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Warning: taping off outlets with painter's tape cost me more time than it saved, so I tried something dumb
I do a lot of interior repaints and for years I taped every outlet and switch before rolling. Takes forever, tape bleeds anyway, and pulling it off sometimes lifts the edge of fresh paint. Last month on a 3 bedroom rental in Mesquite I was already behind because the tenant left furniture everywhere, so out of pure frustration I just popped the cover plates off and screwed them back on after the second coat. Whole house, 22 outlets and switches, and it was done in maybe 15 minutes total versus the hour plus I used to burn taping and trimming around each one. The plates covered the cut lines perfectly, no bleed, no touch ups, and my cut in around the box got faster because I wasn't fighting tape edges. I still keep a few plates in a ziploc so the screws don't go missing, and I bag the screws right on the plate so nothing rolls under the drop cloth. Landlord walked it and didn't say a word about the outlets, which for him is basically a rave review. Anybody else skipping the tape and just pulling plates, or am I late to a party everyone else already showed up to?
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