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Debate: Should you paint your trim before or after installing it?
Got into it with my neighbor Frank last weekend while we were both working on our basements. He swears by painting all his baseboards and window casings before he even cuts them, says it saves him from taping everything off later. I've always done it after installation, brushing carefully along the edges. Frank pointed out that my way leaves brush marks on the walls and takes twice as long. But I argued that painting before means you have to touch up all the nail holes and joints anyway, so what's the point. He had a point though when he said 'You ever try painting behind a toilet or in a tight corner after the trim is up?' That hit different, especially since I just spent 3 hours taping around my bathroom baseboards. What method do you guys use, and does one actually hold up better over time with kids or dogs bumping into it?
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corablack2d ago
Hell yeah, Frank's toilet example got me too. I used to be a stubborn after-install guy but that one detail changed my whole approach.
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mia7002d ago
The 3/4 inch vs 1 inch pipe thing in that post was the one that clicked for me. I always figured bigger was better for drainage, but Frank broke it down so simple that I felt dumb for not seeing it. Now I check the slope first before anything else, saves me a ton of headaches. You find that switching your order of steps helped with other stuff too?
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