c/diy-garage

My neighbor told me to just slap a new garage door opener in without checking the springs. Bad idea.

He's a nice guy, but he said, 'It's just a motor swap, takes an hour.' So I bought a new chain drive unit for about $300 and got to work. The old opener was shot, but the real problem was one of the torsion springs was completely worn out. I didn't know to check it first. When I finally got the new opener installed and hit the button, the door was so heavy it strained the motor and tripped the safety reverse immediately. I had to call a pro from a local shop, and he showed me the spring had lost all its tension. The whole fix, with new springs and his labor, cost me another $450 on top of the opener. I should have listened to the manual that said to check spring balance first. Has anyone else been burned by skipping that basic step?

My garage door spring snapped right as I was pulling in yesterday

I heard a loud bang and the door dropped about a foot, which was pretty scary. It's a 7-foot high Wayne Dalton door that came with the house when I bought it in Omaha. I had to manually lift it to get my car out and then prop it open with a ladder. Has anyone here replaced one of these torsion springs themselves, or is this a job for a pro?

Changed my mind about using old pallet wood for a workbench

I was grabbing some free pallets from behind the hardware store in Bellingham last month to build a bench. This older guy, Mike, saw me loading them and just said, 'You'll spend more time pulling nails and sanding out grit than if you just bought two decent 2x4s.' He was right... I fought with one pallet for an hour before I gave up and spent the $22 on new lumber. Has anyone else learned the hard way that some free stuff costs too much?

Finally tried that 'free heat' trick with a clay pot over a candle in my uninsulated garage, and it actually raised the temp by 4 degrees last night.

Just realized my old floor jack was costing me time on every job

Had a 3 ton Pittsburgh from 2015, worked fine but slow. Borrowed a friend's 2 ton aluminum racing jack last weekend for a brake job. The weight difference is huge, maybe 40 pounds lighter. Moving it around my tight garage bay was so much faster. Anyone else switch to a lighter jack and find it worth it?

PSA: My old way of storing extension cords was a total mess

For years, I just coiled them up and tossed them in a Milwaukee Packout bin, which always turned into a tangled knot. Last month, I saw a guy at the local hardware store using a simple piece of scrap plywood with hooks cut on a jigsaw. I made one with 8 hooks for my 25-foot and 50-foot cords. It's mounted on the wall now, and I can actually grab what I need. Anyone have a better system for the really heavy gauge cords?

Overheard a contractor at the hardware store say he uses a 1/4 inch spacer for every single drawer slide install.

I tried it on my kitchen cabinet project and it saved me from having to redo three drawers that were binding up.

My brother-in-law from Boise said something about garage floors that got me thinking

He was helping me move a tool chest and pointed out how my old concrete floor had a bunch of hairline cracks. He said, 'You know, sealing that before you put down any epoxy would save you a ton of headaches later.' I'd always planned to just clean and coat it. Has anyone here actually sealed their floor first, and did it make a big difference?

I went against the grain with my garage floor paint and it actually worked

Everyone says you have to etch concrete with acid before you paint it. I skipped that step on my 200 square foot garage floor last month and just gave it a really deep clean with a power washer and a strong degreaser. I used a two-part epoxy kit from the local store and rolled it on. It's been down for three weeks now with daily car traffic, and there's not a single chip or sign of peeling. I'm starting to think the etching step is overkill for a floor that's already in decent shape. Has anyone else had a good result by skipping the prep everyone swears by?

Pro tip: check your garage door opener's force settings after a season change

I kept hearing a loud bang when my door closed last winter... thought it was just the cold. My neighbor in Spokane said his door did the same thing and it broke a spring. I looked at the manual for my Chamberlain opener and adjusted the 'close force' dial up one notch. The noise stopped right away. Has anyone else had to tweak these settings with the weather?

I thought those magnetic socket holders were just a gimmick

My buddy gave me a set for my birthday last month, and I figured they'd just fall off the moment I put a wrench on them. I stuck one to the side of my toolbox anyway, loaded it with my 3/8 inch drive sockets, and forgot about it. Yesterday I was under a car and grabbed a socket off it, and the whole thing just stayed put, no wobble at all. I'm a total convert now. What other simple garage tools did you guys think were silly until you tried them?

I thought those magnetic parts trays were a gimmick until I dropped a carb screw

I was working on a 1978 CB750 in my garage last week and had a small bolt roll off the bench. It went right into the drain grate. I got a cheap magnetic tray from Harbor Freight for like $8, put all the small parts in it, and it saved me three more times that afternoon. Now I keep one on every project. What other simple tools saved you from a headache?

Used to think a 2x4 was straight if it looked okay from three feet away

Built a shed in my backyard last spring and the door frame was off by a full inch because I eyeballed everything. My wife said it looked like a funhouse and I had to take the whole thing apart. How do you guys check for square on big projects without going crazy?

My neighbor told me to use a regular drill for mixing concrete and now my arm is killing me

I was pouring a small slab for a shed base last weekend, about 4 bags worth. My neighbor Frank, who always has an opinion, saw me getting ready and said, 'Just chuck the paddle in your cordless drill, it'll be fine, I do it all the time.' So I did. About two minutes into mixing the first bag, my DeWalt drill started smoking and the chuck completely seized up. The motor is totally fried. I had to finish the whole job by hand with a hoe in a wheelbarrow, and my shoulder feels like it's going to fall off. I'm out a good drill and learned the hard way that you need a proper mixer motor for that kind of work. What's the cheapest but decent mixer you guys would recommend for small jobs like this?

Appreciation post: My old drill press manual said to change the belt oil every 50 hours, not 100.

Found the original 1978 manual in a box at my grandpa's place. Has anyone else found a specific maintenance schedule that was way off from what you assumed?

I think the push for epoxy floors in every garage is overkill

Last week I spent three days grinding my concrete slab in my Charlotte garage, just to put down a $700 epoxy kit. It looked great for about 48 hours. Then I dropped a wrench from my workbench and it chipped right down to the gray concrete. Everyone online acts like it's the only way to go, but my experience says it's not tough enough for real shop work. Has anyone else had epoxy fail on them and gone back to just sealed concrete?

Remember when you could just slap a new coat of paint on anything?

I tried that on my old garage door last fall, a basic white latex over the old oil-based paint without stripping it first. It looked great for about four months. Then this spring, it started peeling off in big, ugly sheets, like sunburned skin. I learned the hard way that prep is everything, and you can't skip the primer on a surface like that. It's a full weekend redo now. Has anyone found a good primer for old, chalky oil paint that actually holds up?

Hit 500 hours on my old floor sander and it's still going strong

I bought this Clarke floor sander used for $300 about eight years ago. The guy said it had maybe 100 hours on it, but who knows. I just hit 500 hours on the meter this week after refinishing my whole basement. Thing sounds like a jet engine and weighs a ton, but it just won't quit. I've changed the pads and belts, but the motor itself has never needed work. Makes me wonder if any new tool I buy will last half as long. What's the most hours you've put on a single power tool before it died?

Rant: My garage door opener was making a grinding noise for months, but a $12 tube of white lithium grease on the chain and rollers fixed it in ten minutes.

I was about to call a pro, but my neighbor in Cincinnati told me to just lube the moving parts, and now it's silent.

Was checking out the old machine shop at the county fairgrounds in Des Moines and saw they still use a hand-cranked drill press from the 1940s.

It got me thinking, what's the oldest piece of gear you guys still use regularly in your own shops?

I used to think a concrete floor was fine for a garage, but sealing it changed my mind

My floor was a dusty mess for two years, and oil stains were a pain. I finally put down a basic epoxy sealer last month and now it cleans up with a quick mop. How long does a decent sealer usually last before you need to redo it?

Shoutout to the guy at the hardware store in Tempe who showed me a trick with a zip tie

I was picking up some stuff for a shelf project and saw him helping another customer fix a loose wire on a power tool. He just took a regular zip tie, looped it through a hole in the housing, and cinched it down to hold the wire in place. I mean, it's so simple but I never thought to use them for cable management inside a tool. What's your go-to quick fix for keeping wires tidy in a project?

Warning: my garage floor epoxy job looked amazing for a week

I spent a whole weekend prepping and putting down that Rust-Oleum RockSolid kit, following the instructions to the letter. It was smooth and shiny, like a showroom floor. But after about six days, I started seeing these weird cloudy patches near the door where my car tires sit. I think maybe the concrete wasn't totally dry underneath, even though I waited the 72 hours they said. Has anyone else had this happen and fixed it without starting all over?

Had to pick between a new floor jack or a used transmission jack for my old truck

My 1998 F-150 needed a clutch job and I could only afford one tool. The new floor jack was $250 at Harbor Freight, but a guy on Craigslist had a used transmission jack for $75. I went with the used one, figuring I could lift the trans by hand if I had to. It worked okay but the pump was weak, so I ended up using a block of wood and a regular jack anyway. Anyone else ever try to save money on a tool and end up making more work for themselves?

Was at a hardware store in Portland and saw they don't even sell manual drill braces in the main aisle anymore, just cordless stuff. Felt weird.