This thing.
I love this thing.
I’ve been doing some DIY. Frankly, it’s been exhausting.
I stripped the wallpaper which I’d fitted back when I did measure but with more optimism than accuracy. As such, the paper was kind of like crazy paving, but in the form of lining paper. To try and cover up the various edges, I had painted it many, many times. Therefore, steaming the paper off took days.
Actually days.
Also, the steamer decided to stop working about halfway round the hallway. There was a lot of swearing at that time.
Anywho, I got pretty good at measuring this time round. I papered. It looks good. I repainted the skirting boards and radiator.
I got new wall paint. Magnolia. I know, it’s a bit boring, but it’s vinyl so it’s just a little bit shiny. Which is a nice change.
I near ripped every muscle in my legs and lower back tearing up the floor. It was parquet and before we wonder if I’m a monster, I had to take it up because since I uncovered it (by taking up an ugly-arse carpet a few years back) it started to warp.
The wood expanded in the summertime, making little mountains in the floor when it was warm and then, when we got to the winter, the wood would shrink but not all the way back down. So the ridges remained, tripping me up through the year and being, generally, unattractive.
It didn’t take much to tear it up, which was concerning. But I smoothed the bare boards underneath, fitted the underlay and bought – what appeared to be – enough black slate-effect laminate to do the whole thing.
As it turned out, it would have been enough if I hadn’t had to cut the planks to fit the shape of the room. My usual method to get around the corners would have been to get a sheet of paper and squish it into the corner, run a fingernail against the skirting and hope for enough of an impression to make for the correct angle when cutting the boards.
But now, I have this clever little tool, which saves me from maths and pieces of paper.
Now, any mistakes are from me not sawing straight.
I’ve made a few mistakes, but I love this tool.
Petrina Binney - Author 