Anyone ever worked on a DIY project, fix or even planned something and realised after the disaster that it was probably better off getting in the "professionals" in the first place and realising that it was a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to actually do so in the first place?
I've had a couple of DIY disasters:
Plastering - Tried to do this once on a home renovation about 10 or 12 years ago when I still lived with the parents. Dad and I thought it was a smart idea to do the plastering ourselves and patch some big holes on existing walls. The job was a mess after two walls and looked disastrous. Called in the pros (removed the walls we did ourselves) and just told them we took off the walls for them in preparation to save costs. Wasted about two full days and about $200 in materials/equipment. Lesson learnt.
Installing a Garage door opener - The old one died, I took a punt on finding the same model and just installing it without much fuss. Little did I know the chains had also warped/twisted. The new one arrived and was 90% similar to the old one except it was about 2cm wider on both sides, the old metal hangers did not fit. Since it was quite heavy, decided to get in the pros, I had done most of the removal work and cut the new chain up anyway to size, was charged a hefty $200 for the service. Looking back, should have just got them to do all the dirty work!
Cheap Chinese bluetooth keyboards. They work for a while and then they don't even turn on anymore.
The stories I could tell about my dad, who likes to MacGyver things. He has absolutely no sense of beauty or craftmanship. Too many things at his house looks like a kluge. It drives my mum nuts.