30 Dumb Ways People Accidentally Damaged Their Homes

That is not necessarily true, South Africans have been plastering and painting bricks since forever. 90% of the buildings here are bricks and most are painted with no problem.

I don't know the scientific details but I do think that exposed brick is beautiful and painting over it is a shame.

I wonder whether this might be country-specific. I've seen so many houses with painted bricks.

Painting is sometimes not an option. The key is to use latex because it also breathes. Once brick is painted, it must always remain painted, removing the paint also removes it's resistance to water. The best thing to do is NEVER paint brick.

Today I learned

Ever heard of a "fatberg"? A fatberg is a rock-like mass of waste matter in a sewer system formed by the combination of flushed non-biodegradable solids, such as wet wipes, and fat, oil, and grease deposits.

I still have nightmares of living in a trailer behind my parent's house. To be fair, my mother never taught me ANYTHING about feminine hygiene and the Tampon boxes all say flushable. So my sewage started backing into my shower. I came home from work one day and my father scares the living s**t out of me by popping out from under the trailer door, covered in muck, screaming "TAMPONS!!! M***********G TAMPONS!!" And threw a bunch of applicators at my car. That was humiliating as I had a friend over that day.

Never flush wipes. NEVER.

ESPECIALLY if you have a Septic Tank. The only thing allowed down my toilets, asside from the bodily waste, is Scott's Tissue. In 22 years I have NEVER had an issue, and have only had to pump the tank once.

There is only 3 things that go in the toilet, the 3 Ps: pee, poop, (toilet)paper. Nothing else. Not hair. Not nail clippings. Not anything but the 3 Ps.

Again i ask, why do you have a house covered in plastic? It makes no sense to South Africans.

I mean, plastic siding...

So, it's plastic and cardboard

I'd call that a lot more than warping

They also left the grill unattended for way too long.

I had this issue with a property in FL, water is so f*cking expensive there. Tenant had a toilet that ran, didn't report it to us and we ended up getting a giant water bill (water was included in the rent).

Had a PVC valve connection blow out under my kitchen sink. Didn't hear it running, as I don't usually wear my hearing aids when I'm alone, but I came in with them installed in my ears one day and heard water running. Only $15 extra on the water bill, but about $900 for the repair. And, advice is that I need a pressure regulator on my street connection, as the company is over safe household pressure. So, the joys of homeowning. The good thing is, is that I have the money. But I'd rather spend it on something other than that, but oh, well.

Always question the water provider. Many will forgive a bill caused by a leak if you show them an invoice where the problem was fixed.

Usually the water company will give you a break on a bill like that if you prove you fixed the issue. Where I live I should say.

He if you aren't going to figure the problem out, usually jiggling the handle keeps it from running. But running water inside the tank is no different than running water outside the tank in terms of water usage.