Had a talk with a retired installer about using fish sticks

I was running a job in Akron last Tuesday and this old timer named Bill watched me wrestling with a fish tape for 10 minutes. He said "son, I never used them things after my second year, just learn to read the walls." It hit me different cause he showed me how he could feel the path through the drywall by tapping and listening. Now I am wondering if I rely too much on tools instead of just knowing the house. Anyone else ever get shown up by an old school guy like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

black.joel15d ago

I used to roll my eyes at guys who talked about "reading the walls" like it was some kind of mystic art. Then I had a similar thing happen with an old framer on a remodel. He didn't even use a stud finder, just tapped his way around and found a stud every time by the sound. After he left I tried it myself for the next few weeks and I started noticing how different drywall sounds over a stud versus an empty cavity. It's weirdly accurate once you get the hang of it. I still grab the fish tape for long runs but I'm a lot more patient now with just feeling things out first.

troythompson15d ago

Read somewhere that old time carpenters used to call it "listening to the bones of the house." That stuck with me. The stud finder is still quicker if I'm in a hurry but the tapping method has saved me more than once when the batteries died mid job.

grace_knight7013d ago

Dude, I feel this so hard. That moment when you realize the old timers actually have something real and it's not just them being dramatic is humbling. I had a similar thing with an electrician who could tell which wire was which by the feel of the insulation and I thought he was full of it until I tried it myself and noticed the difference. It's like once you know what to listen for your brain just kind of locks onto it and you can't unhear it. I love that "listening to the bones" thing too, that's exactly what it feels like now. Makes you feel way more connected to the house honestly.