Orem resident Aimee Gertsch's disasterous home-improvement project, grandly referred to as the "French Door Flop," could translate to big bucks. Gertsch and her husband are finalists in True Value's "DIY (Do It Yourself) Drama Contest."

For the contest, the company invited do-it-yourself junkies to submit failed projects. "The French Door worked out well," Gertsch said. "It was the outside part that didn't work out so well."

The project began after Gertsch and her husband moved into their house five years ago and decided to build a deck. They turned a window on the back of the house into French doors.

"We did it in backwards order," Gertsch admits. That is, it wasn't until after the new doors were installed that the couple realized they had a problem with the already existing air-conditioning unit. "We thought we could scoot it over," she said. "But when we actually looked at it, we didn't have enough tubing to move it over."

The results translated to beautiful new French doors, installed next to the air conditioner, no deck, and temporary stairs to get to the backyard. The Gertschs' flop was selected from hundreds of national submissions, competing for the grand prize of $5,000 in True Value hardware merchandise, and a consultation with an expert.

The company launched the contest to let do-it-yourselfers know they're not alone, said Anh Gibson, True Value representative.

As finalists, the Gertschs are waiting for America to vote. "After seeing the others, we didn't think we would be bad enough," she said. "I want everybody to look at all the entries and hopefully they will think that we deserve it. We would love to be able to use our backyard."