Solving $\sqrt{x+5} = x - 1$ I'm currently learning about radicals and simplifying them, and I came across this problem on the internet and tried to solve it:
$$\sqrt{x+5} = x - 1$$
So I used this logic:
$$
\begin{align}
\sqrt{x+5} &= x - 1 \\
x + 5 &= (x-1)^2 \\
x + 5 &= (x-1)(x-1) \\
x + 5 &= x^2 - 2x + 1 \\
0 &= x^2 - 3x - 4 \\
0 &= (x-4)(x+1) \\
\end{align}
$$
Therefore, $x = -1$ and $x = 4$ satisfy the equation $0 = (x-4)(x+1)$.
But then I tried to plug them in the original problem $\sqrt{x+5}=x-1$:
$$
\begin{align}
\sqrt{4 + 5} &= 4 - 1 \\
\sqrt{9} &= 3 \\
3 &= 3
\end{align}
$$
So using 4 works as expected, but when using $-1$:
$$
\begin{align}
\sqrt{-1 + 5} &= -1 - 1 \\
\sqrt{4} &= -2 \\
2 &\ne -2
\end{align}
$$
At what stage am I going wrong?
And according the WolframAlpha, the solution is $x = 4$.

Work backwards. Starting with $x=-1$ and $x=4$, when you work backwards through your steps and rewrite everything to get to the very beginning, you end by taking a square-root. When you take that square-root, you have two possible solutions: $+\sqrt{x+5}$ and $-\sqrt{x+5}\quad$. $x=-1$ solves one, $x=4$ solves the other.
