10 Most Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

No matter how new or well-made a home is, every home needs regular repairs or maintenance. Sure, you can hire professionals, but if you want to save some money (or just want to learn how to manage your home’s repair and maintenance), there are plenty of jobs you can do yourself . However, if you’re a beginner and just starting out with DIY repair and maintenance , you should pay attention to some simple and common mistakes that inexperienced craftsmen make.

While some of these mistakes will be obvious from the start, it’s easy to finish a project with superficial success, only to see that success gradually turn into failure due to a simple mistake. However, if you tackle your next project with these simple mistakes in mind that you can make yourself, you can avoid a lot of problems.

Over-tightening

One of the most common mistakes beginners make is that if it’s tight, it’s good, and that’s even better. This is especially true for plumbing . We all fear leaks and how easily they can destroy entire homes, so it seems logical that after replacing a sink trap or installing a new drain or faucet, you should tighten the connections as much as possible. But over-tightening any connection, bolt, or screw can be disastrous, as it can cause small, barely noticeable cracks that lead to breakages and leaks that may not become apparent for days or weeks.

Also, if you tighten it until your eyes pop out of your head, it will be nearly impossible to remove the fitting or bolt. If you want to be kind to your future self (or the next owner of your home), don’t overtighten. A good rule of thumb is to tighten plumbing until it’s completely tight, then stop and tighten screws and bolts only as much as necessary to achieve the desired result.

Sealing empty bathtubs

Resealing your bathroom every few years is a very good idea. Sealant does not last forever, and even a small mistake can allow harmful moisture to penetrate your walls and floors. Sealing is a job that almost anyone can do themselves to an acceptable level of quality.

But if you’re resealing a bathtub , the easiest mistake to make is to do it dry. That’s because water has mass. A gallon of water weighs about 8.34 pounds (3.7 kg) , and standard bathtubs hold 80 to 100 gallons (360 to 380 L) or more . A full bathtub will settle a little, so if you seal a bathtub when it’s empty, the caulk will immediately stretch and tighten, and your sealing job will fail pretty quickly. Always seal a bathtub when it’s full.

Forgetting about shutdowns

If your goal is to destroy your home, and possibly yourself, then you should definitely take on the DIY repairs without bothering to find and turn off the water and power in the areas where you’ll be working. Not only can one wrong turn of a key on a pipe cause a flood of water to flood your home, but working on exposed wiring that hasn’t been tested for cold is just plain foolhardy. Turning off the water and power in the areas where you’ll be working may seem like an unnecessary complication for a small, quick job, but if your hand slips or something breaks, you’ll be glad you took the time.

We do not test equipment

When we buy something, we assume it will work. And usually it does! But when it’s critical to the success of your DIY project, you should make sure that whatever you buy works as expected before relying on it for safety and accuracy. Voltage detectors, voltage testers , digital tape measures — any measuring or detecting tool should be tested for accuracy by using it in a location where you know what the result should be (like a working outlet for a voltage tester) and/or comparing it to another tool or source (like a physical tape measure or an object of verified length). Otherwise, you could be working with inaccurate or incomplete information without realizing it.

Forgetting about the cut

Oh, and kerf. If you’ve never heard the term, you’re not alone—few DIYers know it. Kerf is the width of the cut that the saw blade makes. This can be critical because this material is removed from the wood being cut (it turns into sawdust), meaning your kerfs may be wider or narrower than intended.

For example, you have a board that is just over 3 inches long (about 1000 millimeters), and the saw blade is 10 mm thick. If you cut this board in half and put the two sides together, the width of the board will be only 990 mm. When sawing, the blade “ate” and spat out 10 mm of wood.

If you draw a straight line on this board to cut, say, one inch, where you place the blade will matter. It needs to be positioned on the other side of the piece you’ll be using so that the kerf doesn’t count when measuring. Otherwise, your cut will be slightly smaller. In some projects, this won’t matter, but if accuracy is important, factor in the kerf.

Drilling pipes or wires

You’re about to hang some shelves on the wall. You’ve measured everything twice, you’ve got your screws and anchors. You double-check the drill bit’s size and start drilling. A moment later, water starts spurting out of the hole you’ve drilled, or a spark flies, and the light goes out. Congratulations! You’ve just drilled a pipe or an electrical line into the wall. If you’re still alive, you need to get out.

A wall scanner is an indispensable tool when you’re about to drill into a wall. It can detect live wires and plumbing work, warning you before you risk getting into trouble. If the wiring and plumbing have been installed correctly, the metal guards should be in place. So if you encounter unexpected resistance when drilling into a wall, it’s best to assume that you’re aiming for something vital and that the guards are in place to prevent trouble. In other words, don’t make it a hassle to drill into something that’s in your way. Step back, take a breath, and check.

Passing a clean

You’re in a good place. You’re sanding, cutting, smashing, and moving forward. Everything looks good, so you start painting. But the paint looks terrible — it’s uneven and may even start peeling right away. Why? Because you didn’t clean it first. All that sawdust, drywall dust , and tile dust has settled like a film on every surface, including the vertical surfaces of the walls, where it’s practically invisible. If you paint over that dust, it will look terrible (at best) and won’t stick properly (at worst). Moral of the story: vacuum and wipe down every surface before moving on to the final steps of the project.

Over-reliance on tape recording

The most common mistake new painters make is believing that painter’s tape is a magic material that will give you crisp, perfect lines every time. Painter’s tape is a useful thing and will certainly help you get a crisp line and protect areas from accidental paint spills. But it’s not magic, and to achieve crisp lines you need to use the right painting technique . That means learning how to use a cut brush correctly, taking your time even if you’ve already taped everything up, and not overloading your brush with paint. Even the best painter’s tape can still bleed through paint if you apply too much.

Inaccurate plate cuts

When installing drywall or tile yourself, cutting out light switches and outlets can be a tricky business. Aside from getting the placement right, which can be tedious if you’re inexperienced (trust me, you’ll waste a lot of tiles), the biggest mistake is getting the size wrong. Too small, and you won’t be able to fit the outlet or wall plate into the box or attach the wall plate properly. Too big, and you’ll either have to cut a new tile or piece of drywall, or buy a huge plate to cover it up. (Honestly: I probably have two of those in my bathroom right now.)

Tightening and removing screws

One of the most common mistakes newbies make when first using a power drill is stripping a screw . The drill bit is harder than the screw head, so if something goes wrong, the drill can wear down the screw to the point where there’s nothing to hold onto, leaving you with an unpleasant mini-project called “Using Pliers to Remove Screws.”

This usually happens when inexperienced craftsmen simply pull the trigger on the drill and run it at full speed. By the time they realize that the drill bit has popped out and they’ve just ripped the screw out with ease, it’s too late. To avoid this fate, there are a few simple things you can do:

1. Use the right bit. Screwdriver bits come in a variety of sizes and formats. Make sure the bit you use fits snugly into the screw and doesn’t wobble or hang up on it. Even if there’s some play when the bit is turned slowly, a loose fit can become apparent at higher speeds.

2. Start slowly. Don’t immediately pull the trigger on the drill and accelerate it to hyper speed. Turn on the drill smoothly and gradually increase the speed. Apply pressure to the drill bit as you drill so that it is securely fixed.

3. Keep the drill perpendicular. Do not let the drill tilt. You want to get a perfect line up with the screw. If you need a ladder or other tools, buy them.

If you follow these simple steps, your chances of stripping a screw will be greatly reduced and your chances of a happy ending to your DIY project will be increased.

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