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From flooded kitchens to mysterious boiler breakdowns, we’ve imagined some of the most memorable DIY disasters a tradesperson could encounter. And just in time for Halloween, they’re enough to give any homeowner a fright.
Every engineer has a story or two about a DIY job that’s gone horribly wrong. The kind that starts with a customer saying, “I thought I’d have a go at fixing it myself,” and ends with a phone call to the professionals.
And with Halloween just around the corner, what better time to share some home maintenance horror stories?
We’ve put together a recollection of our favourite DIY mishaps, told by the engineers that were called in to put things right. From plumbing disasters and heating headaches to electrical mishaps, blocked drains and pest control problems, these are the kinds of situations where a simple DIY fix can take an unexpected turn.
And some may be too ridiculous to believe.
1. The kitchen tap, the colander and the unexpected shower
“I got called out to a kitchen tap repair, and when I arrived, the customer answered the door looking like he’d just stepped out of the shower. Fully clothed.
He explained that the tap had been dripping for weeks, and he’d watched a video online showing how to fix it. He’d told his wife he’d have it sorted before lunch. Apparently, everything had been going well until he loosened the wrong connection under the sink. Water started spraying everywhere, and in a panic, he grabbed the nearest thing he could find to catch it.
A colander.
He’d been kneeling under the sink, holding a colander over a spraying pipe, wondering why the water was still going everywhere.
His wife walked in, took one look at him and burst out laughing. Then she took a photo. By the time I arrived, he’d managed to turn the water off, but the kitchen floor was soaked.
I isolated the supply, replaced the damaged connection, checked everything for leaks and got the tap working properly again. The best part? He told me his wife had already ordered a frame for the photo she took – and it was going in the downstairs toilet!”
2. The boiler breakdown that wasn’t a breakdown
“I had a call from a customer who was convinced his boiler had packed up. He told me he’d spent most of the morning trying to get the heating working. He’d watched videos, read through the boiler manual, reset it three times and even given the casing a little tap to see if that helped.
When I arrived, he gave me a full rundown of everything he’d tried. He was pretty certain it was going to be an expensive repair. I checked the boiler first, and everything appeared to be working normally. Then I went to look at the room thermostat.
The batteries were flat.
I replaced them, checked the heating controls and made sure the system was responding properly. Within minutes, the radiators started warming up.
The customer just stood there looking at me. Then his wife appeared in the doorway and said, ‘Didn’t I tell you to check the batteries?’ Apparently, she’d suggested it about an hour before he called us.
He asked if I could put something a bit more technical on the paperwork….”
3. The drain blockage that came back with a vengeance
“I was called out to a blocked drain at a family home, and the customer warned me before I even got through the door that she’d already tried fixing it herself.
She’d bought a drain snake and decided to give it a go.
She told me she’d managed to get the cable quite far down the pipe before it caught on something. Convinced she’d found the blockage, she gave it a really good pull.
Unfortunately, whatever she’d hooked came flying out of the drain and landed straight on her head.
She described it as a horrible mixture of grease, hair, food waste and something she couldn’t identify.
Her teenage son had walked into the bathroom at exactly the wrong moment, taken one look at her and took his phone out to record the moment.
Apparently, he was laughing so hard he couldn’t hold the camera still.
The worst part was that the drain was still blocked.
I inspected the drainage, cleared the remaining obstruction using the appropriate equipment and tested the flow to make sure everything was running properly again.
Before I left, she asked whether there was anything she could buy to stop it happening again.
I suggested a strainer!”
4. The mouse that escaped into the living room
“I visited a family who’d been having trouble with a mouse in the kitchen. The customer told me they’d decided to deal with it themselves and bought a humane trap. They’d put some peanut butter inside, left it overnight and were delighted to find they’d caught the mouse the following morning. So far, so good. They picked up the trap and headed towards the back door to release it outside.
That’s when the family dog got involved.
Apparently, the dog jumped up, knocked the trap out of his hands and sent it crashing to the floor. The trap opened, the mouse escaped and shot straight into the living room. The dog went after it, knocked over a lamp, and the whole family spent the next hour moving furniture around trying to catch the mouse they’d already caught once. By the time I arrived, everyone had been searching for it.
I inspected the property, identified where the mouse was hiding and helped resolve the immediate problem. I also checked for possible entry points and advised on preventing further activity.
The youngest child asked whether he could keep the mouse as a pet. Judging by the look on his parents’ faces, I don’t think that was going to happen.”
5. The radiator that redecorated the bedroom
“I got called out to a radiator problem at a customer’s flat, and she told me she’d only wanted to bleed it because it wasn’t heating up properly. She’d seen it done before and thought it looked straightforward. She’d found a radiator key, grabbed an old mug to catch the water and started opening the bleed valve.
At first, everything was fine. A little air came out, followed by a small amount of water. Then she turned the valve a bit too far.
Suddenly, black water was spraying across the bedroom.
She tried to catch it with the mug, but it was going everywhere. The carpet, the curtains, the wall and most of her clothes ended up covered. She told me she’d stood there holding a mug against the radiator for several minutes, trying to work out how to stop it.
When I arrived, I checked the radiator, corrected the problem with the bleed valve, checked the system pressure and made sure everything was heating properly. She was very relieved.
Although she did ask whether I knew anyone who cleaned carpets. Unfortunately, that was one problem I couldn’t fix with a radiator key.”
6. The toilet that wouldn’t stop flushing
“I got a call from a customer who said his toilet had been flushing itself for most of the afternoon. He explained that it had originally been running continuously after flushing, so he’d decided to take the cistern lid off and see if he could fix it. He’d adjusted a few things inside, put the lid back on and flushed the toilet to test it. It flushed perfectly.
Then it flushed again. And again.
Somehow, he’d managed to leave the mechanism in a position where it kept triggering itself. He took the lid off again to investigate, but in the process, dropped it onto his foot. His daughter came upstairs to find him hopping around the bathroom, arguing with the toilet.
When I arrived, I isolated the water supply, checked the flushing mechanism and adjusted the components so everything operated properly again. I tested it a few times, and the toilet was finally behaving itself.”
Don’t let DIY turn your home into a house of horrors
From kitchen floods and mysterious boiler problems to electrical mishaps, blocked drains and runaway mice, these embellished engineer stories show just how quickly a simple DIY job can turn into a nightmare.
While there’s nothing wrong with tackling small jobs around the house, plumbing, heating, electrics, drainage and pest control problems can sometimes be more complicated than they first appear. And as our engineers would tell you, it’s often the jobs that look the easiest that cause the biggest surprises.
At Pimlico Plumbers, our network of experienced engineers are available 24/7 across London to help with everything from leaking pipes and boiler breakdowns to electrical faults, blocked drains and unwanted pests. If your DIY project starts turning into a horror story this Halloween, leave the repairs to the professionals.
Book an experienced engineer in minutes and keep the home maintenance horrors at bay.
Need a few more laughs?
Here are some more examples of what to avoid if you’re tackling a DIY job.
Lad on a ladder:
Hey Siri, call dad:
