Remember "the things not to do" thread?

[plumbers mate]

An hour ago I learnt another of those silly things which you should not do.
If you are looking under the floorboards near the bottom of the stairs and your glasses keep getting in the way, don't - do not - put your glasses on the bottom step of the staircase. I guarentee you will forget where you put them and go up the stairs to look for them .............

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Here's one I learnt about stairs recently. As background you need to know that I had "chopped off" the bottom half of the old stairs in order to have room to lay the new flag floor, prior to the new stairs being installed a few weeks later. I had stupidly left a few nails sticking out an inch or so from the underneath of the stairs.

When laying flags underneath the old stairs, do not stand up straight as you will either a) bend the exposed nails with your skull, cutting yourself badly in the process, or b) you will pierce your skull and risk some sort of life-threatening haematoma or infection.

Fortunately I suffered a) - I was very worried for a while that I had done b). 3 weeks later it still hasn't healed...

 

[Lime]

Along the same lines, when repairing stairs remember you have removed some steps.

A couple of decades ago I removed 4 lower steps on a small staircase.
Nearly everytime I used the stairs on the way down I'd go flying.

 

[MdB]

When removing old insulation from the loft space, remember that some idiot may have randomly put a nail into one of the beams in the shadow from the light so you don't see it when you stand up quickly. Also, when routing through the insulation you may find live wires which have been connected by simply twisting the ends together. Luckly I spotted it before touching the live wires, though the wound in my scalp from the nail has only just healed...

 

[Pford75]

When you've finished fixing a curtain pole, don't leave the hammer on top of the step-ladder....you're sure to find it when you move the ladder and it falls on your head