DIY Disaster Contest Winners

Go to our contest page for our current giveaway.

Judging from the enthusiastic response to our October DIY Disaster contest, it seems that we’ve all had home improvement projects over the years that went awry. Thanks to everyone for sharing them with us.

First Place

While it was hard to pick a winner, the entry judged the most entertaining was from Denise Perrotta of Harrisonburg, Virginia, who chronicled her experience installing stone veneer:

“We decided we wanted to spruce up our family room. The brick hearth seemed too dark, so we decided to resurface it with stone veneer. The scratch layer went on with no problem. The stones went on fine, when we went to do the mortared grout between the stones the fun started. We were not able to point the joints neatly enough, so my husband used a whisk room to smooth the mortar. The mortar was all over the stones. We tried water and sponge, scrub brush, vinegar, the drill with a nylon brush, steam cleaner, acid wash, but all the stone after drying each time returned to the color of the mortar. We even resorted to trying a 1500 PSI pressure cleaner (yes, indoors) to try to remove the excess mortar, all we ended up with was a flooded basement and a section of ceiling to replace (we were very careful to build a tented frame around, which gave way about 5 minutes into the process). Even the carpet cleaner and a wet vac together couldn’t keep up with the water. I finally ended up matching the rock colors with flat acrylic paints, and had to repaint each stone. And, yes, we just pulled the carpeting and are tiling the room…..Wish us luck!”

She was kind enough to supply us with a picture of the still ongoing project as well:

In an effort to make her next project go a little smoother, Denise will receive a Zircon Automatic Laser Level.

Second Place

Runner up in the contest goes to Janine Halikias of Rockville Centre, New York, whose home improvement project with toggle bolts didn’t go exactly as she had planned:

“I live in an old co-op apartment building with very thick walls. I purchased a set of tall, free standing closets and I was concerned that they could tip over if they became top heavy. I decided to bolt them to the wall for safety. All the standard toggle bolts were too short so I purchased 2 foot long machine screws that I cut down to fit. The job was done and the closets were safely anchored to the wall. That’s when the superintendent knocked on my door to ask why there were 4 toggle bolts on the wall in the hallway! Apparently the coop walls were not as thick as I assumed and the anchors were now planted firmly in the common hallway for all my neighbors to see.”

Janine will receive a Black & Decker 25’ Laser Tape Measure.

Be sure and check out our November Fire Safety contest. Who knows, you might be our next winner!