We had to replace two windows in a house sided with cedar shakes, so had to patch in with new or re-used shakes. Before the shakes were put on in the past, they drilled about 1-1/2″ diameter holes and shot in foam insulation (which we removed, as it had shrunk, turned to dust or gotten so fragile that you could turn it to dust by squeezing it in your hands). The holes had been covered with tarpaper.
The guy I work with didn’t bother replacing tarpaper over most of the holes and sometimes even let the vertical joints between shakes land right over the holes! This seems like inviting wind driven rain to soak the stud bay and the new insulation. I suggested tarpaper as he put the first shake so it ended half way over a hole, and he said it wasn’t necessary (I also would have tried my best not to have joints even land over a hole, but still would have put up tarpaper.) We did put a little tarpaper up right around the windows, but did not lap the top strip over the window flange. I guess I am picky, but I figure “overkill” (and I don’t really think it is overkill) is okay, especially when it’s so quick, easy and inexpensive!
Replies
I'm with you. I wouldn't call it overkill. I'd call it basic building technique and common sense ... Buic
I agree, basic and necessary. I think you've just plain done it wrong. That piece of tar paper should also be under an overlapping piece from above. You could cut a slice in the existing paper and slide the new piece underneath and tape the corners.
sounds poor. I think its sad that a guy would intentionally do work like that. it gives the rest of us a black eye.
I say better to overbuild than underbuild. Not that I think you've overbuilt. What you are suggested (i.e., covering holes w/tarpaper & keeping vertical joints away from the holes) is appropriate and should have been done.
And, by the way, I agree with maverick. Its sad that anyone would intentionally do work like that, but, unlike him, I would see it as an opportunity cuz the HO will likely look for someone else in the future. Sorry Danno, but perhaps its time to be looking for someone else to work with? :(
If you want to be successful, you have to provide a quality product.
Edited 8/21/2006 1:00 am by luckymudster
ya, you're being picky -
and that makes a good builder -
This is sort of an ongoing struggle with me--the guy gives me lots of work, but I often feel like we are doing a poorer job than I would do if I were doing it myself. He has a license and he contacts me as a sub, so I tend to go with the flow, but it bothers me when we do this sort of thing.
Today we filled the house with dust because Marc used a pad sander on a door frame, but didn't hook up the vacuum to it or put plastic up. Not to mention breathing the dust--oh, and the fact that I had just finished painting the top coat on trim around a window about three feet away. He managed to smear stain on the wall we just finished painting last week. He also spent some pretty good money on cherry to match the gum wood that was used for the door trim, then stained it and it turned out blotchy, so it looks like cheap pine that has blotchy stain. I asked if he'd ever used gel stain and he said yeah, but it dried too slow and he wanted to get two coats of stain and two coats of poly on today. What was there was shellac--I would have tried dying the wood and then putting garnet shellac on it, but it wasn't my job. I think I would have used poplar or something with a quieter grain rather than cherry because the cherry grain is pretty pronounced in comparison to what was there.
Now he sees the mistakes in his mudding, so he will remud and sand tomorrow and I get to touch up. I don't know why he couldn't have looked and decided the mud needed touching up before I topcoated everything! Even after the primer would have been okay. He did move the light that the cabinet door was hitting. Now the owner is thinking about having us replace the cabinet over the microwave with one that is three inches shorter. This job has been a series of two steps forward and one step back since we started!
I must say it is easier to find fault that to go out and get a license (I'm reluctant to try--afraid of failing the test and afraid of the responsibility if I go out on my own).
from your post I'd say you should go for it.
Marc sounds like an idiot.
Besides, the sooner you get it over with the better and no one ever died from failing a GC test before.
Once you have your lic. you can still sub for him until you're truly up on your feet, providing he is up for it.
Thank you (and the others) for your words of encouragement. We'll see.
You don't have a license now.
Take the test and either you'll have a license or you still won't.
So things will either be the same as now or better. There is no downside. Do it...Buic
Gotta say, I agree with BUIC and CAGIV. You clearly want to do quality work, and Marc(?) is ambivalent. The worst that will happen if you don't pass the test is you will be where you are now. On the other hand, should you pass, new doors will be open to you. To quote BUIC, "There is no downside."
I don't care what ANY co- worker says... I do what I feel is right . And that's the best pillow to rest your head on after a long day at work.
Go out on your own, it's a step that you won't be happy without.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Hey, You've been bitchen about this guy since we were in Miss. and that was nearly a year ago.
You constantly post about things that he does which are half azzed. In many situations, you know what the answer is before you post. This situation is a perfect example. So, what are you waiting for?
BTW, you say he takes you as a sub-contactor? I don't mean to pop that bubble, but that really isn't true and you know it. He tells you what to do. You are an employee - he just pays you as a sub. That's b.s. What happens if he gets sued? Is his carrier going to represent you too, or is he going to bail on you?
I know it's tough to take that step sometimes. "The devil you know is better than the devil you don't", but it's time for you to move on. Add my voice to the chorus on that.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Guess it's time to get out the books and start studying again for the test--was going to take it about a year ago, but chickened out.
Oh, today the owners told us they think the grain on the cherry trim is "too wild" and may have us just paint it! Marc told them he paid $110 for that wood and the guy replied that sometimes it costs money to get what you want or something to that effect. I tried to convince Marc to get an airbrush and use some toning lacquer to subdue the grain--instead he said he will try some exterior heavy bodied stain! I urged him to try it first on scraps or on the pieces he cut off, which already have the stain and varnish so he will be comparing apples to apples.
Get away from that bozo as fast as you can. you'll never fly with the eagles when you run with the turkeys.
I'd be signing up for that exam in a heartbeat. Don't bother telling the boss and everybody, just do it. And there's another option too. Just leave the hack and go to work for a real contractor.
IIRC, you are in the Michagen area, so jobs may not be plentiful. Even so, there are many people looking for experienced, dedicated and reliable help. You fit the bill.
(You can always do tile. LOL)
Don K.
EGJ Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
The Michigan test is a stinkin cake walk man. It took me longer to drive to and from Lansing than to take the test. I finished the test in 45 min to an hour or so.
I was nervous about it too, all that did was make me not sleep.
Taking the test was worth it, get your license and insurance. Start beating the ground for work.
I have tons of it and I am nothing special. I just wouldn't take no for an answer. I'm only half as dumb as I look.
Thank you all for the encouragement.
Don--As a matter of fact we are laying a tile floor today! (and on the diagonal). There will be a tile backsplash too, but not till the counter (granite) goes in. Sometimes Marc does the backsplashes by himself, but I have a fill-in type job painting a basement in a house down the street from where I live, and it looks like people from my church have heard about me. (Which reminds me that a guy from church wants me to help him replace some shingles at the eves where a tree damaged them.)
Oh, and Marc moved the light that was interfering with the cabinet door. That was a much better solution than changing the door. Looks pretty sure that they are going to follow my advice (better late than never?) and replace the cabinet above the microwave with one that's three inches shorter so the microwave isn't so close to the range top.
I just keep laughing about what someone said in another thread of yours about the height of the cabinets over the counters.
"Marc needs to kicked in the nuts".
Get away before he brings your reputaion down with him.
Best of luck on the test when you take it. TFB (Bill)
Yeah, every day is a new adventure! He showed me though where he used some stain over an off-cut of the door trim and it really smoothed the grain out and it matches the old very well, so there's hope there. I was surprised it worked--he said it was tricky to put the stain over the poly! (It will have to be sealed in, I would think, with more varnish or shellac, but I imagine he will try to brush on poly and I don't think it will stick very well. We'll see.)
Got the floor tiled today, but when we got to the last part, the entry with the stairs to the basement and it's about 4:15, he hadn't figured out what to do where the floor meets the first step! So there was a delay of about twenty minutes while we discussed the possibilities and figured out something that worked. I felt good in that I did contribute to the solution, but doing this work on the fly while the thinset is drying in the bucket would not be my first choice for the way to do it! (Had to cut off the existing nosing and replace it with one of the varnished cherry trim boards we'd made.)
Get away before he brings your reputation down with him.Best advise in the thread. Do you really want to be known as the Dumbazzes helper?Its your reputation too. Take charge of it.
Surprisingly, he has lots of repeat customers--and "high end" too. I guess a lot of what I consider mistakes get covered over and no one will ever know. This last job though, he buried two junction boxes and I pity anyone who tries to remodel at a later date. The worst thing though is a guy I wnet to highschool with called me and asked if I was still doing drafting and if so, would I design an addition. I did and suggested Marc to build it.
Marc had done some drywall for them before and they were satisfied, so they hired him (and me) to do the addition. First thing Marc did was talk them out of my plan. Then he did stuff like tear down the plastic the wife had put up because we were getting dust throughout the house--it was in his way. This is the job where the shower pan squeaked as soon as we put it in and despite their calls, he hasn't fixed it. We had to go back and take care of the glueless sheet vinyl floor that he glued down (and last I heard it still was wrinkling and curling up at the edges). I doubt they'll have him (or me) do anything else for them ever again!
I have been called picky and I considered it a compliment. I'll stand by your observations with confidence.
Heaven and hell are in the details. Saving a buck and some time on the holes does not compare well to a call back for leaks.