10 Homeowners DIY Renovation Nightmare Stories

Who hasn’t been tempted to begin a do it yourself renovation project? It can improve your quality of living, increase the value of your home, and most projects are easy. Right? Absolutely, in theory; but what happens when things don’t proceed as planned? Do things start to unravel and fall apart?

1 Deck

Building a deck may seem quite straightforward, until you attempt to do it yourself. This was the lesson Jeff and Rhonda learned the hard way. They decided to build a deck to enjoy their newly landscaped backyard. Jeff decided to make a basic rectangular deck. While he had the general idea right, he failed to take into account the need for load bearing supports. He did not create a solid enough foundation for the deck and although it looked lovely, it became unstable almost immediately and had to be completely rebuilt by a more experienced builder.

2 Carpet

Installing carpet in a room that is essentially a square is fairly easy. In fact, the first room Sarah installed carpet in was her son’s bedroom which happened to be almost a perfect square. The project went so well that Sarah decided to install carpet in the rest of her home. She proceeded as she had in her son’s room and removed all of the existing carpet, in the entire house. This took longer than she had expected and she ended up having to stop the project for a few weeks before she had a long weekend to finish it. Leaving her furniture in various stacks, and not being able to find things for weeks on end was a complete nightmare and the only places in the home where life was somewhat normal were the tiled areas of the kitchens and bathrooms that she had left alone.

3 Tile

Jennifer and Derik decided they wanted to upgrade their master bath by removing the vinyl flooring and installing tile. They read several books and even attended a short improvement class at a local chain home improvement store. They began by removing the old flooring with no problems. However, once they began measuring for the cuts to the tile they realized the math involved was quite sophisticated for some of the corners. Derik ruined an entire case of tile before getting the bias cut for the garden tub right. Later in the process he neglected to follow all of the safety precautions and ended the day in an emergency room.

4 Vanity

What could be easier than installing a premade bathroom vanity, right? That is absolutely what Jessica thought when she decided to spruce up her master bathroom. She wanted a walnut base with a contemporary top. Unfortunately, she forgot to turn off the main water line while she was removing the old vanity and fixtures. Water sprayed all over the small master bath and the water damage cost more than three times the amount she had paid for the initial vanity.

5 Shower

Replacing a shower stall can be moderately challenging to excruciatingly difficult. James decided he would take the path of least resistance since he was not planning on staying in the home permanently and only wanted to make the bathroom look more attractive to prospective buyers. Removing the old shower was easy; it was what he found under the shower that was a nightmare. Apparently the shower had been leaking for years and the mold and rot covered almost the entire covered area and had moisture had seeped into the surrounding insulation. By the time he replaced all of the insulation, moisture barrier, walls, paint, and shower his two thousand do it yourself project has turned into a ten thousand dollar project for a professional contractor.

6 Paint

When decorating a nursery, painting the room a new color seems only natural. This was the thought process when Dough and Samantha began preparing for their new baby girl. The plan was to turn the dreary wood paneled room that had once been a den into a cheery pale pink room fit for a princess. Because Samantha was pregnant, she was excused from the actual painting and she was only responsible for picking out the paint. She went to the store and bought a lovely pastel pink and brought it home for Dough to apply. Doug enthusiastically began painting the room and once he’d applied the first coat he and Samantha went out to dinner. When they returned it was almost as if the room had never been painted. The wood paneling soaked up much of the paint and the walls had only a faint pink glow about them. Dough tried several more coats until all of the paint he had was applied and still the paneling was visible. The next weekend he went to the home improvement store and realized the paint she had bought did not include a primer and he had to purchase primer and paint to repaint the entire room. A project that should have taken an afternoon ended up taking two full weekends to complete and considerably more money than first estimated.

7 Sunroom

A sunroom in Florida is almost considered a necessity. The rooms are usually porches that have been closed in and are walled almost entirely by windows. Beth decided to renovate her back porch into a sunroom that would also be her library. The frame for the room was already in place because of the porch supports, the light fixtures just had to be replaced to be more suitable for an indoor environment, and the roof covered it as well. She installed the windows and siding and everything seemed to be fine until the first summer rainstorm where it became apparent that the windows were not watertight. Water seeped in as the storm raged and all of the books that had been placed in shelves under the windows were soaked and ruined.

8 Basement

What man doesn’t long for a little entertainment hideaway to retreat to after a long day at work. This was Zack’s dream for years until he and his wife finally saved up enough money for a do it yourself renovation project. He began by installing the surround sound stereo speakers for his home theater and gaming station. He wanted to run the wires and install the speakers first so he could finish the walls and drop ceiling later, concealing the cords and wires. Unfortunately, he forgot to turn the power off and during the installation process managed to overload the system and blow the electrical components of both his big screen television and his expensive new stereo equipment.

9 Gutters

Gutters are especially nice in areas that have a high rate of precipitation. They help gather the rain water as it falls onto your roof and then remove it to an area that is prepared for the runoff rather than letting the rain fall to your yard and create little rivers that ruin your landscaping. David and Celeste decided this was a necessary renovation after they had landscaped the lawn of their new home as they did not want all of that work to be ruined after the first few rain storms. David installed the gutters neatly and put downspouts in. Celeste put a tidy circle of gravel under each spout in order to help defuse the water. What they did not account for was the force with which accumulated and funneled rain would empty from those spouts. The new gutters worked find for the first few months of light rain. Unfortunately, there was a week of very heavy rain which resulted in the gravel being eroded as well as all of the decorative shrubs that had just been installed for the fall.

10 Pool

Building your own pool is perhaps one of the most ambitious do it yourself renovation projects one can attempt. Because of the downturn in the economy Carolyn and Bruce decided if they wanted a pool, however, this was their only option. They read a variety of books and manuals in preparation for the task and everything appeared perfect until they filled the pool with water. It soon became obvious that something was wrong as the water level began to drop more rapidly than they expected. After several months it became apparent that they had not finished the pool correctly and it was not water tight. Water was seeping through the walls and slowly eroded them until one day they came out to a pool filled with dirt from a collapsed wall. They decided to call professionals in to fix the problem and the repairs cost almost as much as the new construction would have.

There are several lessons to be learned from these stories. First, be sure to research every aspect of the project you are going to begin before you proceed with any of the steps. Second, make a detailed list of every item and every step you will need and then map out a plan to complete your project. Finally, if you are not absolutely sure you can complete the project on your own it is probably best to hire a professional.

Resources: Energy Star US Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Trade Commission

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