Tales from the Crypt: Renovation Nightmares

You want to make your home better!  Equipped with instructions from HGTV and a playlist of YouTube tutorials you decide to do-it-yourself.  What’s the worst that can happen?

Then suddenly you’re standing in a pile of torn up jip rock, dust in your hair, wondering how you’re going to deal with the ball of exposed electrical wires you’ve discovered behind the drywall…and that black stuff on the wall in the corner. Wait, is that black mold?

(insert haunted house scream here)
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Photo from bankrate.com

Weird and terrifying things can occur during DIY projects and weird things can occur when you hire a contractor. With Halloween just around the corner we thought we’d share a few frightening and entertaining Renovation Nightmares.

Spooky Cat Entombed in the Floor

A homeowner was having her kitchen completely remodelled by a contractor when she noticed she had not seen her cat for a day or two. She casually mentioned it to her contractor, but assumed the cat was just hiding somewhere, as cats often do, and continued to get ready to leave for work.

“You have to find the cat, or it will end up in your drywall and dead,” her contractor said.

A little morbid don’t you think? It turns out he wasn’t exaggerating.

catThe search continued for the cat and it was nowhere to be found. Then the contractor mentions he heard mewing coming from the wall while he was tiling the bathroom. It wasn’t a ghost cat from the days of yesteryear, but their household pet crying for help! The sub-contractors that had sealed the drywall, tiled and grouted it before realizing the cat had snuck in looking for a quiet and dark place to nap.

That poor cat had been stuck inside the wall for days! They continued their search, hoping to hear the tell-tale mewing from wherever in the homes skeleton it was hiding. One day they dropped something in the kitchen and noticed it rolled into the subfloor. They had found the cozy dark space the cat was hiding in, tucked between the kitchen floor and the basement ceiling.

Thankfully they were able to rescue the cat before the contractor finished installing the floorboards.

Source: Blood Curdling Home Renovations

Basement Renovations In Edmonton: DIY from Hell

My parent’s basement was a classic 1970s basement complete with fake brick paneled arches, dark wood paneling, bright red carpet and a tired fibreglass panel ceiling. They wanted to renovate but also wanted to save some money so we they decided to tackle much of it themselves.

First we ripped off the fake brick walls to discover a DIY framing job reminiscent of how an 8 year old would build a fort in the backyard. Two by fours, two by twos and pieces of what looked like old fence boards were held together with nails ranging in size from roofing nails to near rail road spikes. It was a nightmare in itself.

Between the terrible framing we discovered a massive ball of tangled wire, some exposed and black marks on the walls. It’s a miracle the house hadn’t burned down over the last 25 years. We did the right thing and called a professional electrician.

While that was being dealt with they moved onto the ceiling. After removing the old fibreglass foamy tile they decided to use the same suspended ceiling frame. It just needed a little paint job and reinforcement. Not being professional renovators, we figured a few coat hanger reinforcements would do the trick and successfully installed the ceiling in the entire basement.

While the electrician was working at rewiring the entire basement and updating the electrical panel, I heard a tremendous crash and a loud terrified shout! I ran down the stairs to discover that the entire ceiling had come down on the electrician while he was installing a simple fixture. He was crawling out of the rubble of broken tiles when he made eye contact with me.

“Who installed this ceiling?!” he asked on his hands and knees, obviously distressed but not suffering from any (major) injuries. “I think you need to call a contractor.”

Ghastly Plumbing

plumbingExposed beams, bricks and pipes are becoming more popular with the ‘industrial modern home design’ but in this case it looks like the plumbing just fell out of the ceiling.

“A previous owner badly wanted another bathroom upstairs and didn’t care much where. The result: Discharge and water pipes come out from the living room ceiling. Maybe guests would consider the pipes a conversation starter. Maybe not.”

Source: Gallery of Horrors

Avoiding Renovation Nightmares at www.renovationfind.com

The day you find your electrician buried under the ceiling you poorly installed is the day you admit you need some help. That’s okay! Sometimes you just need to call in the professionals!

You can find a listing of accredited trades and home renovation company in our Renovationfind.com directory. Our directory of credible plumbers won’t install your pipes so their exposed in your living room. They’ll double check for pets before sealing up your new drywall and they’ll install a suspended ceiling that won’t collapse on an innocent passerby.

Don’t get a FRIGHT this Halloween. Call a professional and trusted renovation company from RenovationFind!

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