Was at a supply shop picking up mud and this old timer just casually says 'you know you're supposed to choke up on that thing, right?' I'd been using a 6 inch knife with my hand all the way back at the handle, basically zero control. Tried his way last weekend and my taping looks 10x better. How do you guys hold your knives?
Dude was dead serious, standing there in his slippers on a Tuesday morning in Phoenix, pointing at the frayed 12 gauge like a fresh coat of Behr would fix 120 volts running through it and I had to stop and ask him if he'd ever seen an extension cord fire on YouTube.
Last month I had to go back and cut out that same PEX run because the homeowner's grandkid somehow melted it with a space heater in the crawl space. Has anyone else found old school copper still beats new stuff for certain spots?
I used to turn down any bathroom remodel under 5 grand, figured they weren't worth my time. Then I did a tiny half bath for a retired couple in Bakersfield last month, the wife just wanted a new vanity and toilet. She handed me a thermos of coffee and said 'my husband tried to fix the sink last week and water went everywhere, you're a lifesaver.' That little job paid for my kid's braces that month, not the big ones. Has anyone else found that smaller jobs end up being more steady and less headache?
I was at a supply house in Tulsa a couple months back and the counter guy talked me into one of those pinless moisture meters, the kind that look like a toy. I figured it was a gimmick and told him "no way that thing works better than my eyes." But I had this job laying hardwood in a basement where the homeowner swore it was dry, and I had a bad feeling. So I grabbed the meter, ran it over the slab, and it lit up red in three spots reading 18% moisture. The homeowner got mad and called me a scammer until I showed him the puddle under the vapor barrier. That little meter paid for itself ten times over on that single job and I use it before every install now. Has anyone else had a tool they thought was BS that turned out to be a lifesaver?
I was on a commercial job in Austin last summer, running EMT for a new office build. This 60 year old sparky named Dave watched me strip a 12 AWG with my linesman's and just shook his head. He said I was nicking the copper and creating a hot spot that could fail down the line. I laughed it off at first because I'd been doing it that way since trade school. But after he showed me a failed splice from a previous job where the wire was cracked right at the stripper mark, I caved. I switched to using the correct gauge hole on my Klein strippers every single time and honestly my connections feel tighter now. Anyone else ever have an old timer call them out on a habit that turned out to be bad practice?
I walked into a house built in 1983 and the breaker box was literally held together with duct tape and hope. Customer wanted me to add a new AC unit without pulling any permits or upgrading the service. I walked off the job after they offered to pay me under the table with cash and a six pack.
Had a commercial water heater down at the bakery on Main Street. Needed a $12 thermocouple. Every supply house said backordered. Waited 14 days for one stupid little part. Finally swapped it out this morning, pilot lit first try. Anyone else feel like simple parts are getting harder to find?
I was picking up a toilet gasket and this old timer next to me was telling the counter guy about a house he got called to. Customer dumped Drano down a slow drain three times over a month. Pipe finally gave out and dumped sewage into their basement. He said the chemical eats the rust scale off the inside of cast iron and leaves the bare metal exposed. Then it just corrodes through. Has anyone else seen this happen or is this guy just being dramatic?
I was bitching to this old timer about a retaining wall I did last summer that's already cracking, and he just looked at me and said 'what was your lime to cement ratio?' I didn't even know you had to track that separate from the sand. Got me thinking I've been eyeballing it for years now. Any of you guys actually measure everything out or am I overthinking this?
Was grabbing coffee near a job site in Portland last Tuesday and heard this general contractor telling his crew galv nails are fine for cedar because 'it all rots anyway.' That's crap. Galv and cedar react and leave black streaks, plus the cedar eats the zinc way faster. You really gonna trust a guy who cuts corners on fasteners for your whole exterior?
Dude was dead serious thinking you can skim coat a whole room with one 12 inch blade and zero mud work. How do you even respond to that without sounding like a jerk?
I was swapping out a corroded copper tee under a 1950s slab house and used a push-fit fitting to save time. Thing blew off at 2am and flooded the crawl space with about 40 gallons before I could shut the main. Turns out the pipe had a tiny burr I didn't file down, so the o-ring never sealed right. Now I always run my finger over the cut end three times before I push anything on. Has anyone else had these fittings fail on old galvanized or copper?