Clip n' Save: How To Build a Wall

You’re a Harvard rebel. You don’t swipe your I.D. at mealtime. You rarely attend lecture. You badmouth your TFs daily, and your blue recycling bin is used solely for stashing empty bottles of Malibu. But if you really want to flout the rules and get yourself a little privacy in your cramped Sophomore walk-through, let FM be your guide to building an illicit but-oh-so-helpful common room partition.

A partition-building expert recently sat down with FM to give us the skinny on letting out one’s inner handyman. Conveniently, our secret source told us that Cambridge is an ideal place for a wannabe carpenter. “There are a huge number of Home Depots near Cambridge,” he says. A city slicker, this individual was blown away by the superstore’s selection. “I was like a child in a candy store.”

After chatting up a Home Depot employee, the rule-breaking rogue took all the necessary measurements, and was astonished to find that Home Depot was willing to cut all the lumber for him. A few boxes of screws and a power drill later, he was prepared to construct.

Back at an undisclosed location, our amateur framed up the wall, settled it into place, and even installed a pre-hung door. Then, to block out his noisy suitemates, the blossoming general contractor installed bright pink R-13 fiberglass insulation and sound deadening panels, which he admits even the courteous Home Depot employee dubbed “overkill.” As a finishing touch, he used wood veneer paneling to give the room a flower power, Brady Bunch house feel.

“It was a great project,” says this covert construction worker, “until, in the middle of the night, it falls on top of me.”

But if you too are willing to throw safety (and your academic future) into the wind, FM couldn’t be more impressed.