My trusty old mud pan cracked right down the middle on a job in Spokane

It happened yesterday afternoon while I was finishing a ceiling. I've had that stainless steel pan for over eight years, and I always thought the thicker, heavier ones were just overkill and a waste of money. I was wrong. I was loading it up for a final coat when I heard a sharp ping sound. A crack, about four inches long, opened up right along the bottom corner. Mud started seeping out, making a huge mess on the drop cloth. I had to stop everything, clean up, and run to the supply house for a new one, which set me back almost two hours on the schedule. I ended up buying a much thicker gauge pan this time, even though it cost more. Maybe those heavy-duty tools aren't just for show after all. What's the longest you've had a pan last, and did it fail on you too?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_hart41mo ago

Honestly seems like a weird thing to get hung up on. A pan cracks, you get a new one. It's just a tool. My buddy used a cheap plastic one for like a decade and it never broke, just got stained. Maybe it was just a bad spot in the metal or something. Spending extra on the thick one might not even matter in the long run. Tools wear out, that's just how it goes.

viola_lopez301mo ago

Just a tool" until it costs you two hours.

phoenix5731mo ago

My old landlord used that line about everything. The leaky faucet was just a tool, the busted lock was just a tool. It's a mindset that lets people ignore cheap stuff failing until it ruins your whole morning. That two hours you lose isn't about the pan, it's about accepting constant small failures as normal. We're surrounded by junk that's designed to waste our time.