Search - How Do I: Interior Paint, Stain and Wallpaper on DVD

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME

A. Oshea | Hanover Township, NJ | 05/10/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Strictly an amateur production. Dim light, distant microphones, "studio" and "job site" locations that are clearly inside someone's small home. Each section repeats the exact same handy tips for safety and equipment, over and over again, thus padding out the total time nicely. As an example: Make sure you use a four-legged ladder and that it's on level ground. Okay the first time, but after six or seven hearings, you start to think it's they who need the help, not you. And how many times do we need to see them pick up the same pair of goggles? It's like Groundhog Day, but not in a fun way.

The painting section shows you (at long last, after tedious repetitions of safety tips and, of course, plugs from the sponsor) how to paint a wall. Doesn't show how to paint a door, or a window. A completely different section later shows (yep, after those safety tips yet again) how to cut in near a doorway -- but not the ceiling, because the camera operator can't pull back to show the ceiling due to the small size of the room. They show how to paint baseboard molding (barely visible), but don't paint it all the way to the floor "since this room will be getting carpeting". So, for those of us who don't plan on wall-to-wall, howsabout some helpful tips for keeping the paint off the floor? By the end of the painting section, clearly the day's filming is coming to a close, since it's nearly pitch-black and they appear to be filming by flashlight. Yep, really.

Did I mention that the process or tool being demonstrated is usually blocked by a) a five-gallon plastic bucket, strategically placed in direct sightline from the camera, b) the hand of the demonstrator, which completely obscures whatever process or tool he's demonstrating, or c) the back of the head of the helpful hostess who asks barely-audible questions?

Actual wallpaper hanging is covered oh-so-briefly, and after hanging one piece on the wall (barely visible due to extremely low lighting), they cheerfully announce "that's how to hang wallpaper!" How about showing (not talking about) how to match a pattern, or how to hang the second piece next to the first? How about showing how to hang wallpaper around a window, door, or other obstruction? How about ANY real-world advice for the homeowner, which, after all, is supposed to be the purpose of this DVD?

During one demonstration of equipment, the 'experienced tradesman' picks up several items to show them, but since the camera apparently has no zoom function, we're left seeing them from 15 feet away. Not only that, they're in the original plastic packages, so you can't see any details of the actual item. What, if they take the paint roller out the package they can't return it to Home Depot tomorrow and get their $5.00 back?

An UTTER waste of time. I was literally laughing aloud at how inept this was."