(Spelled it wrong, but not able to edit the title…)
Working on a laundry room facelift with new ceramic, maple built-in cabinets, stack washer and dryer, etc.
Installing an extra-deep stainless 22″ sink in a 27″ sink base cabinet. The drywall on the left tapers to the corner almost 1/2″ and then tapers out at the front about the same: the counter top had to be cut at almost an arc to fit against the wall.
Using a pre-fab slab with backsplash and rolled front edge and had it cut perfectly, sink mounted and caulked, faucet installed – all that was left to do was attach it and hook up the plumbing.
I had about 2″ of it poking out from the adjacent cabinet on the right that need a laminate face on it and was working on installing the build-up blocks at the front edge…
Took my narrow crown stapler and removed the 1 1/2″ strip of staples and installed the 1 3/8″ staples and shot a staple through the build-up block and it busted right out of the face of the laminate on top. Tore a quarter size chunk of laminate out with it.
What the Hell? – Crap!!! – there was a couple of 1 1/2″ staples still in the nose of the gun.
Whole thing’s crap – gotta do it all over again…
What’s you do that was not so smart today?
JT
Edited 5/15/2006 11:09 pm ET by JulianTracy
Replies
dang Julian, those are pretty tight tolerances you're working with. 1/8 variance and you screwed the pooch.
be you should be in rocket science:o)
half of good living is staying out of bad situations
Went to HD last night to get blinds for a window. time was 9:10. Found the blinds I wanted, pulled them out of the package and just double checked the actual length with a tape measure to be sure the length was ok. It was so I took them home.Got to putting them in at 9:35, opened the pack and realized the mounting hardware was not there. "Damn" "I even opened them in the store to check them out". HD closes at 10 so I ran like hell, got in the car and make it just in time. Found another set and brought it for an even exchange. Opened the pack and made sure the mounting hardware was in there...check.Got the blinds home, went to the window with the blinds in my hand at 10:15, ready to mark where I will screw in the brackets....and now I go ballistic because these blinds are too big. Apparantly, the first set had been cut, which would explain the missing hardware.Thats what I get for trying to get things done late night.How's that saying go, fool me once.....
I had a kinda similar experience a couple of weeks ago.Installing S.S self rimming sink,pull the sink out of the box and find that someone had bashed off the mounting brackets underneath on both sides,and folded over the one on the rear.I guess someone was trying to "make it fit".So I bring it back to HD,this time make sure to pull the sink out of the box to make sure it's ok before I leave.When I get back,I find the mounting clips and screws are missing.I'm pretty sure HD just throws returns back on the shelf without bothering to check.
"I'm pretty sure HD just throws returns back on the shelf without bothering to check."
Thats a funny thing you say, because the very next day, I went back to have the blinds cut. I saw an associate and she came over with something in her hands. I asked her if she would cut the blinds and she obliged. I looked at what she put down and it was the blinds I had returned the night before because of the missing hardware.She was going to throw them back on the shelf untill I interupted her. I gave her the scoop about the missing pieces. Maybe I saved another unfortunate soul.
Thats strange,they always ask me if there is anything wrong with the thing I am returning. If I said yeah its missing xyz I wonder if it goes any further than the clerk. At HD if you return a lot (I like to buy extra rather than run short) You get locked out and a manager has to come override the till
i was having breakfast with wife and i ment to say 'honey could you please pass the pepper' but what i really said was 'you f@#*in bich you ruined my life forever'. turns out i built the dog a nice house. i hope he dosent slobber on my pillow.
Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
cheers. Ill buy.
Hold on! There is an outfit that makes laminate repair goo. They custom-match it to the exact laminate (Formica, Wilsonart, etc.). Save the pieces, glue it nicely back together and then use the repair goo to patch up any divots. I've used it several times and on most laminates you can't tell it's repaired.
http://www.kampelent.com/seamfil.htm
DG/Builder
Funny you should start this thread just now. Yesterday, I'm cutting out the parts for four large wall cabinets. Get to the sides, set the saw fence at 11 3/4, ripped off eight sides. Then I discovered I had set the saw at 10 3/4.Cost me nearly $100 for a new sheet, plus the time to go get it today, and cut them again.At least my new (and very inexperienced) helper got a good lesson in the need to focus. ********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
set the saw fence at 11 3/4, ripped off eight sides.
Then I discovered I had set the saw at 10 3/4.
I've done the same thing. I figured with time, I would stop making that mistake, but it seems that it's like biting your tongue, no matter how much eating you've done, every once in a while it just happens.
Our lame imperial measuring system doesn't help any. I get so focused on the 3/4 (or 11/16, or 23/32) that I lose track of the bigger unit.
I just did it yesterday, but I left an inch too much. Whew!
-Don
I've done this before, but never on such a big scale. And it is always an inch short for me, never an inch too long/wide.I must have a couple of faulty synapses in my brain.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Like just getting the 3/4 mark that was on the wrong side of the 11" mark. Did that a few times.
Edited 5/16/2006 4:09 pm ET by jimcco
you know what's worse than that???
When you cut the parts correctly the first time and then you look at them and say "$hit, I cut them too big. Lucky it wasn't too small..."
then you preceded to cut them smaller. This time you say "%$#@#$%^&, you idiot you were right the first time"
Or how about building the bath pullman at 50" instead of 5'0". Guess what size cabinet is my bathroom, in the wood the wife really doesn't like?
I actually VOLUNTEERED to scrape up the racoon crap that was being deposited nightly on the roof job we are on, Dale has a weaker stomach than I do, so I said "what the hell, it can't be THAT bad.."
Oh yeah, it was...I about hurled my coffee out my nose.
For some insane reason, this coon has been building a pile right smack dab in the center of a valley, we knew it for weeks, but today, we had to line the valley with copper....uuggh.
That was enough.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Damm, I miss that stuff
Yucch! Sounds real nasty.
Did the racoon go quietly, or is he gonna start depositing again?
Nothing dumb here, but I think I've got his cousin.
Went to walk out the front door this afternoon, and I knew we had a squirrel in the roof over the porch - gonna get to it someday. SWMBO was complaining that something in the ceiling tried to urinate on her. I told her I would tap on the ceiling and the squirrel would leave - at least for the moment. I tapped and one of the pieces of wainscot lifted up - saw the cutest pair of coon eyes looking back at me. She sort of screamed and said - we're using the back door.
Guess what just got moved up on the list of things to do?
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
DON'T try this method.http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=73926.1
Find out today.
We still cant figgure how it gets up there, do coons climb scaffold?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Damm, I miss that stuff
Well, you could be glad that all he's doing is expressing his thoughts of you.
I mean if they want in they'll tear a hole in the roof.
be and climb down into short crawlspaces too
half of good living is staying out of bad situations
> We still cant figgure how it gets up there, do coons climb scaffold?
For the ones I've seen here, it should be fairly easy.
-- J.S.
All I know is I have cut six inches off a several projects and they're still too short!
A few days ago I was swapping out a storm door. It was mounted backwards (opening in) and the door closer was mounted above the door on an odd bracket. No problem I thought, I'll reuse the bracket and screws. All went smooth as silk until I opened the door and discovered the old door was quite a bit thicker than the new one. Four nice screw tips poking out the front side of the door...
I've done the very exact thing,
one thing is for sure is I bet it doesn't ever happen again. <G>
Not so fast there Butch. I said the same thing myself before.
What's that saying .......never say never....or something likethat.
Yup
Look on the bright side. That first one is now your template for the second one. Think how much faster it'll go!
Do like others here have done.
Cut out a diamond shape, or clover, or heart, or whatever, and fill it in with a corresponding piece of walnut or oak or corian or whatever...
Or just use a forstner bit, and glue a quarter or half-dollar into the spot.
The destination is not the point. The completion is not the point. Enjoy today. If you can't enjoy today, then what is the point ?
My first try at refinishing a bath tub in my rental property. Follow the directions to the tee. Remove every bit of old caulk, super clean the tub, rinse, etch tub with a special paste, rinse, sand with 220 grit paper, rinse. Wipe down with xylene.
Faucet is dripping. Don't have a new cartridge on hand at this point, so I tape a Gatorade quart bottle over the spout to catch any drips. Very carefully mix two part epoxy tub paint. Apply paint for first coat and it looks PERFECT!
At this point, I grab a full Gatorade, take a gulp, and head to the basement to valve off water to the tub just to make sure the dripping doesn't get past my taped on barrier. Head upstairs to leave, walk to the front door, and decide to walk back to the bathroom to check on the taped spout. I lean over the tub, and my now open orange Gatorade refreshment (which I placed under my arm when I went down into the basement) splashes all over the tub. %&$@*&$!!!!!!!!
Let's just say the next day I had to repeat every step (except dumping orange Gatorade).
Somedays, it doesn't pay to even try!
DIA
DIA = Do It Againknowledge without experience is just information.... Mark Twain
Politicians, like diapers, need to be changed often...and for the same reason. (bumber sticker)
http://www.cobrajem.com
Last week I was putting together a door order for the house I'm trimming.
One closet I figured needed an 18" door.
So I ordered a 1/8" door.
I didn't notice until I tried setting the door.
I ordered a 1/6" yesterday.
One closet I figured needed an 18" door.
So I ordered a 1/8" door.
Is there a reason why doors are spec'd as feet and inches. I mean it seems like it would be so much easier if we just referred to a door's width in inches exclusively. You know, a 2-0 door is 24", etc. I imagine it's some sort of tradition and hey, who am I to mess with it. But I am curious.
-Don
You'd think that ordering by the inch would make sense.
But I have no idea why it isn't regularly done.
I've done something similar with 30" vs. 3/0 doors.
I dunno sometimes if I'm in a hurry, or stupid, or what.
Been there done that. I once installed a 6-0/6-8 set of french doors in an interior library. I cased the hinge side to make it a prehung unit. Nailed it up, crawled through the window, shimmed, cased the other side. Forgot to pull the shipping screws out of the header! Had to rip the whole unit out. Ya gotta do it once just to learn from it. ;-)
The good thing is that you DID learn from it.
I learn from my mistakes, too.
The problem is I still make new, different mistakes.
And I'm getting very skilled at fixing my mistakes.
Then there's the time I shot about twenty finish nails into a pocket door whilest working on the wainscoting there - but that wasn't today, so it doesn't count...;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Oh don't even get me started on pocket doors! Had one just yesterday where the framer stuck the jamb inside of the frame (normal) but he stuck it in vertically where the top was inside of the track.....at the back of the frame. After 20 minutes of trying to get the stupid thing out the boss man walked in with a sawsall and made a plunge cut thru the drywall and we pulled it out in two pieces.My favorite was our cabinet installer who mounted his uppers AND bases to the pocket door with 3" screws. ;-)
I'm not sure if this was dumb or not.
I'm just a couple months into trying to get a home restoration business off the ground. One-man operation.
Client has a dozen projects he wants me to tackle. Project today was to start soffit and fascia repair. Client is supplying bucket truck, so up I go. Pull off some fascia and find everything rotted. Tower roof is leaking; rodents have been nesting. Nasty stuff. Soffit is 25 inches deep. Hundreds of nails from previous cobbled repairs and a modern drip-ege are in the way of installing any new fascia and moldings.
Every rafter tail needs to be sistered. All sorts of angles to be dealt with. Suddenly I'm overwhelmed and call the owner. "I think I'm over my head with this soffit project," I say. "An experienced framing crew could probably reconstruct this pretty efficiently. It would take me a long time to muddle though. And that tower roof really needs to be repaired first."
Dumb? I just gave away a job. But, just starting out, I'm short on tools, and short on experience. And just didn't want this particular challenge. Plus, now I get to move onto building a new porch (re-creating an original porch, but extending it to about twice as long)> Still, I'm thinking it was kinda dumb to bail out of the other project.
Allen
Allen:
Would this soffit repair have been a time & materials deal? I've seen pics of your work and I'm sure you could have handled this. I think you need to network with some other guys who you can call in to help when you get into something bigger than you thought. This way you can expand your capability and not turn down work, maybe grow your business. You could work for them when they needed your expertise as well.
I've heard you say before that you are short on tools. What would be your choices if you were to invest some tool money in your business?
Mike. Good advice. I've always done all my own work, so I'm only now beginning to network with area contractors.
Yeah, this client is more comfortable with a T&M arrangement. I'm still working on my estimating skills, so this is fine with me. For now.
Tool wish list includes a sliding compound mitre saw and some cordless tools. Regarding the cordless, like the poster in another thread, I'm paralyzed by indecision. Always had an outlet nearby, so I've no experience with the battery stuff.
Allen
You dun right. I agree the best thing is too know your limits. It won't be long before that same job is yours to finish.
I guess if there was other work waiting, no harm in passing. a drawback might be being passed over for similar future work. Trusting one's gut is a very important business tool.
You dun right. Neither cold, nor darkness will deter good people from hastening to the dreadful place to quench the flame. They do it not for the sake of reward or fame; but they have a reward in themselves, and they love one another.
-Benjamin Franklin
Seems to me you gotta have the tools you need. Compound miter saw will make you money. I have the Makita LS 1013 and I love it. But you can hardly go wrong with what's out there. Watch for deals and jump on one. You have too much talent to be without good tools. Plus you can write them off.
"With every mistake we must surely be learning"
One of the smartest things you can do in this business is know your limits, whether it's skill, tools, or time available.
You did the right thing.
Now go buy some more tools<G>
It's never dumb to admit that you can't do something. Just make sure you're still in the loop for other projects.
Think of what might have happened ... you jump in, over your head, and screw it up worse or get hurt. How would you explain that to the customer.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Very admirable. I wish that I would have passed on some jobs in the past that I did not. In the long run, made little or no profit because I was to proud to admit to myself that I was in over my head at THAT TIME.
While trimming out the bay window, I measured the INSIDE measurements for the top and side casings. Bought 2 long pieces for top and bottom. I found 2 pieces of short length casing figuring "hey I won't have any waste buying full length pieces". But based on that inside number without adding for the longer outside measurements due to 45* miters, making the side casings just too short. I did not notice until after I had primed and pre-painted them.
Luckily I was able to lower the head casing just enough with a piece of 1 1/2" square stock mounted at the edge of the head board. Not noticeable unless you stick your head in the bay and look up directly at it. No one has noticed, except I know it's there.
I ain't admitting to anything, but-
Let's just say that if the only thing you have is a 20 oz. Coke bottle to mix med. walnut aniline dye in, don't put your 20 oz. Coke you are drinking out of down beside it.
back in the day when i drank sprite, i worked in the new car make-ready department of a dealership. we wiped the road tar and other greasy marks off with varsol, which i dispensed from the big tank into a small container of my choice which sat on my workbench. my container of choice was a sprite bottle, until i learned better.
When I was a teen-ager alot of kids thought it was cool to chew tobacco and spit in a bottle or cup. A buddy of mine had a half bottle of beer and a half of spit.Got his left and right mixed up. After a challange to chug.Never saw someone so ill in my life.I don't know about varasol, but I bet among the three of us, he was stil l the worst off.
Not today, but this weekend. Did side job laying carpet. Removed old builder grade crap and pad, nice new pad and carpet, just had to trim bottoms of 8 doors. Brother in law helping me (great guy to be around, handyman type, wanted to get away from his wife for the day).
Sent him out to start trimming the doors while i finished stretching last room. He came in with sheepish look on face and said, i quote "you did want me to trim that off of the top of the door." My face turned white and he said "Dont worry, I only did it on 7 of them".
Only went in the hole $300 and an extra day fixing mistake, but we did have good laugh and got to spend extra day with one of my favorite people.
Dumb, dumb, dumb...put the Bosch Brute drill on the rear bumper while I went to get the key for the camper. Opened the camper, forgot why I did it...dang...at least it didn't have a battery in it<G>
I drove eighty miles to a project at 4 am this morning. did an inspection at a elem school for parking lot paving. It look good. got started early , felt good. Talk to contractor. everybody happy. drove eighty mile back to office. Boss started chewing on me. " where you been. Contractor raising hell, you two days late" I just been there. " no wrong school go to other school" which is 90 miles the same way. so in one day drove close to 400 miles. What the chance of two elem schools eighty mile away having their parking lot ready for paving on the same day.and then the second job was no where close to being ready for inspection. Guess what Tomorrow I,m heading back that way for another job. Eighty freaking miles.
Edited 5/18/2006 7:08 am by brownbagg
I left my Fritos in my lunchbox, in the sun, with a banana peel in there...
...Chiquita Fritos anyone?
i poured a foundation without an inspection.
RTC
So we were taking down and old aluminum gutter thick with sludge and slimy stinky moldy water.
We got two thirds of it down, no problem.
So we are taking down the last section, oops wait a second Bud, while I adjust my ladder.
Well, guess what happened. That right. It dumped all over the front of me. F*&K!
So I jumped in my truck cause there was a thrift store nearby. Pick me out some dry, better smellin duds. Go to the change room and low and behold I left my blasted wallet at home. Dig around in my truck to find $7 to pay for the nice clothes.
Get back to the job site, sit down for my lunch. Well my cel phone is on my pouch sitting on a little deck just around where the DIRTY deed went down.
So old Mike runs for the phone and jumped up to the deck and landed square on my a**. That slimy water is pretty slippery on an old cedar deck.
And so, how was your day.......
If it wasn’t for the Bank Payments,
Interest, Taxes, Wages, and Fuel Costs,
I wouldn’t have to charge you!!
Curious how that all turned out? "Poured a slab without an inspection"
This has been a helpful thread; it's encouraging to know that even experienced guys make dumb mistakes.
Also thanks to everyone that responded to my "bail out" post ... maybe not so dumb after all.
Yesterday's error was writing down wrong measurements. Had to install three different lengths of clapboards where I had removed an inappropriate window. Made the 30-mile trip to buy clear cedar siding. They had bundled lengths that corresponded nicely to what I thought I needed. Bought just enough for the job, then decided to add a couple extra boards just to be safe.
Got back to the worksite, only to find the two longer lengths were short. Well, actually the LONGEST length was way short. Dunno why I had three measurements written, because NOW I remember I was gonna get the longest length directly from a damaged clapboard I had removed.
The "extra" I bought saved the day. A few more joints than I would have preferred, but it worked out.
Allen
End of day helping a friend, closed the rear hatch of DW's mini-van, get in....."door ajar" light lit.
Went around back, opened hatch, and SLAMMED it shut, back in the van, "door ajar" light still lit, and now I'm cussing, this piece of #$&^....
Walk to the back again, opened hatch, and my cell phone (all busted to pieces) falls out from the between the lock area on the bumper where I had carefully placed it.
What kind of cell phone? Maybe get one of those mil spec 810-F ones next time. I went with the Motorola i530. Not only is it 810-F, it's only $30. That way I won't be out all that much when I finally lose or trash it. ;-)
-- J.S.
This was two years ago......old Nokia 6510.
Gots a "sam-sungthing or the other" now, pics, emails, all the junk I never use.
This week the guy I work with saw the cat outside. It's "declawed" so he made haste to bring it in, turned around and it's outside again.
Ok, this time he gets it, takes it up the stairs, opens the door and...
there's the real cat and the customer laughing. I would have loved to have seen his face.