re: Admit Your Dumbest Homeowner Repair Mistakes

Stupid plumbing mistake trying to repair a small leak. Long story, but we had a renovation done 8 years ago, and the contractor used PEX and tied into the existing copper hot/cold lines. Daughter spotted a leak in the basement, I eyeballed it, took a couple of photos, and was going to cut out the bad section with the crimped joint, and replace with shark bites. Thankfully they had put shutoff valves right after where they connected, so I was able to put it off until the morning. What I didn't realize was they had two hot and cold lines running in parallel. 3/4 inch lines to feed the tub, and 1/2 inch lines to feed the sinks/toilet/shower. I didn't realize I would need a T-joint reducer until after I cut the lines off. I had bought the 1/2 inch T-joint, not the one where 3/4 goes straight through and the 1/2 inch comes off the side. Two trips to Home Depot for maybe $40-50 in parts, where if I had taken a closer look I would have saved a trip and $20.