Tub Faucet Replacement for Dummies

anti-scald valve for shower-tub combo

According to our staffers, some of the worst DIY "help" published by freelancers can be classified as someone thinking that the steps in a fix-it job they just finished are the same for all similar jobs. A surprising number of them, at least what we've seen,¹ are in the field of DIY plumbing repairs. That's exactly what's gotten us going today: returning DotD Ken Crawford in a HubPages.com post he called "How to Replace a Single Handle Bathtub Faucet Yourself" (now, for unknown reasons, at Dengarden.com). We ID'ed him as the eHow contributor because he used the same profile photo...

Drop-In Stoves, the Dummies Version

This is a drop-in stove

All the terminology about stoves and ranges – about appliances in general – can be confusing. That's why, when it comes time to replace our appliances the staffers at the Antisocial Network look for help from professionals. If we're going to do any online research, we want to get our info from appliance manufacturers, remodeling pros, and appliances vendors. We definitely don't want information to come from the likes of Naima Manal; not after looking at her dengarden.com post "Replacing a Drop-In Stove with a Slide-In Range." No-siree, Bob!

Building a Deck, the Dummy Method

This deck needs a railing...

Every once in a while the Antisocial Network's crack research team runs across freelance how-to instructions published by someone who actually admits not having performed the task they're describing. Usually, it's someone describing what her husband or boyfriend did while she watched. Heck, she might have actually helped, but ten year old kids "help" on jobs like those, too. Anyway, the person who actually did the work may have been relatively competent, but when it comes to passing along the information, the contributor... well, to say the contributor is feeding readers bull is kind. So let's be kind to Rhonda Lytle of Hubpages niche site dengarden.com, as she tries to explain "How to Build Your Own Elevated Deck on Uneven Ground - DIY - Small Budget, Minimal Cuts" from the viewpoint of the tool-illiterate. 

Trapdoor or Chute, the Dummy Version

This is a laundry chute, dummy!

Laundry chutes were a common feature of classic houses, especially ones built in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. The concept was surprisingly simple: instead of schlepping your dirty clothing from the second (or third) floor of the house down to a laundry room in the basement, builders installed a slick-sided chute inside the walls and let gravity work its magic on soiled clothing. Why modern houses don't have these conveniences any more comes as a mystery to our staff (and to many others, we note). Well, Novel Treasure over at HubPages.com decided she and hubby needed one,  so they proceeded to create their own – and then she wrote a-a-a-all about it in "How to Install a Laundry Chute in the Floor." That seems to be par for the course for the women of the HubPages.com niche "dengarden" when it comes to DIY: perform a little household project (or watch someone else do it) and then write a "how-to."

Decks for DIY Dummies (Carpentry Week 3)

Free-standing deck schematic

Without a doubt, the most popular DIY project for homeowners is building a deck. It's probably the project responsible for the sale of more of Home Depot's crappy treated lumber than any other. The problem being, of course, that an average first-time deck-builder barely knows which end of a hammer to use for driving screws, so it's off to google to look for help. With luck, that DIYer will end up at a site written by a pro – or at least someone who's done the job. If, however, the stars are misaligned, the poor DIYer might well end up getting instructions from someone who – maybe – once watched a deck project. Someone like, say, Liz Elias (DzyMsLizzy) from Hubpages.com niche site "dengarden.com," seen here writing (sort of) about "How to Build a Free-Standing Deck." At least she hyphenates correctly...

Plumbing for Dummies (Again)

Working with PVC pipe

The punchline of an old joke has a plumber saying, "Yeah, I only made $150 per hour when I was a lawyer, too!" The hourly rate for plumbers explains why many DIYers performs, or at least try to perform, their own plumbing repairs. When installing a garbage disposal can cost $225, it makes sense for a confident (not to mention competent) tool-user to take on the task him- or her-self. On the other hand, there's the likes of Sharon Vile, who  once called herself blueheron at HubPages.com. Sharon thinks plumbing is a "ladies' craft project": she said that herself in her dengarden.com post, "How to Install an Outdoor Spigot for Watering Your Garden."

There are lots of reasons you shouldn't take the advice of a stranger on the internet when you're attempting a DIY project. For one, you should generally steer clear of anyone who claims something is "easy," or as Sharon gushes, "is as easy as playing with Tinker Toys..." Let's not get into that, however, let's just look at some of the dumbassery inherent  in Sharon's project: