Anyone found that after spending hours doing something, you've done it wrong?

Some home improvement projects go like that. Then, as I'm removing the screws and getting ready to install it the correct way, I tell myself that I've had a practice run, and the second time will go better. That and, next time, I'll actually read the instructions (even though I won't).
 
Tile setting. Only looks professional and spot on perfect after you pass the 95% completed mark. That perfect last 5% will have furniture covering it.
 
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I got this closet for my kitchen when I moved into this house. I take pride on being an independent woman who doesn't need nobody's help so of course I had to assemble it on my own. But this closet was nothing like assembling Ikea furniture. After putting together the back, sides and bottom shelf I spent hours struggling with the feet, which for some reason simply wouldn't hold on to the bottom of the closet, and ended up calling my dad for help - not before I drilled holes for the feet instead of simply hammering like the instructions said. My dad came on another day he fixed the feet, leaving me alone to assemble the rest of the closet. Which I did. Sort of. I assembled the vertical panel of the closet in the middle, but then I couldn't assemble the shelves to the right. The holes in the shelves didn't match the holes in the middle panel so the shelves were unleveled. Regardless of how much I moved the shelves up and down they wouldn't stay leveled because the holes on both sides didn't match. The struggle lasted for hours, until I finally went ahead and drilled new holes in the vertical panel, which weren't still perfectly leveled but the shelves looked better. I don't know or when I realized I had installed the vertical panel upside down, meaning the holes on the vertical panel don't match the holes on the side of the closet and the shelves would never stay leveled :facepalm:
 
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I got this closet for my kitchen when I moved into this house. I take pride on being an independent woman who doesn't need nobody's help so of course I had to assemble it on my own. But this closet was nothing like assembling Ikea furniture. After putting together the back, sides and bottom shelf I spent hours struggling with the feet, which for some reason simply wouldn't hold on to the bottom of the closet, and ended up calling my dad for help - not before I drilled holes for the feet instead of simply hammering like the instructions said. My dad came on another day he fixed the feet, leaving me alone to assemble the rest of the closet. Which I did. Sort of. I assembled the vertical panel of the closet in the middle, but then I couldn't assemble the shelves to the right. The holes in the shelves didn't match the holes in the middle panel so the shelves were unleveled. Regardless of how much I moved the shelves up and down they wouldn't stay leveled because the holes on both sides didn't match. The struggle lasted for hours, until I finally went ahead and drilled new holes in the vertical panel, which weren't still perfectly leveled but the shelves looked better. I don't know or when I realized I had installed the vertical panel upside down, meaning the holes on the vertical panel don't match the holes on the side of the closet and the shelves would never stay leveled :facepalm:
When I was in the Marines guys that were court marshaled and sentenced to hard labor in the Brig had to assemble these for punishment.
 
When you have to make a plug or socket from scratch because it's a non standard wiring format or something.
You do the most perfect job you could imagine, the soldering could have been done by some precision machine it is so good.

And then you realise you've left the strain relief boot off... (The black bit on the below pic.)

So, of course you have to unsolder it, fit the strain relief and then resolder it. By the time you've finished it looks like a 6 year old has tried their hand at soldering.

I would just chuck it away and start again but those Lemo plugs can be £30 or so.

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LissaC I laughed at your post because I did something similar. I had been looking and looking for a storage unit for some of our larger enamel over cast iron pots, as well as glassware and other things. Finally found the size and storage capacity I wanted, so I ordered. It came. The directions were for vertical assembly, but I wanted the 1 piece to be horizontal and on wheels, which I ordered separately. Okay, read directions, which say it's a 2 person job. Well, Craig was particularly busy at that time with his second job, a small business he has, and I didn't want to ask him to help me put it together on his 1 day off a week. So, I decided to build it myself. Looked at the directions and decided since I was building horizontally that I could do it a better (easier) way. Long story short, I ended up buying new wooden dowel pins, drilling out the ones that broke off (I had glued them in on 1 side) when I tried to put it together and it came apart and collapsed when I tried to put the final piece on. And, I followed the directions at the end, though I did do it myself, except for doing it horizontally instead of vertically. It did come out quite nicely finally and holds a lot of stuff. It would hold even a little more, except our "queen of the world" kitty claimed one of the cubbies (cubes) as her own, so I've had to leave it empty. I guess it's worth it though as she puts on quite a show chasing her tail round and round before settling down and lying in wait for an unsuspecting pug to walk by and get pounced on.
 
I'll rent a complicated piece of equipment like a Witch Ditch trench digger.
I’ll finally figure out how to operate it with less frustration and less heavy labor just about the time I finish the job.

You mean Ditch Witch? They are made in Oklahoma. My ex-wife is from Oklahoma. The factory was near her hometown. Every time she saw one, anywhere, she pointed out, "Those are made in Oklahoma."

CD
 
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