The Right Tool for the Job

The past two days, my father and step-mother have been in town helping me tame the chaos that is our apartment.  Susan is a genius at hanging pictures - what would take me measuring and re-measuring, second guessing myself, and still having multiple nail holes takes her about five minutes.

Of all the tasks I was most eager to have help/advice about, the bookshelf placement in the small "den" was the number one.  I have three bookshelves that have been side by side for the past few years, and on this particular wall, they were literally an eighth of an inch too wide.  Bummer.  I crammed and cussed and shoved when I was setting them up, but I eventually decided to leave it be and have one bookshelf awkwardly placed on the adjoining wall.  I was hoping Susan could arrive at a more elegant solution.

She took one look at the room and said "Take off part of the baseboard."

...

Say what?  Take out part of the baseboard? No big deal? Stick it back later with some caulk and paint?  None of these things sounded like me; however, the lure of actually being able to (a) store my books together and (b) use the den was strong.  So I went to the hardware store for advice.

Before this goes further, I should state for the record that I am not a DIY kind of girl; I am most certainly a "hire someone to do it" kind of girl.  Of course, my previous track record of "house repairs" has included such incidents as tree-on-roof and tree-in-closet, which seem like a fairly steep learning curve to the nascent home owner of 2.5 months.  Hiring help has seemed like the best route.

It took a bit of time to convince the very nice man at customer service that I did not need (and could not, in fact, operate or store) a $100+ saw, despite the fact that it would, indeed, be the best tool for the job.  I was all about second best and cheap.

Exit me, with one small hacksaw and an exacto knife, armed with good intentions.

The premise was simple: cut the baseboard, loosen the pain/caulk, and out it will pop.  The reality was not quite so simple: the angle for cutting was not ideal, since the saw would really only move one direction without damaging the floor.  It took some serious time and dedication.

But as the project progressed, another small problem emerged.  I needed something to pry the piece of baseboard away from the wall enough to both get the saw through the remaining bit and to pop out the chunk.  I had thought to use a flathead screw driver, but that proved useful only in denting the wood.

I hunted through Stan's tool kit to no avail - nothing was both thin enough and sturdy enough to give me the leverage I needed.  At this point, with a fairly mangled baseboard, a blister, and some serious time committed to this project, I refused to give up.  Finally I turned to the place all good handymen turn when they are in need of a specialized tool: the kitchen.

I'm fairly certain there is a picture of me on the floor, prizing apart the baseboard with great concentration, using my trusty spatula.

I'm so proud of myself, I might even try learning how to drill today!