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.
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.
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.
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