5 Home Improvement Mistakes We've Made, So You Won't Have To

This Old House Editors screw up, too. Never does a home improver feel so foolish as when he or she makes a mistake and loses money in the process. Trust us, we know. The staffers at This Old House, in our zeal to make our homes a better place, have fallen prey to impulse buying, overspending, mismeasuring, and plain old paying someone else to clean up the mess-the kinds of things that shouldn't happen to anyone, let alone a valued reader. So, to help all our friends avoid the red face and the empty wallet, we humbly offer just a few of the lessons we've learned the hard way. Read on to see how not to let the cost of home maintenance get the better of you.
See all of the lessons we've learned from our mistakes on thisoldhouse.com.


1. Spring for the delivery
To save the lumberyard's $20 fee and second-day delivery, I borrowed my brother's hatchback to pick up a bunch of 2x4s. I slid the lumber in from the rear, over the back seat, past the passenger seat, and onto the dashboard. Happy about the fit and looking forward to riding home with the AC on, I closed the hatchback with a little shove. That's when the door pushed the slightly too long lumber right through the front windshield. The new glass ended up costing $500-twice as much as the materials and 25 times what it would have cost to have the yard deliver it.-Mark Powers, Senior Technical Editor

MORE: Picking Out Food Wood


2. Read the fine print
During a recent powder-room re model, I ordered my dream vanity, sink, and faucet online. Then I had a marble top custom-made for $600. But my contractor goofed on the measurements, and I had to send it all back. That's when I noticed the 50 percent restocking fee. -Amy Hughes, Features Editor

MORE: Easy Quick Home Fixes







3. Take time to prep
We recently replaced some windows, which required a lot of messy demolition. I was so eager to get started that I didn't take 20 minutes to cover the floors. The area in front of the windows got trashed. I had previously planned to give the floors an inexpensive screening and recoating; now I need a full-on sanding and refinishing job.-Sal Vaglica, Assistant Editor

MORE: All About Wood Windows






4. Pay now, save later
Two years ago, my husband and I kept our remodeling budget down by repairing the plaster walls in our dining room ourselves and stripping and painting all the millwork. But we were torn over what to do with the ceiling. The acoustical tiles surely concealed badly failing plaster, but we feared the time, cost, and mess of pulling it down. We compromised with a fresh coat of paint. It bothered us daily. So recently, when we hired a plasterer for some other work, we asked him to do the ceiling, too. Unfortunately, his repairs meant all new carpentry and paint touch-ups where the ceiling meets the walls.-Deborah Hood, Producer, TOH TV

MORE: How to Repair Plaster Walls


5. Resist impulse buys
I jumped to buy a kitchen faucet I saw on sale one day because I liked the modern lines. I didn't think about how this low-profile faucet would work with my shallow sink. Two months later, after several frustrating attempts to fill a pasta pot, I replaced it with a taller spout.-Deborah Snoonian, Senior Editor

See all of these mistakes on thisoldhouse.com!







More from thisoldhouse.com:

Skills You Need to Survive Homeownership

Top 10 Disasters That Can Hit Your House While You're on Vacation

Best Whole House Before and Afters 2011