My helper swears by using a 6 inch knife for everything, but it cost us a whole afternoon

We were finishing a basement in a new build over in the Westgate area last Thursday, and my guy insisted on taping the long ceiling seam with his 6 inch knife. I told him to grab the 12 inch, but he said he had more control. Well, after three hours and two buckets of mud, the seam looked like a washboard road. We had to scrape it all off and start over, pushing us a full day behind. I get that some folks like the feel of a smaller tool, but for a flat ceiling run over 20 feet, you need the right blade. Anyone else run into this kind of stubborn habit on a crew?

3 comments

3 Comments

benreed29d ago

Honestly, that sounds like my old boss with his favorite stubby screwdriver.

kelly.daniel16d ago

That stubby screwdriver got the job done for years. Your boss stuck with it because it worked, not because he was blind. Sometimes the simple, familiar tool is the right one. People call it stubborn, but it's just knowing what works. Changing for the sake of change just makes things worse.

the_michael29d ago

It's like people get married to one way of doing things and can't see the bigger picture. You see it everywhere, not just on a job site.