A talk with my plumber buddy made me see scribing in a whole new way

I was having a beer with my friend Dave, who's been a plumber for like 25 years. We were complaining about weird old houses, and he said something that stuck with me. He was talking about fitting a new vanity into a bathroom where the walls were way out of square, and he said, 'Man, I just stopped fighting it. I stopped trying to make the cabinet square to the wall and just scribed the whole back to match the wonkiness. It looks perfect now.' It hit different because I realized I've been doing the opposite for years, forcing things to be plumb and level even when the house isn't. I tried his approach on a built-in bookcase last week in a 1920s bungalow, just scribing the sides to the plaster. It went in smooth as butter and the client loved it. Have any of you switched from 'correcting' the house to just working with its quirks?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kevin4d ago

That line about "stopped fighting it" is so true for more than just houses. I see people do this with old cars, trying to make them run like new instead of just learning their little quirks. You waste so much energy on the fight.

blakem134d ago

Totally get that with old cars. My neighbor spent years fighting his truck's cold start issue, replacing everything. Turns out it just needed three pumps of the gas pedal and a little prayer. Once he learned that ritual, it was fine. Letting go of that perfect new car idea saves so much headache.