Hilarious DIY Fail Stories (AKA Home Improvement Gone Wrong)

Last month, we held a Father’s Day contest where we asked you to share a story of your dad’s DIY projects success. The responses we received were incredibly touching! This month, keeping with the theme of DIY stories, we decided to have a little more fun and asked you to share your or your loved ones’ hilarious DIY fail stories (AKA “home improvement horror stories”).

Boy, did we receive some funny responses! And after our drawing, three lucky winners were chosen.

Congratulations to Lindy J., Janice L., and Marilyn L.!

Enjoy your $150 credit towards Add-On Blinds!

With so many entries, the amount of hilarious DIY Fail stories were endless. It just wouldn’t be fair to keep all of these juicy stories to ourselves. So, we’re sharing some of our favorites with you here below…

DIY Fail Stories from Our Add-On Blinds Giveaway

“I needed to replace a light switch in the kitchen in my apartment. When I removed the old switch I failed to notice that it was a combination outlet and switch which had four wires instead of the two I was used to. I didn’t make note of where the wires were connected. I made several attempts to connect the new switch but each time I threw the switch the light did not go on. I decided to see if at least the outlet worked so I plugged the toaster into it. When I pushed down the toaster levers, to my surprise, the light went on. I tried to convince my wife that we just needed to make toast when we needed the light on but she didn’t buy it.”
-William L. from Troy, NY

“I tried to build a new vanity to put my sink on by myself looked sturdy enough but when I set the sink in it , it all came tumbling down.”
-Brittany D. from Brookville, OH

“I built a deck with a warped level – the deck had a wave.”
-Kathy S. from Ketchum, ID

“We broke our tree house after snapping the tree in half.”-Charice W. from Lake Zurich, IL

“I’ve loved knitting and crocheting for many years and have made numerous items as gifts for my family. I decided to knit blankets for each of my children and grandchildren. It worked quite well for the younger children as they were all in twin sized beds but then I made the blanket for my son. I knitted and added row after row and when I finally decided it was done it would have almost covered two beds. It was so heavy I could hardly lift it dry and washing it required a commercial washer. Needless to say, my dear son thanked me profusely for the blanket and promptly folded it away. Now I measure carefully before I gift anyone with a hand knitted blanket.”– Betty C., Omaha, NE

“I was a ‘newbie’ to placing vinyl tiles! I was messy with the cement. After setting a few tiles, I found that I had stepped in the cement; my shoes were stuck. I couldn’t get them released with my feet still in them. What a mess!”
-Mil F. from Knoxville, TN

“I once started demolishing a wall… before I knew what ‘load-bearing’ meant.”
-Angela C. from Antioch, TN

“I tried to redo the ceiling in our laundry room. My wife went to wash clothes a day later and found the laundry machine full of drywall.”
-Hubb J. from Texarkana, TX

“After numerous days, nights of begging my fiancé to hang my curtains, and shears. I finally attempted it on my own. Not only did it take me about 6 hours to hand curtains on two windows. When it was all said and done, it was kinda crooked so I made the curtains cover the crookedness. I was happy with my job well done. My fiancé gets home from work in the evening and when he arrived I brought him to the living and showed him my hard work. He opened one of the curtains and at the same time was saying good job baby. Not a second later the rod and the curtain both fell and hit him on the head.. I felt so bad, he got a huge bump on his forehead from the end of the big rod..:( ”
-Kristina P. from Geneseo, IL

“I had a vision my head on how I wanted to put up a homemade screen door for our upstairs back porch. I wanted to do it while my husband was at work and prove to him I could do it on my own. I thought it was going to be simple as how hard would it be to make a frame and put a screen on it. Nope, I completely bombed it. My measurements were off and the screen sucked staying on. I did, however, put it in the doorway to see if my husband noticed. He did alright and laughed at me but commented on my effort!”
-Elicia P. from Cleveland, OH

Elicia: While we love the idea of DIY, perhaps you might consider purchasing an already built screen door and then making the DIY part simply installing it! Find out how to do that here. (But great DIY Fail Story!)

“I made a tree house for my son. I thought It was all done and good to go so I went to test it out and fell through the floor. I forgot to screw the wood floor down. Talk about feeling stupid.”
-Brandon S. from Wautoma, WI

“I tried to repair my garage door and ended up with the door collapsing in on itself requiring a complete replacement of the door by a specialized company.”
– Philip L. from Kansas City, MO

“I tried to make a video game racing seat out of a moving dolly, a racing seat, a step ladder, and video game racing wheel… epic fail” – David M. from Wilbraham, MA

Thanks for the photo to accompany your DIY Fail story, David. One thing this project didn’t fail at was making us laugh!

“A shelving unit I built in the garage that when my hubby put the first item on, it collapsed and ruined the wall, which required additional fixes.”-Monique S. from Santa Monica, CA

“When my rear view mirror melted off my windshield on a very hot day I decided I would fix it myself. Just needs some good glue, right? Um, no. I glued the stupid thing on upside down and there was no going back. It. Was. Stuck. With my tail between my legs, I walked into an auto glass repair shop. They were kind enough to fix it free of charge. I probably gave them a good laugh.”-Jenny S. from Burnsville, MN

“My first attempt trying to install a copper line for a water spigot. I had watched my father solder using a paste solder. I purchased the items, cut the pipe, applied the paste and heated. After it cooled I turned on the water and it leaked all over. So, I call my dad and after some questions learned I had chosen paste flux, not paste solder. After purchasing the correct solder, all is well.”-Richard T. from Milford, DE

“We put up three sets of window shingles upside down before realizing it.”-Kim N. from Bensalem, PA

“I tried to refinish a dresser, epic fail unless I was going for a bubble paint effect.”-Delores H. from Yuma, AZ

Did you miss out on our DIY Fail contest? You can still share them with us in the comment section below.

With the popularity of DIY projects gone wrong, it may be a good idea to consider installation services for your next home improvement project.