My uncle told me to always pre-drill for trim nails, even the small ones.

I figured it was overkill on a recent baseboard job and ended up splitting a 6-foot piece of maple. He was right, that extra minute saves the whole piece. How many of you still pre-drill for finish work?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.nathan8d ago

Oh man, I learned that lesson the hard way too. Tried to skip it on some oak quarter round and blew out the end of a mitered corner. That little pilot hole feels like a waste of time until you hear that crack.

wilson.piper8d ago

It's funny how many things work that way. The extra step that seems pointless ends up saving you so much time and trouble. I see it with people trying to rush through setting up a new phone without backing up the old one, or skipping the instructions on a flat-pack shelf. That moment of frustration when it goes wrong is always worse than the minute you would have spent doing it right.