Strolling down the aisles in many hardware and big box home improvement stores can prove to be quite the interesting exercise.
While the majority of items very well may be commonly recognized, there are some items on occasion that the unfamiliar may understandably stare at and wonder, “What the heck is THAT thing used for??”
Normally when someone says this (whether out loud or in their mind) upon stumbling upon one of these such objects, the item that is causing them to scratch their head in the moment is often an object that is not only extraordinarily useful, but something that ultimately may in fact be a stroke of genius as to its being invented whenever that may have happened to be.
One of these such items, definitely could be a certain ‘disc-looking’ object with holes all over it.
This may in fact actually be the perfect example!
When glancing at it for the first time, the average person may truly wonder what in the blue blazes that this could possibly be used for?
However, this particular item, although not widely known outside of plaster repair circles, is crucial for many folks who do repairs to plaster on a regular basis.
Whether old horsehair plaster or more modern plaster/drywall scenarios, these discs do an amazing job at saving certain plaster failure situations which otherwise might turn into huge undertaking
s.
If you have ever tried to do a horsehair plaster repair, one of the first things you may come to know is that the old horsehair plaster, once compromised, is highly unstable.
What may appear to be a small hole on the outset, can turn into a large hole REALLY quickly if you go poking at it.
By properly screwing in a number of these discs directly into the unstable areas around the hole, this will have a compacting action and tighten up the plaster which will allow you to correctly fix the hole or the crack, etc.
With newer plaster, especially with ceilings, sometimes the plasterboard (or drywall in some cases) may have a seam loosen up and form a crack all along it.
When you push on either side of the crack, you may notice that the ceiling or wall has a lot of “give” to it. So much so that if you try to fix it by simply carving out the crack, taping, and replastering/compounding the crack may not do the trick in the long run as the crack may end up returning.
If you notice this circumstance occurring as you go to push on the ceiling or wall, and you are able to utilize these discs along either side of the crack, and then perform your more traditional repair, you will, again, better stabilize this area and most likely give yourself as best shot as possible in making sure the crack does not return.
As part of the repair processes, once screwed in, the discs can then either be merely patched over or taped and patched over in order to hide their being there.
There are tons of similar little knick-knacks out there that are tremendously useful when the situation may call for them.
Knowing of their existence and being able to incorporate them into these types of happenings can feel fulfilling, in particular when you realize you know tiny little tricks to help work through challenging predicaments that normal folks would typically not have a clue about.
