c/diy-home

Patch job on my hallway ceiling took 4 days longer than I planned

I hit a water stain in my hallway ceiling last month and figured I'd sand, mud, and paint in one afternoon. But after the first coat dried, the patch was still visible because the texture didn't match at all. Then I spent 2 more days just trying to blend the popcorn texture with a spray can from Home Depot. On one side, you could say just sand the whole ceiling and start fresh for a uniform look. On the other hand, my neighbor swears by using a brush and stippling to match the original texture. Which method do you think gives better results without taking a full week?

Debate: Should you paint your trim before or after installing it?

Got into it with my neighbor Frank last weekend while we were both working on our basements. He swears by painting all his baseboards and window casings before he even cuts them, says it saves him from taping everything off later. I've always done it after installation, brushing carefully along the edges. Frank pointed out that my way leaves brush marks on the walls and takes twice as long. But I argued that painting before means you have to touch up all the nail holes and joints anyway, so what's the point. He had a point though when he said 'You ever try painting behind a toilet or in a tight corner after the trim is up?' That hit different, especially since I just spent 3 hours taping around my bathroom baseboards. What method do you guys use, and does one actually hold up better over time with kids or dogs bumping into it?

Vent: My $800 smart thermostat made my heating bill go up 15%

Everyone online swears by these things for savings but mine kept turning the heat on when I wasn't home because it "learned" wrong. Has anyone else had a thermostat that actually cost you more money in the long run?

Picked up a $15 moisture meter at a garage sale and it saved my bathroom remodel

I was about to tile over a spot in my bathroom that felt dry, but that cheap meter showed the wood was at 18% moisture. Had to wait another 3 days with a fan running before it dropped below 12%. Has anyone else found that a simple moisture meter catches hidden problems that you would totally miss just by touch?

Learned the hard way why you don't skim coat over old gloss paint

Unpopular opinion: painting brick is fine and you people need to relax

Every time someone posts a painted brick fireplace on here, the comments blow up with people saying it's a crime. I get it if the brick is historic or truly beautiful, but most of the brick in my 1970s ranch house was that ugly orange-red color that made the whole room feel dark. I painted mine two years ago with a quality masonry primer and latex paint, and it cost me about $40 total. The room feels bigger and brighter now, and I still have real brick texture. Has anyone else here actually regretted painting their brick?

Tried melting wax on my kitchen cabinets instead of using a filler stick

I had this deep scratch on my oak cabinet and read somewhere that you can melt a crayon or wax stick into it. It filled the gouge perfectly but after a week the wax started crumbling out every time I wiped down the cabinets. Anybody found a way to keep it solid in there long term?

Question about painting over old gloss trim without sanding

Spent Saturday trying to paint my hallway baseboards and realized half the people online say you have to sand everything first and the other half say just use a bonding primer. I tried the primer route on one door frame and it peeled off with a fingernail test. Has anyone actually gotten the no-sand method to stick long term?

Unpopular opinion: skip the drywall primer, just use paint with primer built in

I painted my whole living room with Behr Marquee one coat stuff and it saved me like $40 on primer and an afternoon of work. No peeling or bubbles after 6 months, has anyone else tried this and had it hold up long term?

Switched from spray cans to a paint sprayer for my kitchen cabinets

I used to spend all weekend with rattle cans on my oak cabinets in Des Moines, getting drips and uneven coats no matter how careful I was. Last fall I finally borrowed my neighbor's Wagner FLEXiO 590 and did the whole kitchen in about 4 hours with way less mess. The finish is so much smoother and I didn't have to sand nearly as much between coats. Has anyone else made the jump and regretted it or found a trick for cleaning the sprayer faster?

Tried to fix a squeaky door with WD-40 and made it 10 times worse

Spent $40 on a hose timer and it totally saved my garden

I was always forgetting to water my tomatoes and peppers, especially during the heatwave we had in July. Picked up a simple Orbit brand timer at Home Depot for $40, hooked it to a soaker hose, and now it runs 20 minutes every morning. Plants went from looking sad to thriving, plus my water bill actually dropped because I'm not overwatering anymore. Has anyone else tried those smart wifi timers, or should I stick with the basic model?

Vent: That "smart" thermostat I installed has been nothing but trouble since day one

I swapped out my old basic Honeywell for one of those Nest style ones last fall because everyone online swore it would save money. Well it's been 8 months now and this thing fights me every time the weather changes. Last week it was 75 degrees out and it kicked the AC on because it misread the temp from the hallway. I had to manually override it 4 times that day. The old one just worked. You set it and it did its job. Now I'm spending my weekends reading error codes on this screen. Has anyone else had a "smart" upgrade turn into a headache?

Serious question about old window insulation kits I ignored for too long

I was talking to my neighbor Dave last Saturday while we were both out raking leaves. He mentioned he swapped out his storm windows for those 3M plastic kits on his whole house and saved $40 on his heating bill in just December alone. I always thought those kits were kind of a waste of time, like they wouldn't really do much. But he showed me his thermal camera readings and the difference was wild, like 10 degrees warmer near the glass after he put them up. Now I'm wondering if I should do my living room windows before next month hits. Has anyone else seen real savings with those kits or is it just hype?

My garage floor epoxy job looked perfect for 3 months, then it started peeling in big chunks.

I prepped that concrete in Denver back in April, etched it twice and used a $200 Rust-Oleum kit. After about 90 days, the tires from parking my F-150 just delaminated entire sections. Everyone online swears by epoxy but I think the moisture in our slab was too high from spring thaw. Has anyone tried polyurea coating instead after a similar failure?

Bought a $30 moisture meter that lied to me for 6 months

I got one of those cheap pin-type meters off Amazon and tested my basement walls every month. It kept saying 12% moisture which I thought was fine. Then I had a plumber buddy bring his $200 pinless one and it read 28%. The wood behind the drywall was already starting to rot. Has anyone else caught a big difference between cheap and good moisture meters?

Finally got my garage workbench organized after 4 years

I stopped by a neighbor's house last week and saw how he had his pegboard setup with labeled hooks for every tool. It gave me the push I needed to finally tackle my own mess in the garage. Spent about 3 hours sorting through my wrenches, screwdrivers, and random fasteners, and now I can actually find a 10mm socket without dumping out three drawers. Anyone else find that seeing someone else's neat space makes you want to clean up your own?

Patched a hole in my living room wall and made it 10x worse in the process

Was trying to fix a small nail hole from a picture frame, but my spackle crumbled and I ended up punching a fist-sized gap in the drywall... took me three trips to Home Depot and a whole tube of compound to get it smooth again. Anybody else ever turn a 2-minute fix into a weekend project?

Went from hating caulk guns to actually liking them after one job last month

I always fought with those cheap drippy guns until my boss handed me a ratcheting one on a tub surround in Phoenix. Now I can't imagine going back, has anyone else made the switch?

Dont buy the cheap outlet extenders from the dollar store

I grabbed a pack of those 3-in-1 outlet extenders from Dollar Tree last month because I needed extra plugs in my workshop. After two weeks one of them literally melted inside the wall plate and sparked when I pulled a drill charger out of it. Lost a $40 charger and had to patch drywall because the heat warped the box behind it. Anyone else had these cheap things catch fire on them?

My first attempt at laying tile ended with a floor that looked like a funhouse mirror

I was tiling my bathroom in Omaha about 8 years ago, thought I had everything level until I stepped back and saw the grout lines going uphill near the door. The floor had a dip in the middle I didn't catch with my 2-foot level. I ended up pulling up half the tiles after 3 days of work and using a self-leveling compound to fix it. Has anyone else had a project where a cheap level cost you way more time than a good one would have?

Hot take: I used to think premixed joint compound was always better than mixing my own

A contractor friend told me I was wasting money on pre-mixed buckets after my mud was cracking on a drywall repair in my basement. I switched to all-purpose powder mix and it cost me $12 for a bag that made three times as much as a $18 bucket. Anyone else find mixing your own gives a smoother finish?

I finally realized my level was off for 6 months

Best DIY motorized ceiling storage?

Trying to clean up the garage and want to store my kayaks and camping gear overhead. Definitely want a motorized lift so I can just press a button. Who makes the best ones?