Keep an Eye on Your Razor Blades

OK, so today I was digging deep in my toolbox, looking for my screwdriver, which sits against the back wall in the bottom of the box.

Unbeknownst to me, an unsheathed razor blade had fallen into the tool box, along that back wall sharp side up.

You are already guessing – and you are guessing correctly…. My index finger jammed down onto the blade, and the razor slid its way neatly up between the finger and the nail. Ouch!

Actually, it didn’t hurt all that much, and I caught it before it got pushed in really deep. It didn’t even bleed very much.

What’s funny is, I asked the nanny for a Band-Aid, and she brought out two really little tiny bandages. Turns out the family has three young children, and all the Band-Aids in the house are kid-sized.

No worries – she draped the diminutive bandage over my injured fingernail, and then I got some blue painters’ tape and wrapped that around it, to be sure it would stay on my finger.

Meticulous Craftsmanship vs. Who Gives a Flip?

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Last Saturday (see my Glass Beads post), I worked in a new construction home in the Houston Heights built by Ridgewater Homes. I was struck by the high quality of workmanship in every area of the home. I was equally impressed by the time and attention the workers put into prepping sites before beginning any work. As an example, in the powder room where I was hanging wallpaper, every inch of baseboard, the whole vanity top, and even the entire light sconces had been protected by plastic and blue painter’s tape. See first photo.

In contrast, today I worked in a new construction home – by a builder who will not be identified – in Timber Grove, just west of the Heights. They painted without bothering to cover anything with tape or plastic, so, as you see in the second photo, the beautiful stained woodwork and floors are covered with paint splatter.

The third photo is dark, but to the left of the light switch you can see a 3/4″ gap in the wall, and above the switch is a 1/4″ gap. Another photo shows torn and bulging drywall around a light switch, and another shows Sheetrock screws (just two of many) protruding from the wall.

Here you see the difference between a custom home builder, and a custom home craftsman. I would much prefer to live in the home by Ridgewater.

Keepin’ It Clean with Tape

Here’s a shot of my new basswood wallpaper table. I measure, trim, and paste wallpaper on it. But it’s important to keep it clean, and I don’t want paste getting on the table.

So I let the paper hang over the edge of the table just a hair, allowing me to roll paste all the way to the edges of the paper. Just in case something slips and a little paste does get on the table, having this strip of blue painter’s tape along the edge keeps the paste from soaking into the wood, and it is easy to wipe paste off the tape.

Lines Showing Under Wallpaper

OK, HARD to see, but an important thing to be aware of. Some stripes had been painted on the wall, which you can see around the corner, at the right of the photo, and you can see them covered by my primer on the left side of the photo.

The stripes had been painted using blue painter’s tape to keep the lines straight. When the tape was removed, there were very faint ridges at the joints where the two colors met. You can just barely see them at the right side of the white primed area.

So? Well, depending on the pattern, composition, and thickness of a wallpaper that would be put over this, those ridges just might show under the paper! Some people would never notice, but, in the right (or wrong!) light, I think this sort of thing is pretty visible.

The solution would be to sand or scrape the ridges down, or, if that doesn’t work, to float over them and sand smooth. Then prime and hang the paper.