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Thread: Worst construction crew ever vs two old dudes and a ladder

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    He wanted you to HIRE him, and stood around watching? Wonder what he thought you were paying him to do? Geez.
    Many times people would ask me about getting a job at my workplace. When asked what they knew how to do, it was often that they could do anything… Once they were trained. To me that usually meant they didn't know how to do much of anything.

    Some of them insisted they knew about electricity or electronics. When asked a simple question on the subject they froze.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  2. #17
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    Just an update: after working all day yesterday, the only progress I can see is that 4 sheets of galvalum have been hung. They're out there now smoking and cussing at each other. I kid not- it took three men 10 minutes just to park the jeep n the alleyway, and they hit my split unit, which has been hit before and doesn't work so no big deal, but good grief. This has been so entertaining. They also have blocked the door to my shop with their piles of galvalum for the last few days.
    Last edited by Malcolm Schweizer; 02-18-2019 at 7:45 AM.

  3. #18
    Must be roofing time all over the world?
    Last week in desert southwest (30miles from nothing), I watched 6 men riveting roofing to a metal frame. OK, it was actually 1 man riveting, 3 men 'supervising' him, and 2 kicking a rock back and forth in a vaguely soccer-like fashion.

    Also have to confess I watched for 20 minutes - - just to see if that was the extent of the bystander's participation. So if you saw 7 guys roofing last week.....

  4. #19
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    I have a theory about construction crews, the bigger the crew, the less efficiency. Definitely true for my guys.

  5. #20
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    Getting back to the OP's message: Why did you let them continue to work on your project? I would have fired them & then hire the two West Indian guys, even if you had a fixed price contract with the incompetents. Eight guys? Incredible!
    Thoughts entering one's mind need not exit one's mouth!
    As I age my memory fades .... and that's a load off my mind!

    "We Live In The Land Of The Free, Only Because Of The Brave"
    “The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living."
    "
    Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

  6. #21
    You think that's bad, Malcolm? The woman who is installing bead board paneling in our bathroom has cut one 48x46-1/2" piece then, without even installing it, suddenly stopped and walked out of the bathroom, went to another room, turned on the ceiling fan and sat down at the computer. Right now she's typing this message. Talk about worthless!
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Al Launier View Post
    Getting back to the OP's message: Why did you let them continue to work on your project? I would have fired them & then hire the two West Indian guys, even if you had a fixed price contract with the incompetents. Eight guys? Incredible!


    Read it again. It’s not my house. It’s my neighbor’s house.

  8. #23
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    When I started construction in the 70's with my uncle that was his motto. " Do something even if it's wrong."

  9. #24
    Bill Carey.... Now that's funny...

    I had the Amish put a metal roof on my home (45x60)...
    They was coming in as I was leaving for work. I wanted
    to watch them work. When I came home they was done
    and gone... Good job to...

  10. #25
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    I know there's stuff people smoke that makes them laugh, but I never heard of anything that makes people yell at one another for 2 hours.

  11. #26
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    When something needs doing at my house my wife says lets hire someone. Most of the time I just do it. Some things I can't do anymore so I have to hire it out. It's more work to supervise the work than it is to do it. I did have success with a roofer a couple of years ago. They did the job did it well, inspected by the timberline rep, clean up was excellent in an out in 1 day. To be truthful I was somewhat shocked. The bid was in the middle to boot. Anymore you have to stay in the same area or get things stolen or surveyed for a later break in. Heat guy tried to steal my torpedo level off of my bench I told him to take it out of his tool bag before he left he just handed it to me with out a word and left. Tile "setter" had no idea how to scribe tile set on a bias, the owner had to come show him.
    Jim

  12. #27
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    I heard the CEO of Pulte Homes interviewed on radio once. I was astounded by his candor. He said, "Today, my job is to figure out how to build homes without skilled labor." He said he couldn't find skilled labor and stay competitive.

    When we built our house, we paid extra for the cream of the crop in subcontractors. I was really impressed with every crew. But we paid a premium. It's worth it to me. All the corners are square, the walls are plumb, the electrical is done right and so on. The electrical guy clocked the screws (lined them all up 12 and 6). I saw that kind of attention to detail throughout. We 'value engineered' around the edges but didn't scrimp on the basics. Yeah, I know none of that shows but it makes a difference to me.

  13. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Roger Feeley View Post
    The electrical guy clocked the screws (lined them all up 12 and 6).
    When I was a 3rd year apprentice I was working on a new sewage treatment plant. The journeyman I was working with and I were talking about quality of workmanship. At the time I was trimming out a 4 gang switch. The journeyman said, "Some guys are so anal about perfection they line up the slots in the screws...." and as he pointed to the switchplate I was installing he slowed his speech and finished with, "just..... like...... you....."
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  14. #29
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    I caught a satellite installer going through my stuff when I returned from leaving the room briefly.
    I told him he would be fine with me standing in his back pocket for the remainder of the time, wouldn't he?

  15. #30
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    My son-in-law is an electrician.
    He wired my shop.
    He simply refuses to install a 3-prong outlet without the single ground wire on top.
    "They are designed that way in case a gap allowed something conductive to fall into the gap."
    Most I've seen are installed the other way around.

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