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Being in any construction trade and not owning a code book and knowing how to use it. It’s a continious dent in your profits. While it might cost about 50 bucks, but it can save ya hundreds maybe even thousands! Maybe this should be under “dumbest ways to lose money”. Sad but true. Keith
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Not using or skimping on Re-Bar would be my first choice. It's cheap insurance against structural damage, especially in expansive soils.
Another would be not using anchors and tie downs, they're also cheap insurance.
My favorite though is finding slab on grade hospitals and clinics! Do you know how frequently the layout and equipment gets changed in one of these places! It all makes for money in the pocket (about every other year)!
*I'm gonna tell your wife, Pete! Besides, you have made out like a bandit on the deal - you posted her picture here not long ago.
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Reminds me of a church near here that had some rebar problems. Seems it was a "Congregation labor" project -no professionals involved. They poured their own concrete, then called for their foundation inspection. The inspector refused to approve the foundation, as it had no re-bar in it at all.
That was over a year ago. Las I knew, the foundation was still sitting there empty.
*The owner decided he'd do all the framing on an extensive kitchen and bath remodel. The inspector would come out--1-3 day wait for him to show up--and redtag the framing. Then the owner would do it again. Then the inspector would redtag. Then the owner would do it again... This went on for 2 weeks. The owner tried so many times, that the studs were nail sick from so much pounding. He ended up getting a framer--took him one day--who took down everything the owner did. I went home with enough 2x to form up a nice garden shed for my wife and to form a concrete patio.
*Here's one . A builder I sub from decided to finish the deck areas around his soaker tubs by having me cut a pice of 3/8 plywood to and trimming the edge of it with a piece of o/g molding He then had his painter caulk it in and enamel it . It looked ok but after the customer service problems he encountered he reluctantly went back to the tile man . I guess the old saying water and wood aren't a good mix will always rear it's head . LOL
*It was standard practice here in Alaska to use a "log crib" as a septic tank/drainage route. (Like Lincoln Logs with every other one missing). Because of the cost of shipping, excess logs, no codes. I encounter them in environmental work when a service station floor drain has emptied gas, oil, antifreeze, and solvent into the log crib (among other things).So do you use a Toyota for a 2BD/1BA and a Oldsmobile for a 4BD/3BA?
*Just Finished a $10,000 cdn Bathroom reno but the boss didn't think we should replace the floor deck after putting in the new plumbing, "just use plywood gussets". I have to go back next week to pull all the tile rip up the concrete board put down sub floor ect.ect. oh well looks like I'm emplooyed another week.
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As a commercial arborist I have seen too many trees get killed during the construcion process.
"Oh, but we put up fencing!"
Yeah, a foot away fromthe trunk of a mature tree and then piled the basement dirt on the roots, drove over the other side, washed out the cement mixer, paint brushes, etc.
"The tree just died!?" No, it was killed.
I have clients who have recovered some pretty serious coin from negligent contractors who killed the trees on a "wooded lot". No different than going after the roofer who didn't flash correctly, the analogies are endless.
If you don't know what you are doing, hire a professional. You guys are pros at what you do, I am a pro at what I do. I like working with other pros. Not the lawyer or CPA that wants to save some $$$ by hanging their own sheetrock.
Why not call in an arborist to work out a tree plan? Maybe decide that the tree is not worth saving. Most are, and can be saved quite easily on the front end, not likely on the back end.
One of my clinets paid me big money to remove a tree that was killed from construction. When they built thier next house, I was there before the surveyor set the house corners to assess the lot. The 28" White oak that we fenced is still healthy. The trees in the neghborhood that weren't protected have died or are declining.
Pay me now, or pay me more later, and not have a tree. Too bad considering how cheap it would be to follow good practices.
Tom Dunlap
Canopy Tree Care
*We had a brick mason building an entryway at the end of our driveway a few years ago. He was quite the talkative fellow, bragging every chance he got. One of the things he seemed most proud of was the fact that he doesn't let himself be "scammed" by oil companies and auto dealerships that conspire to get car and truck owners to spend unnecessary money on regular maintenance. He proudly stated that he had never drained a drop of oil out of any of his vehicles -- said that oil is oil, doesn't matter how old it is, and he sure wasn't going to pour it down the gutter. He said oil was millions of years old before it was pumped out of the ground, so a few years in a truck sure wouldn't hurt it. He said that he just pours in oil to the fill mark on his dip stick every week or two. Hummmmmmmm Wonder if he ever thought about why the oil was obviously leaking out of his engine?
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Tennessee, that guy could be my Daddy, rest his soul! He used to say the exact same thing about the oil companies. He never drove under 85, and when his car engines burned up (which they always did, sooner or later), he said it was because they "overheated" when he was outrunning the highway patrol. When he
i couldn't
outrun them, he paid a visit to his friend, a not-unknown senator in my lovely deep-South home state (surprise), and a week later his driver's license would delivered to the house by an employee from the senator's farm. Now, we weren't wealthy, or politically connected, but my Daddy could charm the rattles off a rattlesnake (this got him in a lot of trouble with my mother, if you know what I mean). When I became old enough to drive, he would get
i me
to finish the transaction by running either a case of Chivas or Jack Daniels out to the Senator's house. It wasn't until I was in college that I figured out what was going on - duh! : )
*Mongo, Blue's just kidding, it's the HTML codes.
*Good day all,Changing oil all the time is corporate bull****.Take out the dipstick on your car's engine and read what it says.It says "ADD OIL" Now don't you think that if it's that important of a feature that the car companies engrave it in steel, that this should supercede any notes contained in a cheap booklet.
*Gabe,Is this sarcasm? It doesn't read like sarcasm, but I would never have expected "Changing oil all the time is corporate bull****" from you. The beauty of communication entirely by written word, there is always another surprise around the corner.I see the point to changing the oil, it gets dirty and contaminated. I always thought the bull**** part was the inability to change the filter without draining the oil. Dirty oil? Change the filter, not the oil.Rich Beckman
*Good Day Rich.No, it's not sarcasm, it's tougue in cheek.I think it's rather obvious that not having proper maintenance and regular oil changes being one of them, would seriously damage your auto's life expectancy.You mentioned the point about not being able to change the oil filter without draining the oil, how about some of these new model where you have to remove half of the assembly to even get to the oil filter.
*Oil changers unite...Of all the expenses in owning engines that have oil lubrication, the cost of oil changing has got to be the "best buy bet" I make...160,000 miles on my 89 Chevy K1500 and the engine uses about a quart between oil changes, which I do before every heavy season of use. My motors are happy and so far have been very good to me...Greasing all fittings is one I like to keep an eye on too...An acquantance of mine is my owner of "equipment and toys" idle for his well practiced ethic, "Own only what you can keep in the highest of shine (useability.)It's been a big week of oil changing & "shining" for all my tennis equipment, near the stream,J
*Well, boys, that day has arrived. Today's the day. Yes, it's Palm Sunday, but that's not what I mean. I figured sooner or later one of the posts would get around to oil changes. I have a friend who has never changed the oil--or had it done--in his 1986 Toyota P/U. At just over 100K miles, I was talking to him about vehicle maintenance when I pulled his trucks dipstick. Stuff looked like molassas on a cold day, except is was dull and you couldn't see through it. At 200K, he told me he had the same oil. Truck is a little hard to start, but thats all.
*Buying cheap tools.
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Over the years, I've seen people do some pretty dumb things to try to save a few bucks. What are the dumbest that you know of ?
I know of a guy who figured out a way to save money on his plumbing. He ran field tile around both the inside and outside of his foundation, in order to keep basement dry. But he didn't want to run any PVC for his floor drains. So he just ran them down into his drain tile. When the outlet on his drain tile gets plugged up, the water simply comes up through the drains into the basement.
Any other stories out there ?
*We were remodeling a Kitchen and while the mechincals were being installed the walls were open and no insulation was in them. It was March in New England so the area was a bit cooler than the rest of the house but that was primarily due to our temp dust walls isolating it from the central heating system. Well the Home owner, a doctor, was afraid of losing heat so he put an old sock over the thermostat so he wouldn't loose heat in that room???
*I had was doing an electrical job on a major remodel. The plumber had saw cut the slab all over and had open trenches. I asked the owners if the kitchen island needed electricity, so I could put it in the plumbing trenches. "No it didn't." Ok. A week later I was there with a jack hammer putting the electrical to the island.
*One cheapskate I heard of used an old car (buried) as a septic tank. The new owner never found out till it was time to get the honey truck in to suck the "tank" out.
*Saving money or wasting money? One customer last summer decided to put a pool and fountain in the front yard, had a hoe-ram spend a week chipping out the bedrock down about 10', then the building inspector came along and pointed out he would need a 6' high fence all around unless it was only a wading pool, so he brought in truckloads of sand and filled it back in.... if people want to throw money away, why don't they ever throw it my way?
*simon,I love the buried car idea...I may have to borrow it someday but will do it with all's knowledge...J
*I made a doosey of a mistake once while trying to save money on hookers. I got married. I had no idea how time consuming, expensive and stressfull it could be. So all you single fellas out there, take some free advice...stick with the hookers.A broken broke man,Pete Draganic
*Being in any construction trade and not owning a code book and knowing how to use it. It's a continious dent in your profits. While it might cost about 50 bucks, but it can save ya hundreds maybe even thousands! Maybe this should be under "dumbest ways to lose money". Sad but true. Keith
*What's a code book?Blue
*Blue, you're kidding, right? You don't know what a code book is? Are you serious? You've been on this forum how long? It's a book that tells what all the different codes mean, like "BTW", "LOL", "IMHO", "YFAH", "YALGDJFF", etc.
*The last one has me stumped "YALGDJFF?"-Rob
*Just dropped in fer lunch thought I'd try my hand ati "YALGDJFF?" b You're A Loser, Go Drink Javex F*** Face ???