History Main / DIYDisaster

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* Deliberately invoked in ''ComicStrip/BabyBlues'' with [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Bud]], one of Zoe's friends who often goes out of his way to [[MadBomber wreck stuff]]. Bud managed to at one point during Zoe's birthday party to somehow completely rip out the bathroom sink and faucet, likewise necessitating the hiring of a plumber immediately afterward and Darryl screaming Bud's name in anger.
* This is often the result of Roger Fox's attempts at fixing things in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot''. Ironically inverted with his attempt at making wine, where the (absolutely terribly-made) wine acted as a good garbage disposal detergent.
[[/folder]]

** This is a recurring theme in the Stooges shorts, whenever they aren't just incompetent at their actual jobs, they're incompetent at do-it-yourself projects.

* Jack Prelutsky's poem "I Wish My Father Wouldn't Try to Fix Things". The poem describes a long list of ill-fated home repair projects, then ends with the stanza:
--> ''I wish my father wouldn't try to fix things anymore,''
--> ''for everything he's mended is more broken than before.''
--> ''If my father finally fixes every item on his list,''
--> ''we'll be living in the garden, for the house will not exist.''
* Stuart [=McLean=]'s ''Radio/TheVinylCafe'' story "Odd Jobs." Dave decides to install an extra electrical outlet in the kitchen and several of his neighbors drop by to help. By the end of the day, there's been an electrical fire, there are several big holes in the walls, one wall has been torn down entirely, and the electricity is cut off.

* ''Series/CanadasWorstHandyman'' is all about people who have caused more than their share of these in their time and are on the show precisely because they have little idea what to do when it comes to repair situations. The hope is to reform them, though it doesn't always work out.

* In an episode of ''Series/TheHoganFamily'', Mike insists on repairing a broken lamp by himself, outright telling sister Sandy, "Why get some quack when I can do it myself?" He ends up nearly electrocuting son David when he asks him to test the lamp. When he tells at Sandy to call 911, Sandy angrily snaps at him, [[MeaningfulEcho "Why get some quack when we can do it ourselves?]] Let's get some tools and cut him open!"
* A very sad example on an episode of ''Series/HomicideHunter''. Lt. Joe Kenda arrives at a house to find all five family members dead. Initially perplexed, as there are no signs of violence, he soon notices their cherry-red pallor--the classic sign of carbon monoxide poisoning. It turns out that rather than hire an expert, the family's landlord decided to replace their heater himself, but obviously had no idea what he was doing.

[[folder: Music]]
* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "The Plumbing Song".
* ''When Father Papered the Parlour'' by Billy Williams.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has Timmy's dad cause an enormous flood whenever he goes near ANYTHING with a monkey wrench.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer Simpson is a frequent offender. His attempts to build anything usually results in major disaster. When he attempts to rebuild Santa's Little Helper's doghouse he forgot to put in a door. The playset he built for Maggie collapsed as soon as she touched it. A homemade barbecue [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible gets mistaken for modern art]]. When he is showing his half brother around the house, he flicks a switch that he doesn't know the function of, which turns on the Christmas lights on the roof (which have been there since 1985).
* The conflict of the Creator/VanBeurenStudios short "Joint Wipers". WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry are amateur plumbers, and they unwittingly flood the entire building they're working in.

* [[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-19349921 This]] attempt at DIY painting restoration, [[MemeticMutation known on the Internet]] as "Potato Jesus".

* While men usually have this story in regards to household repairs, women tend to have them regarding beauty treatments. The internet abounds with stories of [[MyHairCameOutGreen hair being turned unnatural colors]], terrible haircuts, rashes and burns due to homemade facials and waxes, etc.
* The early days of heated water for baths and other types of gas (and later electrical) appliances, prior to regulations, are horror stories. For example, heated baths were around before the invention of the thermostat, resulting in severe scalding. Early gas lighting adventures included advertisements that it was ''perfectly safe'' to light a match while the gas was on (!). In Edwardian times, all the electrical appliances were plugged into one socket, which hung overhead[[note]]because it was designed to be used for overhead electric lighting (cf, [[https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/SouthAfrica2.html examples of adaptors from the Museum of Plugs and Sockets]])[[/note]], resulting in frequent fires and electrocution. It's a wonder anyone survived.
* Like the "Kenda" example cited in the "Television" folder, fatal and near-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning has resulted from people taking it upon themselves to repair or replace heaters.

[-[[caption-width-right:220:photo by [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170406084425/http://www.hightech-edge.com/slow-shutter-long-exposure-light-painting-astronomy-photography/5966/]]]]-]

* In a rather somber example, a hospital, due to a construction mistake, ended up having oxygen in the nitrous oxide line and nitrous oxide in the oxygen line. [[RealityEnsues Death and lawsuits ensued.]]

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "The Plumbing Song", from which the quote at the top of the page comes.

--> --'''Music/WeirdAlYankovic''', "The Plumbing Song"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' Has Timmy's dad cause an enormous flood whenever he goes near ANYTHING with a monkey wrench.

[[folder/Comic Strips]]

[[folder: Comics]]

* In one ''DonaldDuck'' comic, the nephews cause the Duckburg supercomputer to go haywire, resulting in this kind of weirdness happening all over town: radio songs come from toilets, TV sets flood, etcetera.
* This is often the result of Roger Fox's attempts at fixing things in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot''. Ironically inverted with his attempt at making wine, where the (absolutely terribly-made) wine acted as a good garbage disposal detergent.
* Deliberately invoked in ComicStrip/BabyBlues with [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Bud]], one of Zoe's friends who often goes out of his way to [[MadBomber wreck stuff]]. Bud managed to at one point during Zoe's birthday party to somehow completely rip out the bathroom sink and faucet, likewise necessitating the hiring of a plumber immediately afterward and Darryl screaming Bud's name in anger.

** This is a recurring theme in the Stooges shorts, whenever they arent just incompetent at their actual jobs, they're incompetent at do-it-yourself projects.

* In ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', when Dorothy and Rose try to fix their bathroom themselves, their first attempt leads to them redoing the plumbing such that flushing the toilet makes the sink run, the spigots on the sink control the shower, etc.

* On an episode of ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', a very prominent business man is to visit Victor's restaurant. Victor creates a Foreman grill-type device that both "grills and chills." He demonstrated his creation by having it grill a steak and chill some jumbo shrimp. However, he crossed a few wires and instead, the grill flash freezes the steak, and the chiller turns the shrimp into charred lump with tails.
* Most of the humor on ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'' is derived from this sort of thing.
* One episode of ''Series/SportsNight'' features Jeremy's decision to personally [[MillenniumBug [=Y2K=]]]-proof the studio. After getting everybody's cooperation in staging a mockup show to demonstrate his work, he apparently manages to blow out everything electronic in the studio, shortly before the live airing of the real show. This leads to the rest of the cast scrambling to do the show from a different and disliked studio while Jeremy suffers a HeroicBSOD. At the end of the show he was finally informed that, last night, after he'd left, the electricians had done some work behind a console without relabeling the buttons... so that instead of starting the test, he'd hit the main power switch.
** That almost describes what is generally regarded as the funniest ''This Is Series/SportsCenter'' commercial, except in the commercial's case, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8az6m8qgYeI it's played entirely for laughs.]]

* Subverted in an episode of ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow''. George tries to demonstrate that his kitchen sink repair worked, and the entire kitchen begins rumbling. It's quickly revealed that the rumble is being caused by an actual earthquake.

* ''Series/GeorgeAndMildred'': When Jerry installs a shower for the Ropers, he somehow manages to hook their shower up to the plumbing of their next door neighbours.

* On ''Series/PerfectStrangers'', Jennifer and Mary Ann go away for a trip. Before leaving, Jennifer asks Larry to call the plumber for her and let him into their apartment to carry out some repairs. Larry of course decides that what Jennifer is really saying is that she wants ''him'' to do the repairs and doesn't bother to call the guy. Sure enough, he has no idea what he's doing and ends up flooding the girls' apartment.
--> '''Larry''': Instructions? I don't need instructions. My father once rewired our entire house without instructions.
--> '''Balki''': Was that the house that burned to the ground?
* A very sad example on an episode of ''Series/HomicideHunter''. Lt. Joe Kenda arrives at a house to find all five family members dead. Initially perplexed, as there are no signs of violence, he soon notices their cherry-red pallor--the classic sign of carbon monoxide poisoning. It turns out that rather than hire an expert, the family's landlord decided to replace their heater himself, but obviously had no idea what he was doing.
* ''Series/CanadasWorstHandyman'' is all about people who have caused more than their share of these in their time and are on the show precisely because they have little idea what to do when it comes to repair situations. The hope is to reform them, though it doesn't always work out.
* In an episode of ''Series/TheHoganFamily'', Mike insists on repairing a broken lamp by himself, outright telling sister Sandy, "Why get some quack when I can do it myself?" He ends up nearly electrocuting son David when he asks him to test the lamp. When he tells at Sandy to call 911, Sandy angrily snaps at him, [[MeaningfulEcho "Why get some quack when we can do it ourselves?]] Let's get some tools and cut him open!"

* The conflict of the Creator/VanBeurenStudios short "Joint Wipers". Tom and Jerry are amateur plumbers, and they unwittingly flood the entire building they're working in.
* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' does this with ''voice activation''. "Go Go Gadget balloon! No, not pontoon, balloon!"
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Bill's kitchen is one of these. Flipping the light switch, for example, causes the microwave to start. This inspires Hank to do something similar with his own kitchen to discourage a pair of {{Hipster}}s from buying his house, which Peggy had accidentally sold.

* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] is a frequent offender. His attempts to build anything usually results in major disaster. When he attempts to rebuild Santa's Little Helper's doghouse he forgot to put in a door. The playset he built for Maggie collapsed as soon as she touched it. A homemade barbecue [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible gets mistaken for modern art]]. When he is showing his half brother around the house, he flicks a switch that he doesn't know the function of, which turns on the Christmas lights on the roof (which have been there since 1985).
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had a short where Dad tried to clean the car. Just CLEAN the car mind you, not fix it. He managed to completely total the vehicle, and at the end, we're shown that a nearby landfill is full of cars he's trashed.

[-[[caption-width-right:220:photo by [[http://www.hightech-edge.com/slow-shutter-long-exposure-light-painting-astronomy-photography/5966/ Shawn Richardson]]]]-]

* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] is a frequent offender. His attempts to build anything usually results in major disaster. When he attempts to rebuild Santa's Little Helper's doghouse he forgot to put in a door. The playset he built for Magge collapsed as soon as she touched it. A homemade barbecue [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible gets mistaken for modern art]]. When he is showing his half brother around the house, he flicks a switch that he doesn't know the function of, which turns on the Christmas lights on the roof (which have been there since 1985).

* ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Han and Chewie's attempts to repair the ''Millennium Falcon'' provide some comedy in an otherwise very serious movie. They may be great pilots, but they are mediocre mechanics at best. This includes a scene where Han tells Chewie to power up a system that Han just repaired, and it proceeds to blow up in Han's face, causing him to frantically shout for Chewie to turn it off.

* The early days of heated water for baths and other types of gas (and later electrical) appliances, prior to regulations, are horror stories. For example, heated baths were around before the invention of the thermostat, resulting in severe scalding. Early gas lighting adventures included advertisements that it was ''perfectly safe'' to light a match while the gas was on (!). In Edwardian times, all the electrical appliances were plugged into one socket, which hung overhead, resulting in frequent fires and electrocution. It's a wonder anyone survived.

* Subverted/played for laughs in ''[[Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove The Emperor's New Groove]]'' when Kronk pulls the lever that was supposed to take him and Yzma to the "secret lab," but instead opens a trap door that causes Yzma to fall into a crocodile-filled moat. It's subverted when you consider the fact that that particular lever really is supposed to do that.
** "Why do we even HAVE that lever?"

* In an episode of ''Series/TheHoganFamily'', Mike insists on repairing a broken lamp by himself, outright telling sister Sandy, "Why get some quack when I can do it myself?" He ends up nearly electrocuting son David when he asks him to test the lamp. When he tells at Sandy to call 911, Sandy angrily be snaps at him, [[MeaningfulEcho "Why get some quack when we can do it ourselves?]] Let's get some tools and cut him open!"

* One episode of ''Series/SportsNight'' features Jeremy's decision to personally [[MillenniumBug [=Y2K=]]]-proof the studio. After getting everybody's cooperation in staging a mockup show to demonstrate his work, he apparently manages to blow out everything electronic in the studio, shortly before the live airing of the real show. This leads to the rest of the cast scrambling to do the show from a different and disliked studio while Jeremy suffers a HeroicBSOD. At the end of the show he was finally informed that last night after he'd left the electricians had done some work behind a console without relabeling the buttons... so that instead of starting the test, he'd hit the main power switch.

** That almost describes what is generally regarded as the funniest ''This Is SportsCenter'' commercial, except in the commercial's case, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8az6m8qgYeI it's played entirely for laughs.]]

* ''DextersLaboratory'' had a short where Dad tried to clean the car. Just CLEAN the car mind you, not fix it. He managed to completely total the vehicle, and at the end, we're shown that a nearby landfill is full of cars he's trashed.

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* This can happen in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' if you forget to label your levers. "Now was this the one that raises the drawbridge or the one that floods the fortress with lava?"
[[/folder]]

* ''Film/TheThreeStooges'': In the short ''A-Plumbing We Will Go'', Moe, Larry and Curley posed as plumbers to escape arrest, and are accidentally hired to fix a minor leak in a mansion. By the time they're done, they've left water coming out of everything '''but''' the faucets. And we do mean ''everything'', including the light fixtures, and even an early model DuMont television set.

* ''Film/TheThreeStooges'': In the short ''A-Plumbing We Will Go'', Moe, Larry and Curley posed as plumbers to escape arrest, and are accidentally hired to fix a minor leak in a mansion. By the time they're done, they've left water coming out of everything '''but''' the faucets.

* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] is a frequent offender. His attempts to build anything usually results in major disaster. Building a doghouse ends up with his filling a swear jar. A spice rack he builds falls apart. A homemade barbecue [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible gets mistaken for modern art]]. When he is showing his half brother around the house, he flicks a switch that he doesn't know the function of, which turns on the Christmas lights on the roof (which have been there since 1985).

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(El%C3%ADas_Garc%C3%ADa_Mart%C3%ADnez) This]] attempt at DIY painting restoration, [[MemeticMutation known on the Internet]] as "Potato Jesus".