In college, I acquired a 60″ sailfish. It was a marvelous find for a 21-year-old, and my friends were totally jealous- or at least that’s what I told myself. I was pumped to hang and display it for all to see. Never mind the fact that I hadn’t exactly acquired it on my latest deep sea fishing adventure, and truth be told it, was made out of a hard substance: something between foam and plastic. But it was beautifully painted.
And I was going to hang it proudly in the apartment I lived in at the time. One problem: the walls were concrete.
I only had my generic drill purchased on discount with the drill bit that came with it. Needless to say, it wasn’t enough to get the job done and the swordfish leaned against the wall for the rest of the year.
That was my first lesson in “proper tools” for the job go a long way in making things successful and easy.
{Side note: We still have the sailfish. Ashley has great plans for his resurrection this spring, so stay tuned.}
Over the years I’ve acquired pretty much every home renovation tool you can imagine as we’ve tackled everything from simple knob changes, to full-on home rehabs. And because of that, I’m a true believer that the right tools make any job easier and allow you to get it right. One of our very favorite home renovation tools isn’t only a life saver, but easy to use and won’t hurt the bottom line: Frog Tape.
And today, we’re sharing the best uses for Frog Tape in a renovation!
• Keeping Out the Dust
If you’ve ever lived through a renovation, you know that dust is a major player to contend with and can really wreck havoc on the rest of the home. It’s a variable that you need to take into account to keep your sanity. We just went through the entire thing with our downstairs renovation.
One of our favorite ways to contain dust is to simply tape up the door creases. A lot of time you’ll see people break out all the plastic and heavy tape, but there really is no need for it. We tried both, and the tape alone worked just fine…. {Not to mention the plastic is such an eyesore. Who wants to look at plastic for days on end?} Not us. We really didn’t need it killing our Christmas vibe.
We learned the hard way when there was some sanding going on one afternoon in the basement, without the opportunity to prep. The entire area around the door was coated in dust {our coffee table, the floor, our furniture…} and we vowed it would never happen again. Yuck.
We love Frog Tape over any other product because it has enough holding power to stay put, but not too much that it isn’t safe. It works great for easy removal on all floors.
With a roll of Frog tape and a couple minutes, you have a quick fix for containing dust to a certain area.
• For the HVAC System
Speaking of dust, you also need to think about your HVAC system – this is really a tip for all year long.
Have you ever opened your vent return cover and noticed that the filter doesn’t fit exactly to the cutout? Sure, it fits pretty well, but it’s not an exact fit. Have you ever thought about the air that sneaks through around the edges? In a renovation, this air can contain a ton of dust and even in everyday life, a good bit of nasty stuff can sneak past.
Not good for your HVAC system.
A simple solution, which is the same as the door: use a little Frog Tape around the edges of the filter to tape it to the vent return framing. Your air quality will increase, your HVAC will thank you and your wallet will be a little fatter from not having to dish out repair money. Winning.
• Sealing up the gaps
Frog tape is also great for help for sealing up gaps, whether its caulking or foaming an overhead area in your project. It’s a lifesaver and makes the job so much easier.
Remember the foam insulating post that we shared recently, when we insulated the basement? We use it all the time in foaming areas that have been framed, that are too wide for the foam to stick on one pass.
It’s great because the tape will hold it in place for the application, but once the foam is dry, the Frog Tape pulls away easily. It’s perfect for the job.
• Painting
Duh. We know. But of course, it makes it easier and it’s known for such wonderful things- we had to add it here.
We used Frog Tape recently with the last of our basement, especially those tedious parts that always seem to get you: the trim and all those little parts that are left at the end, when you’re so ready to be finished already. Frog tape made it a breeze… usually a job that we hate, we’d rather do a little prep work with the floor and those extra areas than regret it later. We placed the tape on the floor to trim up the baseboards, and when we were finished it pulled right up. TaDA! Nothing but clean lines, and sharp edges. Always.
We’re in love with such a simple product with so many awesome uses. It’s truly a go-to, must have, practical favorite of ours.
With our favorite paintbrushes and craft supplies, there’s always a roll of FrogTape.
[Stay tuned for more basement progress, coming soon! We can’t wait to share more.]
So what are your favorite ways to use Frog Tape? We know we couldn’t possibly cover them all in one post – we’d love to hear yours!
PS- Be sure to check out our post on creating art with Frog Tape + our homemade Basketball Goal, here.
Have an inspired day!
{We partnered with the with our good friends at Frog Tape for this project. For more on our partnerships please visit here.)
Anna says
I love the floor design. Is it tiles of wood?
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey! it’s tile from Jeffery Court ;}
Adrian at ninjaDIY says
Hey Jamin. Congrats on the post, really good.
You are so right when you are saying that having the right tools for the task at hand it makes the job so much easier … so true.
Good tips for frogtape uses … to be honest, I use to not use it, specially when I was painting, but then I hated so much the after work cleaning … that frogtape it’s perfect to cover things that you don’t want to paint by mistake đ
Great post, thanks for sharing!