*
You boys need to get acquainted with ” Fast Freddie Brown “
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Skim-coating with joint compound covers texture, renews old drywall and plaster, and leaves smooth surfaces ready to paint.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
*
This is somewhere between Rich's old posts and Mr. Winn's,
This old boss of mine had a habit of hiring freaks and other assorted cheap labor. So he gets this complex framing job, exposed rafters (on the inside for any of you potential smart-alecs) or something timberframe. Oh by the way I didn't get hired till later, just heard the stories. So, he's got the old faithful lead, then hires this other guy to help, the kind of trailer occupier (not saying everybody in a trailer..) that comes with a gimp arm, midriffs, and loves to run, sneakered, up ladders, gun in one hand, 3/4 ply in the other. Somewhere around halfway thru the job, this guy is revealed to be a speedfreak AND a crackhed. The tip-off, you guessed it, tools go missing that are found at the pawn shop and days go by with no little helper. So he gets gone.
So my boss is stuck, he's got the one good guy and a job losing money. He brings in three or four teens he knows from his church. Then the real fun begins. One kid staples himself to the roof and has a habit of stopping the blade on a circular saw by pressing the blade-removal lock. He later nips (thankfully) only the tips of his gloves off by checking the blade depth during a cut. There were also two occasions where a saw would slide off the roof, the kid grabbing & yanking the cord, which would rip out from the saw body and keep going. And of course the one the boss kept (still there, just made assistant carp, really nice guy) that put a nice, square 1/4" kerf along the top of a six" wide metal sawhourse. The sparks didn't clue him in. I think after this job was when the lead guy took a week off and drove to Arizona (just got in his truck and
b drove,
man).
*
Had a friend call me the other day. Some one building a new house next to his (expensive house on the water). The crew put down glue and then tacked the subfloor around the edge. They never got back to nailing it off. plywood is buckled up 6 inches in places and bhs big lumps of glue under it.
Hired a guy last year. He wa writing down measurments that a carpenter was calling out for me to cut out. the measurments I got went like this. 4 1/2, 5 9/16, 3 1/25! There were several like this. When I asked where he got the 25th's he said the carpenter yelled out 3 and a quater.
Rick Tuk
*This happened to me last year, and on the roof ( i guess i like it up there!)The skill saw dislodged itself from the peak of the roof by some knowable reason, and one of hired hands chased it down the roof. He missed catching the skill but was able to step on the cord about 7' or so from the end of the skill as it launched off the edge towards the ground. it stopped in midair and swung right into the window below CRASH!!! What a laugh we had on that one! By the way odds are still ok for me to set the windows(some of the time) before the roof is completely sheated.)better to lose one window than the whole bunch to stealing, right?later
*
I have been framing in the netherworld of Southern California since 1975. As a licensed contractor since 1981. I really enjoyed andrewd's topic about Home Depot. So I was just wondering if anybody had some bizarre framing stories to share. Here's one of my favorites. I was running a pickup crew many years ago on a upscale housing tract in San Clemente, CA. The job foreman called me early that morning to tell me that the framing crews had neglected to put in the fireblocks in a garage, "the plans call for solid blocking in those walls, OK?" In CA that means a block in each bay. When I got to work I rounded up our new-hire and sent him to the house and instructed him to solid block the garage walls and then come and find me for the next assignment. Three hours later I'm wondering what's taking so long so I wander down to the house and find him still hard at it. He took the term solid blocking seriously, he was filling each bay with blocks from top to bottom, about 60 blocks in each bay. Fortunately my boss thought the incident was sort of amusing, I mean he didn't fire the two of us.
*You mean like when the crew stood a wall then all but one turned away to meet the just-arrived concrete truck? The poor sap by himself though he could move quick enough to get it braced, but he ran out of luck. He had turned away to grab something and the wall fell in his direction. A window header just missed his noggin by a red hair--he was miracously aligned with a window opening--as the wall fell all around him. It was just like Laurel & Hardy, except I wasn't laughing...at least, not much.
*About two years ago a Doctor was having a new house built. He located the house just outside the city limits (so as to not have to mess with permits, inspectors, and such). He hired a small framing crew that he saw at another jobsite, and got them to work on his framing and roofing on the side. He was not pressed for time, and he figured it would save him a lot of money.After the house was framed and roofing installed, he hired a couple of electricians on the side to wire up his house. Well, about second day into the wiring job, a thunderstorm came up suddenly (actually had several hours warning it was headed for us). The two electricians were inside working when the rain and wind started. The wind started gusting at about 30 to 40 mph. The house literally fell. One elctrician was killed, the other broke his back and is now paralyzed. The local firefighters showed up to offer rescue assistance. One of the firefighters got hurt when the remaining part of the structure fell. The investigation revealed that the sole plates were only anchored with 2" concrete nails and caulk. The nails were spaced about 4' apart. The wall studs had 1 nail in each end (one to sole plate, one to top plate). The joists had one nail in each end, and rafters also had one nail in each end. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Now this Doctor wanted to save some money by hiring these types of framers (probably helpers on the job he spotted them on). He might have saved a few bucks in the beginning, but this is far from over. So far his "money saving" technique has cost one man his life, cost another the ability to walk, and hurt a fireman. The lawsuits have just now started to get going. They are picking a jury for the first trial (deceased Electrician's family). The second and third lawsuit is probably waiting for the outcome of the first. County prosecutor tried to charge the doctor with negligence, but he didn't have a case. Grand jury failed to indict him. I wonder why he didn't go after the framers?Firefighter almost got fired, and city refused to pay for treatment because he was on duty, and responding to a call "outside city limits". The Doctor is now out of money, lost his practice, almost went to jail, and is getting sued for some major bucks. How much do you think he thought he was going to save in the beginning? Bet he wishes he had hired a legitimate contractor, and followed the rules. Sad, sad thing that one man had to die, and two get injured so this yo yo could save a few bucks. This all happened in Beaumont, Texas (Jefferson County).James DuHamel
*You boys need to get acquainted with " Fast Freddie Brown "
*One person's tragedy is another guffaw... Interesting species, eh?I happen to remember a couple of the earlier threads of this sort -- for some reason RICH always seems to show up in them(?) -- try: Rich "DID YOU HERE THE ONE ABOUT..." 2/19/99 12:28am Jeff "Can we talk?" 12/20/98 1:19am
*So, what is this Andrew, a prelude to a background check on me? Well, I clicked back to each referenced thread and, well, I'll be, they sure do conjure up the memories. I mean, every friggin' one of them is true.
*So, this friend of mine fastens sheathing in SoCal, hires this kid who assures him of his skill with an air nailer. After several hours of furiously nailing the detached garage's roof, he says he is done. When questioned about how many nails it took, a blank look pops up. He says he thought they came through the hose. ----JRNicholson
*Rich, If Andrew is keeping that close of tabs on you ,it might be true love.
*We furnished a set of trusses for a house not too far from here. A single woman was building it, and was acting as her own GC with the help of her Brother. They set all the trusses with no problem, but didn't use much bracing. They had one ground brace on each gable, and one or 2 rows of bracing on each run of trusses. There was no diagonal bracing of any sort. After they were done setting the trusses, they went around and took off all the ground braces. The trusses then simply fell over. I got more, if anybody's interested.............
*If you want to see the worst (and I'm not kidding) framing remodel you have ever seen in your life, go by 4215 Beverly Dr., Dallas Texas before the new contractor guts the house or scrapes the lot..........I wish you could see this.Ed. Williams
*I once had a new hire start the day by handnailing the subfloor. A couple hours later, at coffee break, we went downstairs. As I sat down and looked up, I realized that he hadn't hit a single joist, with a single nail! He didn't know he was supposed to try to do that!It took him several hours to pound them all up and pull them out!Yes, it's really me, I'm back!blue
*How about this one:I have an old carpenter/friend (45) who works for me. We have worked together on and off for about 15 yrs. On this particular day we were sheating a roof. It was a simple single story residence with a 5/12 roof pitch. Someone had tacked a full sheat with an 8 somewhat near the peak, on top of the already sheated portion of the roof, needless to say it blended right in! My friend Scotty was packing another full sheat across the roof and stepped squarely on it! sure as shootin it gave way. He rode that thing down the roof, off the eave and hit the ground running! did not fall! However he did lose everything out of his tool belt.How about this one:A Roofing contractor needed some extra grunt type help on this ritzy project that he was doing. The roof pitch was somewhere around a 12/12. Anyway he hires this guy from a temp agency. After getting started He (the roofer) climbs up on the back side of the roof,ties a rope to his belt, then tosses the rest over the peak and instructs the newly hired temp grunt to tie it to something solid.BOY! was he suprised when he began to be dragged up a 12/12 roof pitch! The kid had tied the rope to the ladies car! As I heard it he ended up in intensive care.