Swapped my dad's old chisel for a flathead screwdriver on a window frame - instant regret

So my landlord's been dragging his feet on fixing this stuck window in my apartment in Cleveland. Last Tuesday I decided to just pop the trim off myself. Grabbed his old Craftsman chisel from the garage because it looked close enough. Big mistake. Three swings in and the wood split about 4 inches down the side. The chisel was way too thick for the gap and it just wedged everything tighter. Ended up using a butter knife to pry it loose. Took me 45 minutes to clean up the mess and now I need to patch the frame with wood filler. Has anyone else wrecked a simple job by grabbing the wrong prying tool?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_burns1mo ago

Learned this the hard way trying to pry a baseboard off with a paint scraper a few years back. Snapped the blade right off and it shot across the room. Had to dig the broken piece out of the drywall with needle nose pliers. That butter knife hack you mentioned actually works pretty good for thin gaps, but a thin stiff putty knife is the real winner. Bought a set of them at the hardware store for like eight bucks and now I won't touch trim without one.

the_gavin1mo ago

Yeah, I feel you @iris_burns. Had the same thing happen with a chisel once. Went flying, almost took out my roommate's fish tank. A stiff putty knife is the only thing I trust for baseboards now, cheap and they just work.