I have a link to "Every Woman's Tool Box" at the top of this site. One of the points I make is "if you want a quality tool that will last a lifetime, cheap isn't always best!"

Today I am going to share a VERY expensive example of why cheap is NOT always the best.

For years I had a stud finder that could be set to detect several things that might be in your walls....wood studs, electrical wiring, copper tubing. It was a rather expensive little gadget, but worked great. As with many of my tools, it disappeared. So the last time I needed a stud finder I picked up a relatively inexpensive Zircon stud finder that was suppose to just pick up studs (or so it said very clearly on it's directions)....and since I never really used my stud finder to find wiring or copper, I thought "why not."

Well, let me share with you "WHY NOT."

When I turned on my AC last week, unbeknownst to me all the freon had leaked out of the system which in turn burned up my compressor. When the AC guys came they assumed the coil was bad since all the freon was gone, so not only did they replace the compressor, they also replaced the coil. To the tune of $2600.00.

Unfortunately, the freon leaked out AGAIN. The coil was good. The compressor was good. What in the world could be the problem?

They asked me if there been any work done in the last year on the siding? The roof? The walls?

No, no, no.

Oh wait....the closet. Remember a few months ago when I shared my master closet makeover!? (here)

The shelving I added...the trim I put down after I installed the new flooring. With a trim nailer with big long nails.

BUT I USED MY STUD FINDER AND I KNOW I NAILED INTO THE STUDS!!!!

Yes, well, I used the Zircon stud finder to find the studs so I would know where to put my trim nails. Problem is, the Zircon (specifically designed to detect WOOD STUDS) evidently picked up the copper tubing for my AC. So rather than putting my trim nails in a wood stud, they went into the copper tubing.

After removing the base trim and the shelving we could hear the freon spewing out of the holes like water out of a busted hose!!!! Soooooo.....we had to tear out the sheetrock, solder the holes in the copper, and now I will have to repair the sheetrock and move the support brackets for the shelving!

Bad news is I paid $2600 (and that doesn't include the cost of the service call today!) for a new compressor and coil I probably didn't need BEFORE I remodeled my closet. Good news is, I have a new compressor and coil and won't need one for another few years.

Bad news is I have a wall full of holes in the sheetrock where we had to remove it to repair the holes in the copper.

The good news is I have holes in the sheetrock and now I can show you an easy way to repair sheetrock!!

Yea! I'm so excited. I can't wait.

But I will because I want to make sure we repaired all the holes and the solder is going to hold before I make the repairs.

So sometime in the next week I will share with you an easy way to repair sheetrock.

Seriously, these are tears of joy :(