Encompassing Designs
  • Home
  • Shop
    • Kits
    • Patterns >
      • Christine Little >
        • Signature Designs
        • New Designs
        • Seasonal Designs
      • Deborah Sweet
      • Susan Leslie
      • Patricia Perry
      • William Morris
    • Supplies >
      • Backings
      • Frames
      • Hooks
      • Books
      • Extra
    • Wool >
      • Abrashed
      • Custom Dyeing
      • Dyed Bundles
      • Dyed Curly Mohair
      • Dyed Spots
      • Dyed Values
      • Dyed Yarn
      • Jacquard Dice Dyes
      • Natural & Colours
      • Plaids & Textures
      • Dye Books & Swatches
  • Ordering
  • Blog
  • Workshops
  • Our Story
  • Contact Us

Update but not much progress......

6/12/2015

4 Comments

 
Shane is back to work and we pushed one stove back in place to be able to dye wool.  They are sill mudding.   This is what took a month and a half to do and is no where near finished. 
Picture
The other day I got a bit sassy with the project manager of the shop rebuild that’s been lingering like a bad smell.  The work ethic is lost in the plaster dust.  If the guys they send are seasoned or at least knowledgeable carpenters why is the one guy explaining how to insulate to keep the R factor, not compressing it too much between the studs?  Why is there a 101 lesson on how to set a gyprock screw and they still can't get it right?   These young boys look like they might still be in high school.  My mothering instincts make me want to feed and burp them.  I asked a few questions….have you done this before and I’m told yes, one time, and that was probably on the job they did yesterday.  I don’t expect expert work after one experience but I am curious if these novices are being billed to the insurance company as fully fledged carpenters.  

You don’t need a Masters to cut out, hang and screw in drywall but the basics would be beneficial.  So I took one of them under my wing in the kitchen and gave them a little pep talk.   Most drywallers use a dimpler attachment for their drill so it sets the screw the perfect depth.  These guys aren’t dry wall hangers or they’d come equipped with the proper tools.  If you screw it in too deep and it will tear the paper and won’t hold.   Too shallow and the screw head will stick out too far to mud.  I saw a lot of hand screwing after the drilling to set the heads a bit deeper, doing the job twice is a  waste of money and time!      I also explained how to position gyprock to the wall around woodwork.  Simple, common sense instructions that they should know if they’re doing the work!

After the past couple of days I’m about ready to blow!  I am not one to sit by and allow shoddy work to be passed off as correct.  I’m about as straight as a toothpick, there is no flexing or bending around corners.   Let me explain a typical day.  Let’s use last Wednesday.  They tell me to be here at 9:00 and yes I was a bit late at 9:10 and I saw them leaning up against the building puffing on ciggies.  They don’t come through the door until 9:20 and saunter in with a casual air, no rush to work cause now it’s time to socialize inside, a lot like the chatting outside, and definitely not work related.   When they do allow work to enter into the conversation they actually talk more about it than actually doing it.   Work started about 9:50.  Then of course it’s break time at 10:00, the place clears out and there is silence again and more ciggies.  The break can be anywhere from 15 minutes to 30, depending on how many smokes are needed.  Then it was more talking, the one guy is a blowhole, likes the sound of his own voice, is loud and uninteresting in his attempt to impress the younger kids with his suave, man about town swagger.  He told a story that was offensive but I kept my head down, I could have said something to the boss but I don’t want trouble, just do the friggin work and get the heck out of my life.   I don’t have a prejudice bone in my body but my head isn’t in the sand, I know racism it exists, but I pick and choose my battles, confronting this person wouldn’t have changed his mind and I don’t need attitude while they work.    

So they talk more than work, ran out of insulation and then stood around talking until more arrived.  I’m no rocket scientist, but figuring out how much insulation needed is all about straight math.  You have so measure the height by the width of the walls that need to be covered and then you should know, if not from experience then from reading the bag as to how far one bale will go.  Don’t guess, drop a few bags off and then leave them twiddling thumbs until more arrive.  Then they didn’t have tuck tape.   Really?  How are they supposed to tape the vapour barrier?  It’s almost a comic routine.  Instead of their company name, First On Site, it should be Who’s On First!   I could manage this project and still do my job in the store, bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan, cause I’m a wo-MAN!    

Then the application.  Hanging gyprock isn’t difficult but you do have to think a bit about how to minimize the wastage.   The long vertical sides have a bevel so when you use tape and apply the Durabond and then the Sandable 90  it’s pretty much flush.  They installed a piece of gyprock or sheet rock as some call it, not behind the sink cupboard but let it come down on top of the backsplash top.  All they had to do was pull out the cupboard that was not attached and slip it down behind like the way it was before.  The best part, the part that I will snigger over for days, the part that doesn’t lose its laughability is when I told the guy that it needed to be redone properly and why, his response?  “Who told you that?”     (And because I can’t show his intonation, he clearly meant, “Did your husband or some man tell you that?”

Excuse me….who told me?  What do you mean who told me?”  It was so asinine I wanted to laugh in his general direction.  Any moron would know it’s done incorrectly!  You can’t put the jagged, cut edge of the sheet rock on the top edge of the backsplash!  It needs to be placed behind the counter. Period!  There was no way to finish it, and  we use a lot of water in the kitchen with pots splashing all over the place, that’s why it’s called a backsplash, it gets wet…..the gyprock wouldn’t last a week!     Then he says……”we can run a bit of caulking along the top of the backslash”. 

Sigh…..

So I said, “Change it”, in my best, no nonsense, don’t mess with me voice.  A few minutes later the big boss arrived, perhaps summoned by the irate guy I just pissed off, really….a woman telling a man what to do…..what’s this world coming too! 

So I told the top cheese the problem, he took one look and shook his head.  I got the feeling he’s seen more of this kind of thing then he’d like to admit.  He told the guys to fix it and then said his guy shouldn’t have been rude to me, but I explained he wasn’t really rude, that he was condescending.   Thought I was some bimbo that should be seen and not heard. 

After that the talky guy was quiet, which was the best outcome ever.  I hardly heard him speak all day about his personal life.  A win win for all.  But, at the end of the day, after telling them not to close in my office doorway with sheets of gyprock so I could get in and out, they piled it ten sheets deep.  It is difficult to believe anyone could be that stupid so I’m thinking it was pure spite. Maybe talky guy felt he got the last word.   

Like I said before, I might not be a rocket scientist but I think through all aspects of any job, to minimize mistakes and make the job go faster.  Maybe I need to quit the rug hooking business and set myself up as a project manager.  There seems to be a real need for good, knowledgeable people!   At least I’d make sure my people work their 7-8 hours so no one gets ripped off. Wednesday they worked the job no more than 2 hours and worked their jaws for five.  


4 Comments
Mary
6/12/2015 03:18:01 am

This is so wrong in so many ways I don't wonder if you are ready for the insane asylum. My husband and now my son is a contractor and they would not allow this &$/;&. To go on. God bless you.

Reply
Betsy Boltik
6/13/2015 12:05:20 am

Can you go to the insurance company and complain, this seems just to absurd.

Reply
Marta Lipson
6/13/2015 12:59:50 am

Hi Christine. I popped by the store Friday afternoon to say hello; just missed you. Was chatting with Deb for a few minutes and during that time the young guy walked passed us, up and down the stairs 4 or 5 times. No idea what he was up to, and had a feeling it wasn't going well. Sorry to hear you're having to deal with this, but you are handling it well. Good on you wo-MAN!

Reply
Christine
6/16/2015 06:09:26 am

Sorry I missed you Marta. Are you living in the Bay yet?

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Christine Little has been ranked #5​ out of the 60 top rug hooking bloggers by Rug Hooking Magazine!

    Picture
    Picture
    Max Anderson, Australia, recipient of my Nova Scotia Treasures rug.  An award of excellence for promoting Canada through his writing.  
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Picture
    Picture
    Gift Certificates are available for that special rug hooker in your life!  Any denomination, no expiry date! 

    Picture

    Categories
    (Click on the categories for past blogs)

    All
    Announcements
    Beginner Class
    Christmas
    Colour Planning
    Contests
    Copyright
    Coupon
    Customer Rugs
    Cutter Servicing
    Dyeing
    Equipment
    Featured Hooker
    Giveaway Draw
    Guest Blogger
    Guest Blogger
    Health & Fitness
    Home & Heart
    Hooked Rugs
    Hooking Groups
    Hook In Talk
    Initially Yours
    Jibber Jabber
    Just A Bit Of Fun!
    Life's Experiences
    Life's Experiences
    New Design
    New Ideas
    Pattern Of The Week
    Patterns Hooked
    Pets
    Rants
    Recipes
    Rememberingfbe7326ff7
    Rug Schools
    Show & Tell
    Show-tell
    The Rant
    Tips Technique
    Tips Techniquef0cd117ab4
    Visitors
    Workshops

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture





















    Picture
    We have a pot to "Fiz" in!

Shop Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
Saturdays 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
We are closed during ice and snow storms
​so please call ahead.  If school is cancelled we probably are as well.  

Toll Free: 1-855-624-0370
Local: 1-902-624-0370​
encompassingdesigns@gmail.com

498 Main Street
P.O. Box 437
Mahone Bay, N.S.
Canada B0J 2E0

​Follow us and keep up to date
on our specials, new products
​and events!
Picture
Picture
Picture


Home
Shop
Ordering
Blog
Our Story
Workshops

Contact Us




​​​© Copyright 2023 Encompassing Designs. Website by SKYSAIL