Tried to fix a leaky faucet myself and ended up flooding the kitchen last Tuesday

I thought I could handle a simple washer replacement on my bathroom sink. Watched a 10 minute video, felt confident. But I didn't turn off the right shutoff valve under the sink. Water came gushing out for a good 3 minutes before I could find the main. Soaked the floor, ruined a rug. Spent 4 hours with a wet vac and a fan. Has anyone else had a DIY job go way worse than expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

paige3311mo ago

Honestly I gotta disagree with you here. You said you watched a 10 minute video and felt confident, but that should have been your first red flag. That's barely enough time to explain the basics, let alone cover what could go wrong. Turning off the wrong valve isn't a bad luck thing, it's just being unprepared. A little more research and a double check before touching anything would have saved you that whole mess. I'm not saying DIY is bad, but people jump into stuff way too fast and then blame the project instead of their own rush. Sometimes taking a step back and admitting you don't know what you're doing is the smarter move.

miles_hall1mo ago

That first sentence of yours really hit me, @paige331. I used to be the guy who would watch a quick video and think I had it all figured out, but you're right that ten minutes is nowhere near enough to understand the risks. I had a similar thing happen with a sink where I thought I knew which pipe was which and ended up flooding the kitchen cabinet. It's not about bad luck at all, it's about not respecting the time it takes to actually learn something properly. I'm definitely going to slow down and do more research before touching anything complicated from now on.

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