My crewmate swore by using a heat gun to strip paint faster, so I let him try on a 1920s door in Pasadena.

He cranked it to max and held it in one spot, which scorched the wood and melted the old lead-based primer into a toxic, gummy mess. The cleanup and sanding took us three extra hours and we had to wear respirators the whole time. What's the dumbest 'time-saving' shortcut you've seen someone insist on that actually made more work?

3 comments

3 Comments

rodriguez.diana14d ago

My cousin tried to skip taping by freehanding a ceiling line with a paint pad. The wavy edge was so bad he spent a full day cutting in with a brush to fix it.

the_drew3d ago

But a steady hand and good paint can make taping a waste of time.

elizabethn5614d ago

That wavy edge story is why I always tape, no matter how long it takes!