do you decide 'good enough' and stop chasing perfection?

Serious question, I had a paint sprayer hose blow out while doing my garage ceiling

I was up on a ladder in my garage in Cincinnati, spraying a coat of Kilz primer. The hose from my Graco sprayer suddenly split near the gun, spraying primer all over my new workbench and the floor. I shut it off fast, but it made a huge mess. I had to clean everything with mineral spirits and go buy a new hose from the hardware store. Has anyone else had a sprayer hose fail like that, and is there a way to check them before they go?

Appreciation post: My old man's trick for a stripped screw in a 1970s door hinge

I was trying to fix a squeaky door in my first house (a real fixer-upper in Springfield) and the hinge screw just spun in place, making the whole thing worse. I remembered my dad telling me to pack the hole with a bit of wooden toothpick and a drop of glue, let it dry, and then drive the screw back in, which worked perfectly after a tense half-hour. Anyone have a different go-to fix for a stripped wood screw when you can't just move it over a bit?

Finally chose between a new fence or fixing the old one

The posts were leaning and I had to decide on a full replacement or just resetting them. I went with resetting, used a post level for the first time, and saved about $800. Anyone have tips for keeping the concrete mix from setting too fast in the sun?