Open walls photos . . .

15 years ago

I didn't even think of this idea when building our first house, but it was suggested here and sounded like a good idea. So DH and I went through the whole house and took photos, knowing that we might never use them.

So far, we've used them 4 or 5 times, and we're not done with the house -- for example, we thought we were missing a kitchen outlet and the OW pics showed exactly where it was. The guys doing insulation had covered it -- the pics made it easy for the electrician to locate.

As a backboard, I marked two 4 x 8 blue foam sheets in 2' increments so we get an idea of measurements. I made a sign for each room and changeable number slips that were easy to attach to the foam with pushpins.

I started each room at a door or other easily-identified spot, calling this #1, and went clockwise around the room. So far we've been able to find anything we're looking for.

I did this project in about 4 photo sessions. I decided not to print out all of the pictures at this time, so when I was all finished, I made an index of the pictures -- easy to cross reference and find whatever room I need.

To all the people who suggested this, thanks! And to all of you who are not yet at or still at the open wall stage, I recommend you consider the idea!

The outlet on the right was missing!

Showing backboard and signs

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Comments (6)

ccoombs1
15 years ago
I did this too and it made it really easy to find out why my toilet had hot water in it and how to correct the problem. Also before the drywall guys hung any rock, they marked on one of the door openings in each room exactly how many switches and outlets each room had so they would know if they missed one.
megradek
15 years ago
Hot water in the toilet?? oh dear!

we did this too. Actually my builder ended up taking all the photos because I couldn't get there in time before they started covering it all up!! - so nice of him.
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arewethereyet
15 years ago
I just did this project last week. Too bad I hadn't seen your nifty foam idea--we have some laying around too! I just made sure that I took all my photos with the top plate at the very top of the pic, and the bottom plate at the bottom. I started in each room at the north wall, and went clockwise around the room. I zoomed in on detailed/complex areas as needed. The best suggestion I found by far was to make sure and label the pics right away. I had to stay up until 1:30 in the morning labeling, but it was worth it. I have each pic labeled with the room, the direction (N,S,E,W), numbered from left to right on the wall. I didn't print mine at all. They're in the computer. Handy trick I used: I put a letter in front of each label, "a" being the first pic in a room, "z" would be the last. This way, the computer automatically stores the pictures in order for me! So a label would be like this : "a Master N 1" or "b Master N 2". Sorry for the length. Hope it helps someone!
suero
15 years ago
I held a tape measure as my DH took pictures of everything. I call the picture my xray vision, because they let me see through the walls.
The pictures have been a great help on too many occasions to count and proved their worth over and over to the contractor. Now my contractor takes pictures during all his construction jobs and gives the homeowner a CD with the pictures.
trudymom
15 years ago
We did this too per the advice of this site. We have used to to find where to put towel holders in the bathroom and DH used it to find where to hang peg board in the garage, and also he hung some storage from the ceiling and used the pictures. What would we do without this site???
arleneb
Original Author
15 years ago
Trudymom, that's why I wanted to post this now, for the new people who might have missed it last fall. I agree . . . this site has been very valuable!