18 Renovations That Didn’t Go as Smoothly as Planned

It’s no secret that renovations require a lot of effort, time and nerves. But even the most experienced people can’t always predict what surprises this venture will bring, both at the stage of planning and preparation, and after the completion of all the work. But in addition to a fresh and beautiful interior, there are always interesting stories and fun memories.

• I needed to replace the toilet bowl. The plumber did the job, then he called me, “Everything is ready, try it out!” I just froze.
  Right in front of him? Can I at least close the door? And the man looked at me surprised, sighed and pressed the button himself. And with the words “everything works,” he left. © Laz.ana / Pikabu

• For a year we’ve been planning to renovate. Recently I freaked out, stripped off all the wallpaper, all the tiles and just enjoyed it. Naked walls! Why didn’t I do it earlier?
  Now my dad’s doing it. It’s so fresh in the flat! When the room and kitchen are done, I plan to strip off the tiles in the bathroom and toilet. They won’t have a choice! Ha-ha. © Overheard / Ideer
• Entered to use the bathroom and found that someone had washed and shaved in there. I had to scrub it with disinfectant. Another time I came back without warning and a strange woman looked out of my kitchen with a quiet “ouch.”
  There were 2 workers in the flat. They said with honest eyes, “The wife came to feed her husband.” And yes, there was a chicken roasting in the oven at the time. How often this had happened, I was afraid to think. © Zverinka / Pikabu
• I once had new windows brought to me, and they said, “We’ve come to install them.” I said in shock, “I didn’t order anything, install them if you want, but I won’t pay for it.” They had windows also for the balcony, and I don’t have a balcony. They started calling their support in confusion.
  It turned out that they had mixed up the address — my house was 31, and the customer’s was 31A. They were so angry! And it was freezing outside. So, they had to drag their windows from my third floor to the neighboring house. I felt really sorry for them. © Freda Dantor / ADME

• My classmate, a man with a good income, bought a shabby flat in a good old house after his divorce. He hired a designer and a team of builders, paid a lot of money, and 6 months later became the happy owner of a beautiful bachelor pad — stylish and modern. Happiness lasted exactly until the second visit of his mother.
  The first time she critically examined her son’s place, and soon she brought him some incomprehensible sconces in the shape of tulips — apparently a fashion trend of her youth — to “add a little coziness” to the place. He doesn’t want to mount them so as not to spoil the design of the flat, but his mother is offended to the point of scandal. © A Good Sunday Starts Late / ADME
• Back then, I’d go to the library and get books on plumbing, electrical, carpentry. Started with a small house, and my husband and I did everything ourselves, albeit, a bit rough on some things. 8 houses later, and we’ve replaced electrical services, run gas lines, reroofed, done tile, drywall, built a garage. We’ve literally saved hundreds of thousands in labor costs. © deignguy1989 / Reddit
• We hired a woman to put up wallpaper. At first, she gave one price, then suddenly made it twice as much. To hell with it, we agreed. But the lady felt her power, and then it started...
  She calls me while I’m at work and hisses, “Come here immediately, there are problems!” I rushed out of work, trying to visualize what happened: defective wallpaper, she’s run out of glue, the walls collapsed...
  I walk in, and she, with her arms crossed on her chest, says, “I’m working hard here, and you don’t even have a kettle! How am I going to drink my tea?” This is really a problem of a universal scale.

• The washing machine broke down. We ordered a new one and had to wait a week. But it’s not good to put new appliances among old junk, so we threw out a lot of “necessary things” from the pantry, from under the bathtub, from the wardrobes and cupboards.
  After that, we organized the summer house and raked out all the unnecessary stuff from the garage. We are going to re-wallpaper the kitchen and the hallway. The washer will be delivered in 4 days. © Overheard / Ideer
• Bought plastic panels for the kitchen. It’s an outbuilding, a former veranda, which we insulated. The walls there are terrible. If we don’t have these panels, the renovation will cost like a good second-hand car.
  Our good friend said he would do it himself. I drew a sketch of the future kitchen, where the panels should go horizontally, as we took the leftovers and I calculated exactly that the scraps of panels will be behind the refrigerator, where they won’t be visible. I went away on a business trip.
  When I returned, I saw vertical lines and the scraps above the door and all over the wall. A friend didn’t like my design and did “what was best.” He said that dust would accumulate in the joints between the panels. When asked why he didn’t hide the joints under the cabinets, he said he started working from just that wall. © Predatory ZaItz / ADME
• I was given the contact details of a plumber who was in charge of renovations in a neighboring house. We needed to move the water pipes. Since he had the keys to the basement, it was cheaper. He came with good tools, did everything and left.
  Only a week later, we noticed that the hot water was barely running. We called, and he was already in another city. In the end, the tech, who did the rough finishing, decided to cut the pipes himself and check. It turned out that the plumber forgot a sock inside. © adlercity / Pikabu

• Imagine that water is pouring from the ceiling, the temperature is minus 8, and all the plumbers say they’re booked up for months. That’s how I managed to overcome my fears of plumbing. It all started with little things — replacing taps, and then it went on and on.
  It turned out that I like to work with hands. Of course, there are things for which I will hire professionals — for example, I will not get into complex electrical work. © A-Grey-World / Reddit
• My sister was offended that I didn’t buy a kitchen set in the salon where she works, but “secretly” ordered a budget option from a local furniture factory. In her fashionable salon, kitchen sets are very expensive and have huge cabinets to the ceiling. What am I supposed to store in them?
  She looked at the project of my simple kitchen with beige cabinets and wooden worktop and called it tacky. Said I had no taste and no brains. And these drawers are not trendy now. And I’m glad that I didn’t have to get a loan for the kitchen set. © Overheard / Ideer
• My husband and I moved in together to live in a big and spacious apartment. We finished renovating the kitchen before moving in, and decided to renovate the bathroom on the spot.
  I bought almost all the materials for the renovation: a bathtub, tile for the walls and floor, a sink, a huge mirror and all sorts of glue and grout. This was all delivered and put in the living room. And I began to wait for the renovation.
  After a while, the tiles moved from the living room to the balcony. But the bathtub, which stood in the room, pleased the visiting children of our friends and relatives for a long time. Where else could they play in a bathtub!
  Persuasion didn’t help. The renovation didn’t start. A year later, I said that I would hire workers. In response, I heard, “I’ll do the bathroom myself, otherwise we’ll divorce.” I begged, persuaded, complained, nagged — zero result. It lasted 3 years. But he had no time for it: in winter he had to work, and in summer he had to rest.
  To be fair, I must say that he still made the bathroom perfectly. When we were selling this flat, everyone who came to view it asked for the tech’s phone number. But we lived in that flat for 5 years, 3 years of which were spent with a bathtub in the middle of the living room. © sazayka / Pikabu

• My husband was very big on talk of participating in home improvements before we officially closed. Ripping up carpet, sanding and sealing floors, all the things you’d think of for a classic century home DIY renovation. I felt supported and we were thrilled to close.
  Come to about 3 months later, and I am at my wits end with my husband. I am unhappy and I feel trapped because I am always the one fixing items by myself while my husband plays video games with his friends. I mean everything. Down to calling contractors when I’m in over my head.
  The one time I entrusted making phone calls to him, he called one contractor for a single bid and then when the person didn’t even show up to do the work, I had to take it back over. He now makes comments like, “At least one of us likes home improvement” when I’m up on a 12 feet ladder alone in freezing weather trying to clear our gutters out after we find out they’re clogged.
  When we talk about the issues, it doesn’t seem to fix anything. Every weekend it’s sleep until 10, sit around, play games, ignore me, repeat. I never would have thought I’d hit this point, but I’m at the stage where sometimes I just wish he’d leave. © meg13221 / Reddit
• I put up wallpaper in my parents’ flat in all the rooms, even the toilet. In my house, I resolutely refused to do that — only water-based paint. I thought I was done with wallpaper forever.
  But no, my husband’s sister moved to our city, started renovation, and it turned out that the tech takes an unrealistic price for putting up wallpaper. So, I had to bring out the old ways. © Svetlana Svetlana / ADME
• About 20 years ago, my wife and I decided to renovate our flat and decided to invite, so to speak, professionals. We bought tiles, wallpaper, glue. Through acquaintances and the Internet found workers at normal prices. They did the tiling quite well, the tiles are still there. But for the wallpaper, another lady about 40 years old was responsible.
  And here I sit at the computer in one room. I don’t remember whether I was working or playing. And in the other room, the lady is wallpapering. And from time to time, she peeks out to ask me one thing or another. And each time she looks at me more and more contemptuously.
  I, of course, don’t react in any way, but still confused. In the evening, she finishes the room and goes home. She was supposed to come back the next day to finish the corridor. And then my wife comes in and says:
  — You know, she didn’t like you very much.
  — What do you mean?
  — She says you’re not a very good husband. Instead of wallpapering, you’re playing games on your computer.
  So, I think, “Is it okay that we hired a professional to do the job, and they throw mud at me?” Anyway, I didn’t escalate it. She had to finish the job. The lady finished the corridor, we paid her the agreed amount, and she left. © ankonRUS / Pikabu

• I renovated my parents’ house: I laid tiles and laminate flooring, did the wiring, poured the floor and plastered the ceilings. The techs were called only twice — to put up interior doors and install plumbing. Having learnt about it, my mother’s acquaintance asked me to come and replace 6 outlets and move one to another place. No problem — I tell her the cost, she agrees.
  So, I drag an angle grinder and hammer drill through half of the city, breathe dust, work with her walls half a day. I finish the work, clean up the dirt, show that everything works, ask for payment. She looks at me, bats her eyes, and says she thought I was joking about the money. Like I’m a weirdo who likes doing repairs, it’s my kind of hobby. And I should thank her for providing me with her outlets to enjoy this hobby.
  I showed the price for similar services from other techs in our city, but she shouted that she would not pay me anything. We argued with her for an hour and a half, and then I just packed up my tools and left. My mom shook off the money in full from her, her friend transferred it along with an insulting message.
  Since then, I have been called a couple of times to lay backsplash and paint the walls, but I refused, although objectively I’m able to do it. I’m afraid to face this kind of attitude again. © Overheard / Ideer
• One time, my wife and I decided to just remodel our bathroom. No idea how to tile, no idea how to replace a toilet or a vanity or a sink, no idea how to put a ceiling vent in, no idea how to patch floors and patch drywall... but we just did it. It came out great.
  Sometimes you just have to send it. There’s a fix for everything, even if you suck at it. © djsedna / Reddit

And here are more renovation stories that are not for the faint of heart.