You're No Damsel in Distress

BY: LANISHA PORTER

Proud moment! I just completed my very first window treatment on my own. I decided on an outside mount fashioning white faux wood blinds. The project would call for me to drill into a wood base that lines the window. With just mediocre (and by mediocre I mean very “beginner”) skill handling a power drill, and loading up on YouTube “How-To” videos, I set out hopeful to watch my project unfold before my eyes. 

Quickly, I learned this: you can’t drill into wood without a pilot hole. This was a piece of information I would have otherwise gone my entire life without knowing. Veiled into my own world of ignorance, having never hung curtains, there’d be no need for me to uncover this information. But after a few moments surfing the web, it was confirmed for me that creating a pilot hole—or clearance hole—driven by a drill bit would prime the wood for the screw. I never even knew the concept of “pilot hole” existed. But within moments of study, I was thrust into a new world of jargon introducing information detailing screw diameters, keyless chucks, drill bit sizes, and enough other intimidating information to make me wish for a husband. ​

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