Time savers like Bear Claw Clips can make work easier
If you could see me right now, you’d be watching me get up on my soapbox with a Bear Claw Clip in hand.
It’s a metaphorical soapbox of course, because I buy soap like everyone else. (Actually, I get a lot of it from hotels—I’m that, er, frugal—but when I dooooo buy it.)…Anyway up I go.
And, while the direction of this piece is to talk about Hyde Tools’ Bear Claw Drywall Clips, I am taking the long way around because I think there is something important happening here that can help with other projects. So here comes the preachy-speech-y about what gets so often overlooked, undervalued, and swept under the proverbial rug when it comes to home improvement, both by professionals and DIYers: phantom minutes.
Why time-saving tools are worth adding to your toolbox
One of the major keys to a successful project is not wasting time and energy on inefficiency. This frees you up to focus on the two major things that matter: the big picture and the details critical to making it a nice picture to look at. Problem is, inefficiency is sometimes very hard to spot.
I’ve seen guys spend 10 minutes unwrapping cords they took 20 seconds to store in a tangled mess instead of taking the 120 seconds required to coil them up right (net loss: about 8 minutes). Or chasing around a caulk gun that they dumped in the bottom of a toolbox instead of putting it in an organized place (net loss: anywhere from two minutes to a trip to the store to buy what they already own).
Long story short, minutes are gold on a project site. Without trying to be all pie-in-the-sky concept guy, the more you make them count, the better your projects will be—pro or DIYer. As I write this, it sounds like it might be good thinking for other parts of life, too. Sweat the small stuff, but sweat it smart.
Anyway, it’s true all over the jobsite, including a very important part of any project: drywall repairs.
Why do we care about time-savers?
On our projects, drywall repairs are virtually unavoidable and minutes saved are hours earned. Small holes from deleted electrical devices or a doorknob without a stop can be dealt with easily using Hyde’s Wet and Set or a bullet patch, but larger holes require more work. Holes can be made for a variety of reasons. There’s the head-sized access hole to investigate wire or pipe chases in a finished basement, the access holes to pull wire from one level to another, and the damage caused by junior and friends playing MMA in the house. Holes like this usually need to be cut back to the studs or backed with 1×2 battens, which often split when you drive a screw into it…more fun.
So because the minutes I spend on fussing with drywall are minutes I can’t spend on what I call mission criticals: layout, materials organization, problem solving. I guard minutes carefully. And the Bear Claw Clip looks to me like a minute-maker.
How does the Bear Claw Clip work?
The Bear Claw Clip slots over the existing drywall and accepts the new drywall piece. All I have to do is square off the existing hole with my jab saw and cut a new wallboard piece to fit, then press into the opening. Serrated teeth (claws) bite into the existing gypsum, holding the piece fast.
I don’t even need my impact driver and screws. I’ve got 10 minutes in the bank already because I didn’t have to go get tools, even if all I have to do is walk across the room to grab them. And, instead of cutting the hole back to the studs or going to the truck or store to get wood, I can just reach into my drywall bag where I keep all my drywall stuff and grab a few Bear Claws. I can install the new piece, placing them every 6 inches. This enables the new piece to match-up to the existing piece, so they lay in plane with each other.
The only saw I need is my jab saw (no circ or miter saw to cut wood backers), which I already have. Ten more minutes in the bank.
I haven’t even reached for joint compound yet and I’m about 20 minutes ahead. And the soapbox part of this? These are minutes most of us forget to count. We only account for the work itself, not the work we do to get ready to do the work. See where I’m going?
The Bear Claw Clip, despite their aggressive name and holding power, sit flat and are easily concealed with your tape and first coat. Then, it is finish as usual.
After all this time on my soapbox, I could go for some coffee. Hey, now that I have time for coffee….
