Simplify Job With An Air Compressor

I sometimes write about Really Neat Stuff in this space. To fall under the heading of Really Neat Stuff, the items in question must be uncommonly useful as you go about your day-to-day struggle with home remodeling and repair. Usually, I focus on inexpensive Really Neat Stuff like Sheetrock T-squares and drill bit attachments — items that can make your life easier beyond all proportion to their expense.

But be assured, there is much more pricey Really Neat Stuff that still fulfills both of these criteria.

There’s the obvious: table saws, reciprocating saws, planers and joiners. This stuff will earn you a lot of points on the handymanhood scale when guys come down and look at your basement.

If you want to invest in something with a scope of usefulness that puts even these glittery items to shame, think compressors.

Of all my high-end useful stuff, my compressors are the items I use most often, and for the broadest variety of applications.

I have two compressors. For those of you who have not yet delved into the world of pneumatic devices, a compressor has an electric motor, valves and a tank, like a scuba diving tank. The motor fills the tank with compressed air, which, when released through the valves, powers all kinds of wonderful toys: nail guns, impact wrenches, small paint sprayers…practically any tool you can think of is available in a pneumatic model.

My favorite part of “New Yankee Workshop” is when Norm says, “And now it’s time for a little us-emb-a-ly.” Then he glues things all up, and slaps them together and takes a little pneumatic brad nailer and — thunk, thunk, thunk — we have an assembled piece of furniture. No fumbling with hammers and finishing nails. Just a one-handed, quick-draw brad nailer.

My first compressor, with a 5-gallon capacity, cost $160. I soon added a finish nailer — a bigger and more expensive version of the brad nailer, and finally, a framing nailer, which is bigger and more expensive still. But I may well live the rest of my life without ever hitting my thumb again. Now all I have to worry about is driving a six-penny nail through my foot.

I found other uses for my little compressor: Every fall I blow out my sprinkler system. I inflate things. An attached air sprayer can blow all kinds of dust and dirt around instead of just sweeping it up.

A 5-gallon compressor works great for that kind of stuff. However, I stepped up to a 20-gallon compressor, which goes for under $300. It doesn’t take long to go through 5 gallons of compressed air if you’re using pneumatic drills or chisels. Twenty gallons of air will do a pretty good job of driving whatever you need driven.

This past week demonstrated how truly my 20-gallon compressor fits the definition of Really Neat Stuff when I was confronted with redoing the ceilings in my current remodeling project.

If plaster fails in older homes, it more frequently falls from ceilings than walls. And it must by chipped away and replaced with Sheetrock patches or plaster patches. They leave unsightly seams that are difficult to patch so they’re not noticeable.

But, they sell a marvelous compressor attachment called a hopper gun. It’s essentially a giant funnel, with a sprayer attached to the bottom of it. You mix up a special ceiling spackling material, and glomp it into the hopper gun and then spray it on your ceiling. It gives the whole thing a densely pebbled look.

The goop covers up practically any flaws you can imagine. Once you’ve done some basic preparation, like filling in the worst of the holes or craters with Sheetrock mud and sanding it down a bit, you can whip out a typical ceiling in a matter of a few minutes.

It takes a little trial-and-error to get the hang of applying the stuff evenly. But after that, you can fly.

Compressors are wonderful things. They can drive your nails, clean your crannies and inflate your ego all at the same time.