Saturday, November 09, 2024

Home repair with squid tentacle

A plastic white access panel on white drywall with an unsightly section of peeled off paint and drywall finish and a pencil line.
Many years ago, way back when I was a solo act, I found it necessary to cut a hole in the wall in the bedroom/office area to access some coaxial cable. I cut a rectangle out of the drywall, accessed the cable and then put the rectangle of drywall back in place with green masking tape.

This wasn't particularly obvious to the other resident who came to live here because I had a dresser, a bunch of empty boxes, a clothes tree, and a sort of nightstand thing in front of this wall. But I've been downsizing a bit and moving things into my new studio space and the taped rectangle became entirely obvious.

It was gently suggested that I replace the taped-up rectangle with an access panel. I had to agree that this was a very good idea, so I got an access panel, removed the taped-up rectangle, and enlarged the hole so the access panel would properly fit.

Alas, in doing so, removal of the tape that had been on the wall for at least 20 years caused a section of paint to also come off, and I put a longer mark on the wall than I had needed.

Some people would probably have addressed these unsightly blemishes with some sort of paint solution. But I do not know much about house paint and am not good at using it.

A pink squid tentacle on paper that appears to be coming out of the access panel and completely covers any unsightly blemish that might actually be there.
However, I can draw a squid tentacle with a Rotring Tikky Graphic C.7 and a set of coloured pencils on a piece of fine tooth surface sketch paper and then use an exacto knife to cut out that tentacle so it perfectly covers unsightly blemishes on a wall.

And that is what I did.

If the other resident of your home has an affection for cephalopods, this is a home repair solution that I can recommend.

The access panel and tentacle and a big section of wall above them demonstrating the charm and appeal of this home repair.


 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brilliant!

Anonymous said...

OMG, the other resident of my home loves cephalopods! And we have an area of missing paint near the sink drain in the bathroom! I can't wait to employ this home repair technique. Thank you, David Scrimshaw!

(P.S.-- I will of course claim the innovation as my own.)

David Scrimshaw said...

To the first anonymous commenter, I say thank you. To the second anonymous commenter, I can only say that your planned behaviour has deanonymized you with me.

Anonymous said...

Not sure which of you this story makes me appreciate more.

David Scrimshaw said...

To the latest anonymous commenter, you might be interested to know that on Facebook, the other resident of my house garnered more praise for her "patience" than I garnered for my "brilliance".