Looking at the myriad of DIY tutorials online and popular articles on social media platforms, one is bound to be motivated to try their hand at the various, interesting DIY jobs out there. And why not! With the holidays and festivities approaching, you’ll have time at your disposal and the entire house to decorate.
photo: reece
Looking at the various social media platforms, one is bound to get motivated to try their hand at the various interesting art processes to produce something new every now and then. And why not! The myriad DIY tutorial blogs online are so tempting and motivate you to indulge yourself in it. Also, with the holidays and festival season coming in, you have time at your disposal and the whole house to decorate. What better than little things done with the help of these do it yourself guides online.
DYI is always exciting unless you are the proud owner of the couch potato trophy in the district. Also, it can be one dangerous task if you have kids around or know of people who are by default careless with things. DYI always has an element of vulnerability associated with it. You might find yourself in a sticky situation wherein you are about to cause damage to yourself as well as materials around you. Holiday seasons seem to egg on people to try their hands at getting themselves hurt.
The stay-where-you-are DIY accident
photo: dailymail.co.uk
Market Drayton, a place in Shropshire, witnessed a bizarre accident when Alan Williams succeeded in firing a nail right through his hand after slipping from stairs. He lay on the floor for 4 full hours before being rescued by firemen. The nail was removed at the hospital where he was earlier taken to along with the entire floorboard from which he could not be separated. In the event, he was lucky that nothing substantially adverse had happened.
The removing body part DIY accident
Retired fireman Stuart Frain drove his radial arm saw through his arm when he was chopping wood in garden. Stuart Frain was not one to panic. He simply collected the severed arm and prudently decided that ringing for a hospital transport was less urgent than stopping the flow of blood. A tourniquet saved the situation. The doctors took seven hours to attach the arm back in its place. It is sad that Frain may have only a limited used for the arm.
The broken heart (almost) DIY accident
In Leicester, a man named Nigel Kirk tripped on a towel lying on the floor. The nail gun nearby went off and a nail ripped through his chest and lodged itself in his heart. Unluckily for him, a previous illness had caused a scar tissue that stopped the nail from travelling just one millimeter further thereby saving him almost by a hair’s breadth.
The onlooker is sometimes vulnerable to DIY accidents too
A DYI attempt can produce a threatening situation for others too. The perpetrator of such an act was Lyn Thomas, a Welshman who, while laying patio at his home, accidentally severed a gas main. Thomas was not given to abandoning the task at hand, come what may. He went ahead and with his spade cracked a water pipe. The overflowing water managed to flood the neighbors’ garden.
The costly garden fence DIY accident
When does a garden fence cost a whopping £25,000? It did in the case of David Brown who lives in Cambridgeshire, UK. He was not to know that he would slice through the British Telecom’s underground cable when he dug the foundations for this expensive fence. He had to pay this amount in damages to the British telecom company.
The disappearing wall DIY accident
In what could have been a hilarious scene in a comedy movie, Kenneth Wharton, a tenant staying in a housing association decided to have an open-plan design for his flat. He started his chipping operation on a wall inside. What he was blissfully unaware of was that this wall was instrumental in holding up the flat above his. The collapsed wall brought down an assortment of rubble and furniture, including a wardrobe from the floor above. If he had not swiftly moved away when the wall collapsed, he could have lost his life! He was taken to court where he was ordered to do a 12 month rehabilitation course and pay a £500.00 fine.
These disastrous accidents can really scare DIYers. However, instead of giving up the thought of building something for yourself this winter, you should make sure you’re well equipped should anything go wrong. Be careful and be safe. Plan ahead of time and be prepared with a first aid kit just in case an accident does take place. Also, make sure someone is at hand to assist you when you’re doing heavy work that involves power tools.
DIY Accidents That Make You Look Dumb was written by: Roger Brenshofl. He makes content marketing strategy templates for various clients. One of his prominent clients is Homejoy. He is great with words and have a great sense of building a strategy thus giving him an edge over others.
I’m just left wondering what sort of rehab you need to keep you from knocking down load bearing walls.
I completely agree with you Roger that DIY jobs are exciting to do but if you are not capable of doing that job then you should probably hire someone professional or else one could end up hurting him/her self like I twisted my ankle while painting my house roof.
Oh dear! I hope your ankle is better now, Jack.
Some people just shouldn’t DIY. If the possible injuries are going to cost more than what you save doing it yourself, then doing the project yourself is definitely not worth it.
I completely agree that DIY accidents are becoming very frequent as people think doing them would be as simple as the way they are written in the post.
Practise makes perfect and I have done many DIY projects by merely reading up about them. Having said this, I have to agree with you that some people are misled by the strait forward appearance of some DIY jobs. My advice is to find someone who has some skill to help you start the job. They can always advise you if you run into trouble. But the way to building up your skill is definitely to start doing the work yourself – providing it’s not dangerous.
I won’t try a DIY if I am not sure if I can actually do it. If its not that dangerous then I will probably do it. If there are some dangers, then I will the professionals handled it. Thanks for sharing this by the way.
Hi Andy. That’s true. It’s better to pay to get work done than to risk your health by doing it. Sometimes even work that are not dangerous are better left to the experts. I’d rather pay to get a job done than to do it badly, or leave it hanging half-way through. You usually have to pay more to correct a badly done job, than you would if you called in the professionals in the first place.
Hi Anne, I completely agree that DIY accidents are becoming very frequent as people think doing them would be as simple as the way they are written in the post. People have had to pay heavily (sometimes with their lives too) while trying their hand at simple DIY things. We all need to be extra cautious.
Definitely. I would never attempt any DIY jobs that involve electricity – for example, especially if it’s about wiring the house. That kind of thing is best left to the experts. Matters of life and death are not worth saving money for.
DIY was to spend less but these are to cost them more! Sometimes we really need guides and have to stick on it!
Exactly, Antoinette. I think people sometimes forgo reading the guides, thinking that they know best. At other times, accidents can happen even when you’re taking precautions.