In the midst of hanging our bedroom curtains last week, I snapped some pics of a little trick I use to control the mess of drilling holes into our walls (in this case to make room for curtain rod anchors). Some of you probably already do this, but I figured I’d pass it along to those who might not be in the know since we only joined the tape trick club about a year ago. And not many people think cleaning up drywall or plaster dust scattered below their work area is a fun way to pass the time. Including me. Anyway, the trick is crazy simple and looks a little something like this:
It’s just a piece of painter’s tape folded in half and stuck like a tiny temporary shelf below my “drill here” marks on the wall (I recently heard someone recommend doing the same thing with a post-it note, in case those are handier in your house). Either way, when your drill spits out a pile of dust, it gets caught neatly on the little tape “shelf” below. Which is better than landing all over the floor and whatever objects you didn’t bother to move below. See?
I debated switching to the post-it technique for a larger “shelf” surface, but decided to stick with tape (pun intended) because its sticky-all-around surface holds onto the dust more tightly (I’m klutzy enough that I’d probably dump all of the dust sitting on the non-sticky part of a post-it right onto the floor while removing it- but tape holds onto that stuff pretty well).
Plus I’m not gonna lie. My favorite part is wrapping up all the tape-trapped dust into a little burrito so I’m confident that the mess is permanently contained until I toss the little packet o’ dust in the trash.
There ya have it. Easy, right? I’m sure I’m not the only one to use some deviation of this method when it comes to avoiding clean-up, so feel free to share any alternate techniques for dealing with drill dust. Or any other quick tricks that you’ve used to make your projects easier, faster, or less messy. Speaking of messy- Sherry took on quite an unusual project today. Details soon.
Pssst- Best spam comment to date (well, maybe besides this one) left by some jumbled url under the name BuyLinks: “Man if I ever saw two raccoons fighting over a blog it’d be this one. Nicely done my friend.” Awesome.
the 7msn ranch says
*slaps forehead* Where were you 187 drill holes ago?
Katie says
Another use for painters tape: put it along the top of your baseboards while painting your walls with a roller. Leave it horizontal- parallel to the floor- so that you don’t splatter paint onto the baseboards and have to touch up.
JennyC says
my father in law tapes a small paper bag under the hole to be… works like a charm :)
Irina@CanDoGal says
Awesome. Totally news to me. Thank you.
Amanda@The Hand Me Down House says
AAH! What an amazingly, easy tip! And oh my gosh I’m not sure I will ever NOT do this now that I know! Great tip, guys!!!
Elizabeth says
Holy cow-that is tape-erific! Thanks for the great tip!!
Jenn L @ Peas and Crayons says
Genius!
Cristina says
In spain, my dad uses an envelop sticked to the wall with tape, no mess at all!!
Marianne@Songbird says
We have brick walls everywhere. Drilling is serious business in this house. That little bit of sticky tape wouldn’t cut it. We hold the vacuum hose right under the hole. No clean up but drilling becomes a two person job.
[email protected] says
Wow so glad to know I’m not the only anal-retentive one. While my husband drills I hold up the running vaccuum! But maybe I’ll try the tape if I have to do it alone.
Megan V. says
Wow! I’ve never seen that before. That is a really great trick! I’ll be using that tonight as I hang up my new curtain rods. Score!
Stephanie says
I love you guys! Only you could make a dust burrito sound cool :)
Charlotte says
Thank you for this wonderful tip! Don’t know why I never thought of that, but this will save me a lot of trouble on future projects :) Love, love, love your blog!
Beth-BTW says
I have my husband hold the vacuum hose up to the area while I drill. Works like a charm. Heck, I’ve even gotten good enough to be able to hold the hose and drill at the same time. ;)
Lindsey says
We just hold a mini vacuum underneath as we drill — no mess and very simple. The tape option is a great suggestion when you are working alone.
Margaret says
I like to tape an open lunch bag (the brown paper kind) under the “drill here” spot. This works especially well if drilling into the ceiling. And you can move it from spot to spot if you are having a particularly productive drilling day.
Nesting Newbies says
What will they think of next!!!!! ;) Thanks guys!
Felicity @ Our Little Beehive says
Not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but another good tip for plaster walls (like in our older-than-yours house) is to actually hammer or drill through a little piece of tape and leave it there to prevent the wall from cracking and crumbling apart. We learned that one the hard way :)
Krysta says
This is such a DUH moment for me. We always complain about the cleaning after drilling. Such a simple post that just changed my world!!
Amanda says
This totally made my day! We’re done with drilling projects for a while (sad) but once we start up again – definitely something awesome to keep in mind!
nue says
i’ve found using a vacuum hose and placing it right under the spot you’re going to drill and sucking it up right away is really efficient as well!
Carmen says
Hello from Spain!!!
I love your blog, you are all four lovely!!!! and I love when you use spanish words lol.
I used an envelope (a reused one) fixed to the wall with painter’s tape too.
Un beso!! ^____________^
Carmen.
Tara says
This is so simple and so genius, I feel silly for never hearing of it before today! Thanks for the tip!
lonely wife project says
I learn something new every day!
Emily says
My dad just places the tape completely on the wall (once you know where you are drilling and stuff). That way, it minimizes anything falling. Great trick.
Sarah K says
You mean you don’t like crawling around on the floor trying to sweep up all of the drywall dust?
But seriously, genius idea! Especially if you don’t have a second person to hold the vacuum.
PS. LOVE the spam comment!
Kayla says
Genius. I never would have thought of it, but with an especially messy husband, I will definitely use this strategy next time we are drilling holes! Thanks guys!
Heather @ REOlisticRenovation says
I totally think I heard this some time in the past only duh forgot it! Going to def use this one.
jess (Sweet Potato) says
What a great tip! I’m definitely going to be using this in the future
KathyG says
Sherry’s doing what? messy messy messy… hmmm … Can we have another hint please?
Michelle B says
ok, this may be kind of creepy, but I just saw this and had to show you! http://www.etsy.com/listing/60261303/porcelain-chihuahua-head?utm_source=api&utm_medium=api&utm_campaign=api it’s a white ceramic chihuahua head! I mean seriously…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- it’s a Burger!
xo,
s
carolinaheartstrings says
OMG do I love that. Where have I been all this time that I did not know about that wonderful idea!
Annalea says
Heheheheh . . . raccoons fighting. Good one.
And another great one from this post: “I’m sure I’m not the only one to use some deviation of this method . . .” Deviation puts an interesting twist on the more standard usage of “derivation”. You’re deviants, all of you. ;o)
Ana Silva says
Awesome, I did not know this. I will use this trick next time I drill.
Courtney says
Hi John and Sherry!
Love love love your blog! It’s inspiried me to try all sorts of things with our first home. Quick question: we’re looking to repaint our cream trim a crisp white. Currently, the cream trim is a very high gloss paint. Should we sand it down, or do you think we can just paint right over it?
YoungHouseLove says
Assuming it’s not chipping or bubbling, painting right over it should work swimmingly (you could sand with high grit sandpaper for more grip if you’d like, but you should be fine going straight to paint). Assuming it’s not oil-based paint, but you’d know that really quicky (if the new paint beads up and acts all wonky). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
elle C. says
So I love your blog, but of all your posts, I got really excited over this one. Heehee! What a great trick! I just wish I’d seen this a long time ago; I’m STILL finding spots on my baseboards behind furniture where we’d drilled a hole.
MS says
How did I not know about this!?!?! I hung blinds and curtains on 12 windows in our old house and had to follow behind with a dustbuster! I’m so using this from now on. THANK YOU.
Only trick I use that is remotely helpful is not home improvement related…and its actually my mom’s. When decorating cookies with sprinkles, icing and kids, she always put down clean hand or beach towels on the table. The loops in the fabric grab all the extra stuff and you can easily collect the corners, take outside and shake to clean off. Easy peasy and no sugar flying all over your kitchen.
Sally says
Awesome tip! I usually hold a damp paper towel underneath, but I’m going to try this so I’ve have two hands.
Christie says
Love this trick! We are going to be hanging some curtain rods in a new nursery, so this will come in handy!
Kat @ Black Kats Design says
The tape trick is such a great idea! I never heard of it before. It will definitely come in handy next week when I hang shelves into a plaster wall.
kelly t. says
awesome tip! hadn’t seen this one before.
thanks for sharing :)
Kate{Starr Family} says
Well duh to me… I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about this before (or had the sense to do it myself!) I love silly little tricks like this, you guys rock!
Rachael Ensom says
Genius!
Carol-Anne: Use the Good Dishes! says
I spent a couple of evenings reading back over all of your arcdhives. Such fun and lots of good ideas! Thanks for the inspiration!
Kiran says
Neat trick! Thanks for sharing :)
Shannon says
I love the tape idea and will pass it on to my husband, but I may never, ever see him use the vacuum again. That is a little bit sad.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahaha. Love it.
xo,
s
Mary of Porch Paint says
John,
I have a handy ‘trick’ to share but it’s not a tape trick. It’s a tape-measuring trick. When I don’t have a tape measure (like at a store), I just use my arms or legs to measure something – or my feet. So, for example, it’s one-arm-length-plus-from my-hand-to-my-elbow-long. LOL But it works in a pinch.
Thanks for sharing your tape trick. Love it.
DirectionsNotIncluded says
Thank you, thank you, thank you! The husband usually make me follow him around with the vacuum and that is just plain annoying. This is a great little tip!
Jaime says
Son of a drill bit – that is a handy trick!!
Laura says
Love the tape shelf idea. Thanks for the tip. I had what turned out to be a great idea when I was prepping to paint my home office. To avoid getting paint on the stained wood of the windowsills in that room I used painters tape to attach plastic wrap (the same stuff you use to wrap up food & cover dishes in the microwave) to the windowsills. The plastic wrap is easy to work with, handy, cheap, and makes a great mini “dropcloth” for windowsills.