Remember when we had to scribe every single plank for a tricky wall?

Honestly, I was doing a job in a hundred year old house in Portland last year, and the dining room wall was way out of square. The homeowner wanted this wide plank engineered wood to run perpendicular to it, so every piece needed a custom cut. I was about to start the old pencil-and-compass routine for each board, which would have taken hours. Then I remembered a trick an old timer showed me at a supply house maybe five years back. You take a scrap piece of the flooring, maybe 6 inches long, and a small block of wood. You run the block along the wall, holding the flooring scrap against it, and it transfers the wall's curve directly onto the scrap. Then you just cut that shape and use it as a template for every board. Saved me a solid two hours on that wall alone. Has anyone else got a good template method for situations like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettyperry1mo ago

Try using a cardboard template. It bends to match the wall and you can trace it right onto the board.

sageallen1mo ago

My buddy Mark tried the pencil trick on his baseboards last year. He ended up with a wavy line that left a quarter-inch gap in one spot. Had to pull the whole piece off and start over with a cereal box template. What method did you end up using?

the_ben1mo ago

Wait, you guys are out here making templates like it's arts and crafts hour? I just jam the board tight to the wall and run a pencil along the gap, the line is never straight anyway lol.