What mistakes have you learned from that other people could benefit from? 
What things would you not do yourself again, or do differently?

23 responses total.

I had an intermittent shower-tub leak that went on for years.  I tore open
walls and redid plumbing.  When other people would shower, the basement would
get wet and the floor was rotting out.  When I showered nothing happened. 
NO water on the bathroom floor.  I poked holes in the floor.  I didn't know
where the water was coming from.  I exposed all the plumbing and watched it
and there was nothing there.  I had recaulked the tub, with the tub full of
water, with solid grout, which was in there originally, and covered it with
flexible caulk, a thin layer.  Evidently the flexible caulk was in place and
was shedding water, but it was not adhering, and was therefore wicking the
water, even though there was no standing water in it, when someone would take
a shower and it would bounce off them, it would wick an enormous amount of
water, it was amazing, there was no standing water.  I fixed it by removing
all the caulk and grout and using flexible caulk, let it harden, and covered
that wiht a s second flexible caulk, after scrubbing, sanding, and cleaning
surfaces with alcohol, with the tub full of water.  You could not see the
break in the caulk, it looked like it was working well.

  When I got my first IBM computer, I thought I'd be cool and format the hard
disk, not knowing that I would destroy all the current data. That was 8 yrs
ago. I won't do that ever again.

"Warning, this will destroy all your data" usually comes up on the screen.
The newer softwares, at least NOvell, will unformat in case of accidents.
It is not a good idea to use plywood subfloors when building a house slowly,
they rot even with many coats of paint.  Or cheap 2x4 bottom plates.  We had
to jack up the walls all the way around and knock out the plate (sole plate)
and replace it).  Even one top plate rotted, the stuff Fingerle said to use
because it did not need to have strength (it was pre-rotted).  Always question
assumptions about how a product is expected to be used.  You can't take
people's advice unless you actually live their lifestyle.
        I am looking forward to hearing about others' experiences.  The guy
at the hardware store said someone should compile a book on 1001 stupid things
so we could avoid them.  He hears about people's problems all the time.
        How do other people keep from always misplacing tools?  Jim needs a
socket set (mine, his is hopelessly scattered) to fix a waffle iron.

(Nice tip about the bathtub being full when caulking... that weighs it down
so it is at "maiximum sag", right?)

I've done a few things wrong, but it's hard to pin down specifics.  Just think
things through when you are about to do something you haven't!

I would enjoy reading about other people's fiascos (no evil intent).
Only one that comes to mind offhand is when I tried to make a pair of pants
following instructions that guaranteed a perfect fit.  Worst fit I ever had.
There are, again, some built-in assumptions about ratios, and about what you
consider a good fit.  Someone also made me pants, after taking my
measurements, and then decided they must be wrong, and modeled the pants after
their own child.  Unwearable, at least by me.

I cleaned up the corrosion in the battery case of a multimeter after
the batteries had leaked, and put it in the oven with the temperature
set low (150 F), which would dry it but not damage anything. BUT...the
heat rising off the heating coils is *much* hotter than the setting,
and the plastic case distorted so batteries could not be put in at all.
Moral: heat oven to drying temperature first, and then turn it off. (I
made an external battery case and wired that in, so the multimeter is
still useable...and I am reminded of my mistake whenever I use it.)

  That message doesn't come up on XT's, no matter what OS you're using. In
any case, I'm careful when it comes to hard disks.

re #6, before putting bread to rise in a warm oven, you preheat it so that
the high temperatures at the bottom of the oven will not kill the yeast. 
Rane, have you ever baked anything other than the multimeter?
Jim tried drying out a watch one time, to find that it warped the 'crystal'.
I assumed crystal meant that it was made out of glass, not hard plastic.  That
was his very first watch, it got sweaty so he tried drying it out on the
exhaust from the slide projector, as hot as a hair dryer.
What is used in the newer watches that claim to have a special composition?
It is supposed to be real hard and scratch resistant, is it also temperature
resistant.  (Don't want to run an experiment again.)

I always preheat the oven for baking food. I just did not transfer the
knowledge to making a multimeter. 

The term "crystal" is used for glass or plastic "crystals". Glass is
still available but now mostly used as flat "mineral crystals" for quartz
watches. Domed watch crystals are now almost always plastic. I'm not sure what
plastic - lexan, perhaps.

lexan is very sturdy, but not terribly heat resistant.  it is *moderately*
heat resistant.  it is commonly used in commercial kitchen containers, so it
can withstand temps above the boiling point of water (212F, 100C), but i have
seen it melted from proximity to hot appliances.

First time I replaced a faucet washer I found out why you are supposed to turn
off the shutoff valve first.  Luckily it was in the same room.  The floor
needed washing anyway, I don't think the previous owners ever bothered.
My very first electric socket, which came attached to a cord and plug, I
plugged in to see what it did and then touched the socket.  I lived.  Since
then I have read repair manuals.  Jim says he has touched live wires lots of
times, after unknowingly wiring things hot.  It is also exciting to put one
hand on a car fender to support yourself then reach in to grab a spark plug
wire and the shortest path for 15,000 volts or so is through the chest.  He
has also completely rewired a light fixture and not realized until the very
end that the electricity was still on, when he felt a little tingle.  At that
point his hands started perspiring.  Dry skin was an okay insulator.  Now we
both use one of those light-bulb testers first.

Not a serious mistake, but when you shut off the whole-house water supply to
work on the plumbing, it's a good idea to fill a sink or two with water so
you can wash your hands before going to the store for parts.

I had the same problem with the leaking shower that Jim mentioned.  It
took a long time to figure out!  I need to do it again soon.  I'm getting
the little puddle on my bench again.  The silicone seal only lasts about
a year or two.

It's usually a matter of how clean you can get the surfaces before caulking.
Scouring powder to remove old caulk, they don't stick to each other, and you
can't even see the film of old caulk.  Then alcohol for the grease, and let
it dry thoroughly, and stand in the filled bathtub while caulking, and make
sure the gap is about one eighth inch at least.

I don't like and don't use silicone. Use one of the acryllic caulks, like
DAP's Kwik Seal Plus. You can clean up with water. Should clean first,
but it is more tolerant of grime on the surface.

I have tried the acrylic caulks.  If they had worked, I would have 
continued to use them, however, I have only been able to get them to
work marginally better than nothing in the past.  I have had far better
success with silicone.

Interesting - a completely opposite experience and conclusion. That is
unusual. I much prefer acrylic to silicone for house calking too. So,
what do others think? The acrylics take much longer to dry, especially
in any thickness, but adhere better and are perfectly waterproof when
dry.

They are said not to last as long.  We use urethane, which is very stick and
lasts as long as silicone, and can be painted, but stinks.  I don't think
acrylic does well if it sits underwater, any more than does acrylic paint,
which is not a vapor barrier like oil paint is.

I think a good part of the problem with the acrylic was that I was
trying to seal our shower and we only have one shower.  Since it would
have taken at least a week for the acrylic to set properly we were
never able to give it a good chance.  Our shower is used every day and
making people wait a week before taking a shower would have been trying
to say the least.  Siliclone, on the other hand, will cure when wet and
does not wash out.

Overnight was sufficient for the acrylic - I ordered no showers for 24
hours (one person took a tub bath). I filled quite a hole behind the
shower/tub valve with acrylic, but in relatively thin successive layers.
For that, I taped a piece of plastic to keep shower spray from that
part of the work. If there's a will.....

Here's one from a while ago.  I needed to replace the fuel filter in my truck.
It was mounted right by the tank, so I thoughtfully ran the fuel level quite
low first.  However, when I disconnected the filter, gas started spurting out!
I'd forgotten that the tank, being sealed for emissions, built up pressure
inside.  I had to very quickly remove the gas cap to let off the pressure and
stop the flow.

That reminds me of the time many years ago that I disassembled and repaired
the engine (V-8) of my car, put it all back together, primed the
curburetor, and it roared into life again - and moments later it erupted
into a ball of fire because I had forgotten to reconnect the gas line
after priming the caruburetor. 

The public library has a video about restoring a B-29 bomber in Greenland,
where one person died there and they finally had it fixed up to fly, then (I
am not supposed to tell you the ending).  May have been National Geographic.

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