The ancient Greeks. Architects , mathematicians, scientists, master builders. Designing and building great massive buildings . Standing through the ages in an area frequented by earthquakes and volcanoes. No small feat. They were indeed masters. Building great stone edifices such as the Parthenon on the Acropolis. A tribute standing for hundreds of generations. A testament to the perfection of their art and skill. Or is it?

It’s a little known fact that there are no right angles in the Parthenon. It is built by the master to fool the eye into seeing perfection.

It is also a little known fact ,even to myself. That I am apparently building a tribute to the Parthenon . As there cannot be found a single right angle, perfectly level plane, or two completely perpendicular walls in my house. Yet, I hope this building of mine also stands for generations. Or at least until after I’m gone from this world. Then it becomes someone else’s problem.

But here’s the good news, for me anyway. And it’s what the ancient Greeks understood.. We are imperfect creatures. Living in an imperfect world. Perfection is to be sought but never obtained. That applies to all areas of life. Not just building structures.

No building I don’t care how expensive or well built it is, is perfect. Take a tape measure, square, level, and look close enough. You will find flaws. Guaranteed. The trick and the measure of a good craftsman is how well he disguises those flaws so that you don’t notice them.

Now Lord knows , I’m no professional. I’m not even what most people would consider skilled. I’m still in the educational phase. That noble university many call “the School of Hard Knocks” but I prefer to think of it as “the School of What the Heck Was I Thinking”. No do-it-yourselfer on the planet wants to do a crappy job. They want to make things as nice as they can. And there in beats the heart of a craftsman. Luckily for the modern DIY builder. We have that miracle fixer. Caulk. Lets look at some ways caulk has made my life easier.

When I was hanging sheet rock on the ceiling of one of the bathrooms I noticed that one side of a joint was not leveling up with the sheet next to it, and I couldn’t figure out why. I poked prodded sanded and readjusted everything I could reach. But nothing I could do would fix it. Caulk to the rescue ! I taped the joint hung some trim at the edge of the wall, and caulked the gaps . The result is. Unless you stand there and study it. You can hardly tell. It looked so good I caulked everything whether it needed it or not. Anytime I hang trim. I caulk it.

That brings up another useful “tool” for the DIY builder. Trim. Not only will trim dress up your project, but It will hide an amazing amount of goofs. There’s gonna be a lot of trim in my house. Lots of it !

Just remember to caulk your trim before you paint it, if you are going to paint it,  and that will really make it look professional.

Even on the floor, trim can work. For example. I was laying the vinyl flooring, again in the bathroom. And goofed . I didn’t cut the vinyl so that it would slide under my door trim. Instead I left that same quarter inch gap around them too. Well it was very noticeable and looked like a monkey laid the floor. Trim to the rescue !!

I had to make a transition piece from the bedroom wood floor to the bathroom vinyl floor. (different thicknesses) so I cut my transition piece so that it would wrap around the front of the door trim, and it looks great. It adds a custom look and hides my goof.

So remember when you screw up royally. Use your imagination, there’s someway to “fix” and make it look real good. I wonder if I could build a building out of nothing but caulk and trim?

Anyway, remember the bit earlier about the imperfection? If you learn to accept that you will not be able to obtain perfection., and try to reach it anyway. You can build some really nice stuff. Just remember to keep your best friends caulk, and trim handy.