We all love a bit of DIY but unfortunately, it doesn’t always go according to plan. Spare a thought for these poor guys who innocently set out to do some home improvements and got much more than they bargained for.

Earlier this year, builder Alan Williams fired a nail through his hand and managed to pin himself to the floor. He was stuck there for three hours while his partner was away at work and only managed to escape when firemen managed to prise away the entire floorboard and take it, still attached, with Williams to the hospital. Medics managed to remove the nail and he was fortunate that there was no lasting damage.

A tenant in a housing association flat, Kenneth Wharton fancied a more open-plan look for his property so started chipping away at an inside wall. He was completely unaware that the wall he was knocking down was a supporting wall holding up the floor of the flat above. The lucky man narrowly managed to escape just before a bed, wardrobe and a whole lot of rubble came tumbling into his living room. The DIY disaster cost £17,000 to fix but had he put all his furniture into a storage unit beforehand, at least he would have saved on the cost of replacing everything.

Not all DIY disasters can be blamed on the person carrying them out however. When Ian Cooke started digging holes in his garden to make way for some decking, his spade touched upon something hard. Confused, he touched it again and was a little concerned when it started smoking. The object in question turned out to be a deadly collection of two dozen world war two grenades that were issued to the Home Guard when Nazi invasion seemed imminent. The street was cornered off and residents had to evacuate until emergency services made it safe to return once again.

When a Canvey Island man decided that he wanted to coat his house with a fresh lick of paint, he did what many people do every day and burnt the old paint off the walls. It’s normally a pretty straightforward job but this particular job went more than just a little bit wrong for this man. He started a fire that required 60 firefighters to tackle and left four families homeless. Again, had he put his furniture in a storage unit beforehand, at least he would have had somewhere to sit.

While all these cases are pretty extreme and very unlikely, DIY disasters do happen whether they are big or small. From ruining furniture with paint and breaking vases and picture frames to nailing yourself to the floorboard, precautions should be taken. A storage unit is a great way to ensure that even if you can’t protect yourself, at least your furniture will survive the ordeal.