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" 1: Deep-Water Drilling I used a 3-inch drywall screw to hang a heavy, framed painting in my bedroom, because the extra length provides more load-bearing strength, right? It held the frame fine, but two months later, the living-room ceiling collapsed. Turns out the screw had punctured a water pipe, creating a slow, insidious leak.  Lesson Learned: Use a hollow-wall anchor, not a drywall screw, which can plunge deep enough to do real damage. 2: Microbus Flamb\u00E9 While rebuilding the carb in my 1962 VW Microbus, I forgot to replace the float-bowl drain plug. It was late, I was tired, and gas leaked. I fired up the engine, I mean, I really fired it up: The inferno fried all of the wiring, but I had two 20-pound CO2 fire extinguishers on hand, so at least I didn&amp;#039;t burn down the garage. Lesson Learned: Keep close track of parts so you can put all of them back in their rightful place. Magnetic parts trays will run you $10 to $20 apiece, but an old frying pan works just fine, too. 3: Vamoose, Varmint In animal behavior, &amp;quot;philopatric&amp;quot; describes a critter that knows how to find its way home. Like a woodchuck, for instance. I trapped one in my yard, deposited it in a park a half-mile away\u2014and then repeated the process four times. I spoke with a wildlife official and discovered three things.  Lesson Learned: (1) The meaning of the word philopatric. (2) It&amp;#039;s illegal to relocate woodchucks in many states (though not in mine), so check the law before you move one. (3) A half-mile is a laughably short distance for woodchuck relocation. For me, 5 miles did the trick. 4: D&amp;#039;Oh! I fumbled a sheet of plywood and crushed my big toe.  Lesson Learned: Your average \u00BD-inch, 4 x 8 piece of plywood weighs 50 pounds. Get a grip on it by using a tightened C-clamp as a handle. Oh, and for good measure, invest in a pair of steel-toe boots. Safety first! 5: What a Tool I rolled the drum floor sander into the room, plugged it in\u2014and it took off like a crazed robot. I gave chase as it bashed a hole in the wall and raced into the next room. Lesson Learned: (1) Make sure the machine is switched off before you plug it in. (2) If you forget the first lesson, never chase a runaway floor \u00ADsander: Instead, pull the plug.  6: Code Red Before driving a single nail to build my wood deck, I had the plans approved by the building department. I was proud of the design, which featured horizontal rail spindles\u2014a code violation, as I would discover. After the job was completed, an inspector visited and described a scenario in which a child might climb the spindles as if they were a ladder and tumble to the ground.  Lesson Learned: Read codes carefully\u2014meeting them is the homeowner&amp;#039;s responsibility, and just because a plan is approved, it doesn&amp;#039;t mean it meets code. Also, get the work inspected early, in case you need to change direction.  7: Solo No-No I had no trouble unhinging the heavy vintage front door of my house. But with the sun setting and the paint job still unfinished, rehanging the door was another story. I finally recruited a neighbor to steady it while I lined up the knuckles and replaced the hinge pins. Like many DIYers, I pride myself on being self-reliant, so I felt embarrassed, to say the least. Lesson Learned: Overestimate every aspect of a job, including how long it&amp;#039;ll take, and envision it to the finish. Remember: Removing heavy objects (doors, cabinets) is easier than replacing them. 8: Cringe-worthy Tugging on a car wheel when preparing to replace a flat tire is risky. It&amp;#039;s unavoidable sometimes, like when a lug nut is rusted in place. But no jacked-up car should ever be considered secure. I learned this from a friend who now has two fewer fingers than he was born with. Lesson Learned: When removing the wheel, hold your hands at 3 and 9 o&amp;#039;clock, not 6 and 12 o&amp;#039;clock.  9: Bird in the Hand When joining a pair of 2 x 4s with a framing nailer, it&amp;#039;s common practice even among experienced carpenters to squeeze the boards together with one hand while pulling the trigger with the other hand. Notice I said &amp;quot;common practice&amp;quot; and not &amp;quot;a good idea.&amp;quot; Imagine my horror as I watched a colleague impale an index finger with a gas-fueled nailer, then marvel at the clean, pinprick entrance and exit punctures for about 1.5 seconds before the blood gushed forth like Texas tea from a freshly tapped well.  Lesson Learned: Keep the free hand clear of the muzzle and don&amp;#039;t underestimate the distance an errant 3-inch nail can travel when fired from any nailer, either pneumatic or gas-fueled.  10: Child&amp;#039;s Play My 1-year-old daughter thinks latex paint is delicious! Lesson Learned: Young children and interior painting don&amp;#039;t mix. &amp;amp;gt; Automotive Mishaps &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;   11: Thanks for Nothin&amp;#039; A friend once helped drain the oil out of my race car but forgot to replace the drain plug. I poured 12 quarts of synthetic oil (the stuff is about $8 a quart) into the sump, started the engine and learned the true meaning of the word mess. That, and one other little thing. Lesson Learned: \u00ADNever trust a helper who works for beer. 12: Kissed Off A &amp;quot;granite kiss&amp;quot; sounds romantic, but it can inflict a lot of pain: It refers to a finger or hand being crushed between stones while building a rock wall. After getting a granite kiss (index finger), we called Kevin Gardner, author of the book by the same name. Lesson Learned: &amp;quot;Gloves don&amp;#039;t help,&amp;quot; Gardner says. &amp;quot;They give a false sense of security.&amp;quot; Roll a stone on the ground to find the center of gravity (the heavy side). Place the stone with the center of gravity snug. &amp;quot;Don&amp;#039;t cradle your hand beneath it. You can manipulate stones from the top.&amp;quot;  13: Rookie Error I spent months restoring my beloved Norton and finally took it for a spin. Man, what a thrill! Afterward I drained the oil (metal shavings always foul the oil on a first run, so it&amp;#039;s good to get them out), then ran inside to escape a downpour. On my next ride, I was about 10 miles from home when I smelled the tell-tale odor of burning \u00ADmetal. The engine seized. Lesson Learned: I affix a big no oil sign if the pan is empty. D&amp;#039;oh. 14: Grass 101 I love my new, ground-level wood deck, but I don&amp;#039;t love the grass growing between the boards. Lesson Learned: Nail landscape fabric over the soil beneath the deck before you build. 15: Glass 101 Antique rippled-glass windows\u2014like those in my living room\u2014are lovely, but old panes scratch easily. I wish I&amp;#039;d known before I prepped to paint around mine. Lesson Learned: When sanding a muntin, tape the pane&amp;#039;s edges, and use a light touch! 16: Dude, Where&amp;#039;s My Car? After tying down my race car to the trailer with nylon ratchet straps, I was driving home on a smooth country road. After 45 minutes or so, I looked in the rearview and saw only the road behind me. I doubled back and, after 3 or 4 miles, found the car on the roadside, half on the shoulder, half in a ditch. The damage was already done, but . . . Lesson Learned: When towing a car, pull over and retighten the tie downs about 20 miles after you first secure the vehicle. No matter how tightly you winch the straps, nylon stretches under stress, even on smooth roads.  17: Hue and Cry I was careful to cover every inch of the wall with the new paint, even though I took a couple of breaks. The new shade was darker, and the coverage looked good\u2014until the paint dried, revealing a zebra pattern wherever I&amp;#039;d stopped and restarted. Lesson Learned: Paint the whole wall without stopping. Repeat.  18: All Wet I was psyched to see how fast old paint came off my house with the pressure washer. I was going to scrape and sand, but the power-tool option seemed great\u2014until I saw I had not only cleaned the clapboards but also deeply scored them. Lesson Learned: Test the pressure and nozzle size on a small portion of the surface. In most cases, the 15-degree nozzle works well for paint prep. The 0-degree beam I used is a weapon, not a tool. 19: Get on Track While installing a \u00ADgarden path in my backyard, I tried to roll a wheelbarrow full of crushed stones down four steps. On the second step, everything went wrong. Lesson Learned: To avoid dumping your load, place a 2 x 10 down the center of the stairs, carefully set the wheel onto the board and ease the wheelbarrow down the track. 20: Attic Antics While laying insulation in my attic, I slipped while balancing between a couple of joists and put my boot through the \u00ADbedroom ceiling. I felt pretty foolish, but that didn&amp;#039;t stop my neighbor from having a good laugh at my expense before giving me some advice.  Lesson Learned: &amp;quot;Just use a couple of plywood scraps as movable \u00ADplatforms,&amp;quot; he said.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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