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78 Hilariously Unfortunate Home Improvement Fails That Prove Sometimes It’s Best To Call A Professional
There’s something incredibly satisfying about improving your home with your own two hands. Maybe you’ve finally decided to repaint that boring wall, install a new shelf, redo the bathroom, or tackle that DIY project you’ve been putting off for months. When everything works out, you get to stand back, admire your handiwork, and think, “Wow, I actually did that.”
Of course, things don’t always go quite that smoothly. Sometimes a project starts with the best intentions and ends with a crooked shelf, a questionable paint job, or a problem that somehow becomes much bigger than the one you started with. And then there are those moments when you look at the finished result and wonder whether calling a professional might have been the better choice.
That’s exactly what makes today’s collection so entertaining. The Bored Panda team has rounded up some of the funniest, strangest, and most spectacular home improvement fails people have shared online. From ambitious DIY attempts that missed the mark to renovations that took an unexpected turn, these projects prove that when it comes to home improvement, even a simple idea can become a very memorable adventure. Keep scrolling, Pandas, and see which of these projects made you think, “Well…at least they tried.”
This post may include affiliate links.
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#2
This Not "Exact" Replacement Tile
#3
My Dad Isn't So Great At Remodeling, So I Turned His Work Into A Work Of Art
#4
Ducks Walking Across Finished Concrete
#5
Saw These Girls At IKEA. What Were They Thinking?
#6
My Wife Said Measure The Door, I Told Her All Doors Are The Same Size
LookASquirrel 3 weeks ago
My husband thought the same thing for some reason. I will pay the $100 fee to have someone install my next storm door that should have been simple.
#7
I May Have Used Too Much Spray Foam Insulation To Fill A Hole On The Other Side Of This Wall
#8
My Mom Had Her Guest Bathroom Remodeled While She Was Out Of Town
She wanted the shower head up high so tall people didn't have to crouch or lean way back. Came home to find this, which shoots the water straight across to the opposite wall
#9
The Flooring Of This House
#10
My Father Forgot To Tell Me The Renovations Would Be Taking The Stairs Out Today
#11
“Congrats To The Neighbor Below For The New Chandelier” LOL
StumblingThroughLife 3 weeks ago (edited)
Wow! That's a very thin ceiling! 👀 (or extreeeeemely long screws). If this is a rental property, the neighbour is flucked.
#12
Tried To Hang The Curtain Rod Above My Front Door Yesterday... Didn’t Realize What I Had Done Til I Stepped Back
#13
I've Heard Of "Painting Yourself Into A Corner" But My Wife Took It A Step Further. I Don't Even Know
#14
Fixing A Toilet Leak
I took 2 trips to Home Depot, worked with a hernia, had a pain time putting the wax ring and screws on...only to install the toilet and forgetting about the door. I'm an idiot
#15
Carpet Around The Drain Is Crazy
#16
Could Be Worse
#17
The Toilet Paper Holder In My House Is Installed Above An Air Vent
#18
A Lovely Paint Job
Farah (she/her) 3 weeks ago
id make them cute pig snouts. it is what it is, but hey! use it in another way!
#19
Askew Angles
#20
This Chandelier At A Restaurant I Ate At Bothers Me So Much
#21
Lockdown Renovations Look So Easy On Instagram
#22
Sink Attached To The Toilet, Forming A Perfect Slide
#23
This Is Why You Don't Hire Contractors Who Secure Cabinets To Dry Wall Only, Thousands In Damage Last Night
#24
Landlord Hung The Microwave, This Is As Far As It Opens Before Hitting The Wall
#25
I Mean You Could've Rotated The Toilet But Whatever
#26
The Bathroom At The Vacation Home My Family Is Renting, I've Stubbed My Toe Twice Now
#27
This Is A Mailbox Not Far From My House. I Have To Drive By It Everyday
I desperately want to swerve my Jeep into it to take it out of its misery. I don't think the owner was trying be artistic, he just doesn't know what he's doing
#28
I'm Doing Renovations And My Roomba Found A Tiny Piece Of Sheetrock
Lukas (he/him) 3 weeks ago
Luckily OP said this was just dust, not scratches, they just had to mop.
#29
One. Single. Blind
Lady Gypsy Rain 3 weeks ago
I have a window that is impossible to put anything over. I would pay decent money to have that at least. Instead, I very likely give some interesting views to the neighbors at times.
#30
A Couple Years Ago, My Neighbor Decided To Paint His House Bright Orange... Then Gave Up Halfway Through
#31
Fiancé Was Being Thoughtful And Taking The Paint Cans To The Basement. Turns Out He Tried To Carry Too Much At Once...(Also We Just Bought This House)
#32
A Picture, A Friend Showed All Of Us Of A House She Looked At Today
poiplescales 3 weeks ago
That's like the fasting door to the dining room in a monastery if you couldn't fit comfortably it was time for some fasting.
#33
My Friend Went To Look At An Apartment Today And This Was The "Shower"
#34
I Went To An Estate Sale Today, And They Have A Toilet In The Kitchen
#35
Impeccable Interior Design
StumblingThroughLife 3 weeks ago
A nice bit of gymnastics before getting in, and a need to be as slender as a reed.
#36
Wcgw If My Neighbour Uses The Longest Possible Drill Out There?
#37
Bad Sinks Design
#39
Found This Cabinet At My Grandparents House. Why Would Anyone Design It Like That?
#40
Brother-In-Law Repairing His Awning
#41
A Nightstand Overlapping With The Bed To Break Your Face While Sleeping
#42
This One Certainly Stands Out
Lady Gypsy Rain 3 weeks ago
I would run into this in the dark pretty much nightly. I have a bad habit of thinking I have night vision
#43
Door In The Floor (Orginally On Twitter)
#44
These Stairs In My Sisters House Are A Joy To Use
#45
"Bathroom Window" In Our 12 People Airb&b (Toilet‘S To The Left, Also In Plain Sight)
#46
Sometimes A Green Thumb Goes Too Far
#48
A Friend Is Renovating His House. He Also Has A Cat
#50
Ceiling In My New House
#52
More Is More Is.... Shoulda Stopped 100 Bricks Ago
#53
This Was The Work Of The Second Professional IKEA Furniture Assembler That We Hired Through Taskrabbit
He left the job unfinished and wouldn't even move it to the correct position. this was after the first person left the job unfinished
#54
Bought This House Last Year And A Lot Of Work Done On It Was DIY By Someone With No Skills. Most Of The Walls Look Like This
#55
Stairway To Heck
#56
These Window Reflections Are Painted On
#57
Just When I Was Putting The Last Door For My IKEA Closet, I Skipped On A Piece Of Cardboard And Stepped On The Glass
#58
The Chance Of Injury Is Unreal Now
Kira Okah 3 weeks ago
I'm 4'10", I would need stairs to get up there without climbing drawers. Kids are shorter than me, I hope they have stairs.
Velveteen Worm 3 weeks ago
Oh come on! Just slap a night stand that’s half the height of the “bed” next to it and voila!
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QuincyForrest 3 weeks ago
One night, an urgent call for the bathroom, and the next call is for the paramedics.
StumblingThroughLife 3 weeks ago
I wouldn't like to fall off that in the night . . . and won't the mattress gradually sink in the middle, depending on the cost of it? Cheaper ones are a lot less sturdy nowadays.
Nicole Weymann 3 weeks ago
There may be a frame under that mattress, in which case the mattress wouldn't be any more likely to sag in the middle at this height than at any other (except directly on the floor, of course).
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NapQueen 3 weeks ago
And we all know what happens to all of those lovely decorative cushions - shoved onto the floor before you get into bed!
Blue Bunny of Happiness 3 weeks ago
At least there’s room under the bed to store them when you’ve shoved them off the bed!
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Nay Wilson 3 weeks ago
I remember my dad doing this for me when I was about 9. My drawers were a lot shorter though, I could hop into bed without worrying about breaking my neck
nottheactualphoto 3 weeks ago
I like the wall of vertical pillows that leave you no place to lay your head.
StumblingThroughLife 3 weeks ago (edited)
And the picture frames directly behind them, 😆🤕. They are almost as bad as having a floating shelf 6-12" above the head of the bed (I've seen images of that online, lol)
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Puppy Dancing! 3 weeks ago
I fall out of the bed all the time, so I have my bed on the floor. I think this pretty much guarantees a broken bone or concussion if you fall out of the bed.
VisuallyChallengedPew 3 weeks ago
I'm pretty sure this is a joke. That really looks like they put sheets on a box spring and put it on the cabinets.
#59
IKEA 1 - Bernadette 0. I Failed At Building A Step Ladder. I’ll Stick To Knitting I Think
Rebecca A. Corvello 3 weeks ago
What are you talking about? You have it. Just needs to be set straight.
#60
The Solution To Too Much Empty Space
#61
My Family Got A New House And This Is Where They Put The Light Switch For The Stairs
#63
Does This Belong In A Residential Home?
#64
My Mom's Garage Is Being Renovated. I Think It's Pretty Obvious That They Have 3 Dogs
#65
What Loser Architect Designed The Lighting In My Living Room?
#66
The Placement Of This Light Switch
#69
There Is No Way The Architect Thought This Was A Good Idea
#70
DIY Bathtub Replacement Regret
Hey all, this is probably not the best sub for this and I know I will get roasted. Long story short there eh is that me and my wife bought our first overpriced home and it had a cracked jet tub and we needed to replace it and I'm not too smart and here we are. From there I proceeded to bite off more than I could chew and I went down the old YouTube rabbit hole and started to replace it myself, but as it is our only bathroom I decided to do it in two parts.
Now here are my issues:
The window vinyl trim is not removable(screwed into the window base behind framing)
Gap at the top of the cement board
Asbestos tile underneath floor
How to transition around a corner from the cement board to drywall
And will I be able to do this in two parts?
The room was not square and I already had to add shims to get back cement boards square and plumb
I have to red guard, fibre tape, kerdi tub tape and sealant as well as thinset ready to go but I'm hesitant.
I'm at the point of maybe trying to call a contractor to take over or maybe some helpful advice for me to continue myself.
*Fixtures in place just for water test
My main issue is that I'm dealing with worming around this non removable window trim
#71
Just Finished Installing The New Dishwasher (Bonus Fixed Image)
#72
This Happened While Assembling
#73
Can Anyone Explain This? At An Airbnb I’m Staying At
#75
The Design Of This House Wall
#76
I Swear I Followed The Instructions
#77
The Way My Contractor Installed My Shower Head
#78
How My House Is Designed
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Lyn D 3 weeks ago
Hey BP, how about a thread about renovations gone wrong that isn’t almost entirely made up of images that have been used a dozen times before 🙄
WindySwede 3 weeks ago
and also, on my computer, why do I recently always come to 2 . bored panda dot com? And can't see any notifications etc?
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Mel 3 weeks ago
Look, it's my day off. I'm gonna go watch Owl House with my breakfast, read at least one trashy novel, go to play with puppies and end my evening with The Blood of Dawnwalker. You won't rattle me with recycled asymmetrical horror stories that would usually make my eye twitch, not today, Satan.
KitchenToto 3 weeks ago
Laughed at the information at the beginning of these posts that praises IKEA then has lots of examples of how difficult it is to assemble it's furniture
Sly Schlang 2 weeks ago
It is not difficult, but some folks just cannot follow instructions.
Load More Replies... Lyn D 3 weeks ago
Hey BP, how about a thread about renovations gone wrong that isn’t almost entirely made up of images that have been used a dozen times before 🙄
WindySwede 3 weeks ago
and also, on my computer, why do I recently always come to 2 . bored panda dot com? And can't see any notifications etc?
Load More Replies... Mel 3 weeks ago
Look, it's my day off. I'm gonna go watch Owl House with my breakfast, read at least one trashy novel, go to play with puppies and end my evening with The Blood of Dawnwalker. You won't rattle me with recycled asymmetrical horror stories that would usually make my eye twitch, not today, Satan.
KitchenToto 3 weeks ago
Laughed at the information at the beginning of these posts that praises IKEA then has lots of examples of how difficult it is to assemble it's furniture
Sly Schlang 2 weeks ago
It is not difficult, but some folks just cannot follow instructions.
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