Termyn8or
Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
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Well really, yes. I think a rant is healthy once in a while. Would I say all of that ? I don't think so, but having a shitload of people read it, well there is just something about that which sort of validates it.
Thing is, the guy I replaced, I think he did alot more there than I do. They told me that he had become a little Hitler, and you can guess what I said. But now I think I see why.
I really should start my own business, kinda put my money where my mouth is. I got so much to say, maybe I should show people how I think it should be done. See how I do.
I have run a couple of extensive remodeling jobs. I think I was quite successful. I can be a prick to work for, because I want things done right. I also have a saying "Hell no, I don't want to do it right, not at all, I just don't want to have to do it AGAIN".
So yes I want it done right the first time. On one job, this was something too, a load bearing wall had been removed, probably before I was born. The second floor was like a friggin trampoline. What's more the first floor support was failing. So I bucked up the support in the basement after jacking it up about four inches. It had been sagging for a long time, and the jack busted through the basement floor about four times before it came level. Once that was done it was time to replace the load bearing wall.
This was the time to do this because the house was just about completely gutted. The wall we put in formed a hallway and two closets, and the owner wanted the laundry in the bathroom as he was aging and had no desire to climb up and down the basement stairs. Well I was paying this guy eighteen bucks an hour and three times I told him where to put the corner stud. He put it in the wrong place three times. First two times he used screws, and I removed the four by four and told him.
The last time he used nails. Apparently he had a different idea where that stud should go, and that last time I told him that I would just have to do it myself because his stupid ass can't get it right. This was my gig, I am the fucking boss, I say the stud goes here. I had to destroy it to get it out.
Couldn't really fire the guy as it was pretty much he and I doing the whole thing, and I had no desire to do it myself. But godammit, what he didn't understand is that the stud needed to be backed off to make a wider hallway, otherwise the appliances would not be able to go in the bathroom.
As the boss I tried to think everthing through, I consider that my responsibility. This was an extensive job, gut and insulate, all new wiring and plumbing, and furnace. There had never been ductwork in the place until I got there. Knowing what the owner said about not wanting to deal with the basement stairs, I made it so he could change the furnace filter on the first floor.
I innovated, and I considered that to be my job. Actually the owner and I got into an argument about the particular method I was using to install a couple of windows in the diningroom. He left in a huff, and I continued. But when that phase of the job was done, seeing the results he did not any longer have a penchant to argue with me, especially when it came time to put the trim up. You see trim must be nailed to something, he did not grasp that at the time.
After that incident I got alot of "Whatever you think is best". At least the guy learned that he didn't know shit. And he doesn't when it comes to houses.
What had happened was that a big tree fell on the house, and being a dump anyway I am surprised it was not condemned. I mean a BIG tree. The roof had been replaced when I got there, but there were a few loose ends. I think they are called eave caps, it needed a few. We had to take care of that. But he had the rest of the insurance money and plus has money in the first place, so it got done.
This was by far the biggest job I've ever ran. We turned a sow's ear into a silk purse, almost literally. Everyone who saw the place loved it. My buddy Jack is the only one I know personally who has run a bigger job than that. This was alot bigger house and extensive modifications were planned.
In that case I worked for him. Decent money, and I find that type of work rewarding actually. Fixing idiot boxes is really losing it's appeal for me. This work might be more demanding physically, but maybe that is a good thing.
Even though I did not run that job, I found a way to excel. I had to modify the HVAC because walls and shit got moved, and I just about wired the whole place. I was also involved in the kitchen. Well this guy is gay, and a chef.
In fact,on a side note, when in the navy (I think) he was Colin Powell's personal chef. There sits a picture of him with the government bigwigs. This was around the time of "Don't ask don't tell" and he left the service honorably and got a good job. He inherited the house but frankly he might actually have more into it than it is worth, but that is not my problem.
On the huge countertop I had to wire lights, that was a PITA but I got it done. I also had to wire for an island, on which there would be a cooktop and when that part of the job was about to commence, Jack and I had the cabinets which were to be the island, and being the end of the day we were having a couple you know whats and it came to me.
This job was blueprinted and we had the cabinet in place, but just sitting there. The owner was due home from work anytime now and it hit me. Don't put the island paralell to the wall, put it at a 45 degree angle. I moved them into that approximate position and Jack looks at me and had very little to say except, "Damn". The owner saw it and loved the idea, and that is how it went.
There are alot of things on that job that I would not do. For example he got a built in double oven, a Jen Air but everthing fucks up sooner or later. This thing is so heavy it broke the base of the cabinet as we tried to install it the first time. But after rebuilding that we got it in and level, and folks when you are talking about a chef, that oven needs to be perfectly level. I mean a level does not cut it. You take a plate with water in it, very thin amount of water and that is your level. The standard carpenter's level is not accurate enough.
But my point is if that double oven ever needs to be repaired or replaced, there will be hell to pay. And of course the cooktop on the island had a downdraft vent. You can't put that into the chimney, so we had to bust out the foundation of the house to provide for that. And what I had to do to the HVAC system, well, I think I should have made more money, but actual time on the job, well I stuck around.
Then we have to install these double french doors on the back wall, which is twisted. It took five minutes to carry the unit in, but it took days to work out all the problems. I would have rather built the damn thing myself rather than using prehung. That way I could compensate. But what was done was done.
The lower right corner of the jam sticks out over an inch to this way, if you try to pull it in the doors won't close. But because that is at the corner of the back deck, I put all the error there, only a dog or cat will ever see it. Of course it is foamed up, caulked and all that, what else can you do ? The wall is not straight but the doors are.
Just like now, going to put a parquay floor in downstairs. When I describe how the measurements need to be taken and why, most people get lost. You see you are putting down something that is perfectly square on something that is not. It is almost not a science, it is almost an art.
See since it is square, if the room is not square it will show that off. You need to figure out the longest walls with the highest visibility and compensate so it shows as little as possible. And since you start in the middle, you have to think ahead, because no matter what, you don't want one inch pieces at the edges, and that applies to any type of tile. Actually you might be able to flub it a bit with ceramic, but this shit is tongue and groove. No excuses.
Why can't people understand this shit ? Just do it seems to be the mantra. You have to think ahead, you have to plan.
Even like that load bearing wall I had to install. We jacked that first floor up about four inches, and the upstairs another five or so. Do you comprehend the force involved, and the reason that you only do things like this when the place is gutted ?
Oh, and the people who removed that load bearing wall thought ahead. When they did the plaster and lath cieling (that's why I say probably before I was born) they made it very thin where that wall used to be. That is so that WHEN it cracks, it is not as noticable. I bet they were licensed, bonded and insured as well.
If I did shit like that, I would want insurance. As it stands, the way I see it, I do not need it. Everything will be done right or I won't do it. And remember I don't want to do things right, but to a greater order of magnitude I do not want the problems that arise when something is not done right.
Am I the only one who sees it this way ?
T
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Tell the boss (rant) - 
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