When repairmen (and women) come into our homes, the place is never looking its best. Sometimes we worry about being embarrassed by a mess or a problem we’ve created, but more often than not they tell us they’ve seen “much worse.”

Well, a plumber who goes by the handle “Bfizzle” on Imgur has revealed some of those “much worse” situations and they’re bound to make you feel a little bit better about your own home.

He’s uploaded some of the wackiest DIY fixes and bad remodels, as well as some things we honestly can’t explain.

Here are 20 home disasters he’s collected from the Internet:

1. Candles left on the toilet tank

Granted, you don’t see too many plastic toilets around (most are made of porcelain, which does not melt), but when you do come across one you should remember it’s bad to put a candle on it.

We get that a candle in the bathroom adds some ambiance and helps control odor, but you also run the risk of forgetting about it, in which case you end up with a MUCH bigger problem.

2. I guess it works

To be fair, if you’ve somehow managed to lose the knobs to your sink you can use pliers. It’s not exactly decorative, but it gets the job done.

We’re just curious how long this “fix” was in place before someone finally called a plumber.

But, hey, at least the pliers match one another!

3. A handyman special

Have you ever wanted a cupboard of death? Then take a page from this homeowner’s book!

Not only are there leaking, cracking pipes that will spur lots of mold growth, but any time you reach for your cleaning supplies under there, you can be sure they’re already covered in that mold. So now you can spread it all over your home WHILE you’re cleaning.

4. That’s not how grounding works

It’s unclear why there’s copper wire in the shower to begin with but we guarantee that whoever turns on the water first is going to get the shock of their lives.

And not because the water is cold.

5. A repurposed toilet

We can’t think of a more disgusting use for an old toilet.

No matter how much you clean it – or even if it’s brand new! – it takes a special sense of humor to want to cook your food over a toilet bowl.

6. Yet another handyman special

This might be great if you drop jewelry down the drain fairly often – at least it’ll be easy to locate when it gets caught in the accordion-like piece of pipe.

But we might wonder what else can get stuck in there as well.

7. Homeowner fixed his own leak

Well, “fix” is a generous word.

We suppose if you’re waiting for the plumber to arrive and need to keep a leak from shooting water out, this is one option.

But we might wrap some duct tape around that gauze since it’s not exactly meant to be waterproof on its own.

8. What did you eat, sir?

What a nightmare!

Do you think this person saw the rat climbing into their bathroom through the toilet or were they just not sure why it was clogged?

RIP little fella. That’s quite an undignified way to go.

9. Why does my house smell like sh*t?

It’s easy to forget all the stuff that goes on under your house – until it’s too late.

This pipe has clearly been rotting away for quite some time.

We’re glad we’re not the plumber who has to crawl into that tiny, smelly space to fix it!

10. Big apprentice, small crawlspace

Ever wonder why you’re shelling out $75/hour for your plumber’s time? Because they have to do stuff like this!

Next time you balk at your bill, consider crawling into that tiny crawlspace yourself headfirst.

11. The day after Taco Bell

This is one of those inconceivable messes that we can’t even begin to imagine how to tackle.

If you’ve ever had a toilet backup, you can most likely feel grateful that it looked nothing like this.

12. Homeowner did a remodel, needed to downsize the shower

So, the point here is not that the shower is small. Look closer.

When they shrunk the shower they left some integral elements on the outside – such as the water knobs and the drain. We imagine those are the more important parts to consider.

13. In a Chinese restaurant

This isn’t a urinal, this is a target.

We wonder what the plumber thought when he got there since there’s no plumbing at all to deal with.

14. Your sewer is blocked

There’s no stopping nature; it will always find a way.

This isn’t the homeowner’s fault and we bet it wasn’t fun to replace all of those pipes.

That must be a heck of a tree – we just hope it’s pretty!

15. This is why your kitchen drain backs up

Yikes! We wonder how many years of low water pressure these homeowners put up with before they finally called a plumber.

We’re definitely second-guessing how effective our garbage disposal is after seeing this.

16. Don’t like the leak? Put a cork in it

We doubt that’s going to work for long, but kudos to whoever managed to get the cork in that far!

There are certainly worse ways to stop a leak until the plumber can get there.

17. How not to stop a leak

We’re not even sure how this is working – it’s not even wrapped tightly enough to stop a leak.

If you need something to tide you over until the plumber arrives, try not to use something that can so easily leak AND grow mold on it if left there too long.

18. A homeowner did his own bathroom

Hey, those Home Depot commercials really make you feel like you can do anything. But there’s a reason we have professionals.

And while duct tape comes in handy in a pinch, it’s at best a temporary solution to any plumbing problems, not a way to get things to fit together because you didn’t measure correctly.

19. Hose bib leaking? Slap another valve on!

There are certainly more elegant solutions (or actual solutions), but this homeowner decided that when their hose bib was leaking that they would just keep attaching more valves until it stopped.

To be fair, it will help improve the water pressure! And, hey, it’s a better solution than gauze!

20. That’s not how venting works

Ok, so things look a little curly here, but that’s really not the problem.

The problem is down where that yellow tag is hanging. That’s the temperature-pressure release (TPR) valve and it’s there to release water when the temperature or pressure in the water tank gets too high.

You need to hook a discharge pipe up to that for the leakage.

Maybe we can give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they’re just not done yet?

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Remind us never to complain about our plumbing bill ever again!

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Source: Bfizzle via Imgur