Some people have an uncanny skill at getting away with things. This story is a good example of such a person. If I didn’t know any better, I would say this was a scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
“When I was in high school I threw a party and a friend put a hole in the wall right by the entrance. My parents would be back in a little over 24hrs. The day following the party I went to Home Depot and explained to the guy working there my situation.
To which he basically told me, ‘Yeah dude, you don’t have enough time to fix a hole in the wall.’
After getting all the supplies, I figured I was good to go out with some friends for a while, come home and quickly fix the wall.
I come home from being out around 10pm, giving me about 12 hours before my parents would come home. I fill up the hole with the mesh and sheetrock. Now it’s all filled up and smooth, still wet and obviously a different color than the wall itself. I remembered that my mom painted the wall herself a few years back and there are still paint cans left over in the basement.
After grabbing a can that matched the color of the wall I got ready to cover the spot. The second I painted onto the wall I immediately noticed the paint color was too dark. It’s the same color but a much darker shade so my mom must’ve thought it was too dark and added white to lighten the color. So I go back to the basement for white paint. I spend the next few hours trying to find the right shade that my mom used so my wall would match in color with the surrounding walls. After an eternity I finally get the right color! It’s 3-4am at this point and I paint the whole wall.
Once I’m done the wall looks great, you can’t even tell there was ever a hole. My next obvious issue is the smell of paint. One step into the house and my parents would immediately know something isn’t right, it reeks of paint. That’s when I remembered seeing a can of blue paint in the basement. I grab the blue paint and a poster board used from a school project and make a sign saying WELCOME HOME. I then hang the sign in the same room as the wet wall, on an opposite wall to draw attention there and off the painted wall. I purposely leave the can of blue paint there on the floor with the lid off to help sell the reason for the strong smell of paint.
Then I went to bed, exhausted and with only a few hours to spare. I woke up when they arrived to greet them/ see if I was going to get busted or not. My plan worked like a charm! I got away with it. They loved the welcome home sign. I know what you must be wondering, But what about the wet paint!? There’s no way it dried in time! You’re right, it was 100% still wet when they arrived, I just prayed nobody would touch the wall!
That was over 10yrs ago and I’m still just as proud today of that accomplishment as I was back then.”