What’s your least favorite home-building job?
- Pulling down an old plaster ceiling
- Insulating an attic with fiberglass in the summer
- Drywalling a ceiling
- Scraping exterior trim for repainting
- Painting a six-over-six window from a ladder
- Cleaning up after the drywall guys
- Working outside in the rain
- Other
You will not be able to change your vote.
Replies
painting...
any shape kind or flavor...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
yea but we could work on that
Different color might help.
Are you actually saying you hate it so bad you would rather insulate a ceiling in an attic in the hot summer time ?
be finding the insulation guys number
Ive lost , that lovin feelin whoa,o that itchy feelin.
Tim
Edited 8/15/2006 1:32 pm by Mooney
Edited 8/15/2006 1:34 pm by Mooney
Edited 8/15/2006 1:35 pm by Mooney
yup
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Tim,
Your posting so much your addiction is showing. Are you getting any work accomplished, and staying ahead of the bills? : - )
I have placed myself in a BT recovery program...like methodone maintanance.
Gotta go, my counselor is coming.
Shh.
Now I know I dont want you to meet DW.
Roar!
Tim
Other= all of the above.
Other ... removing ceramic tile off a concrete floor.
"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
Other ... removing ceramic tile off a concrete floor.
Yea , that too.
Tim
I just did that and chipped my new glasses with debris, damnit.
http://grungefm.com
Other... anything that has to do with laying on my back in a 24" tall crawlspace filled with construction debris and mouse poop.
Other: Anything I have to do a little too high on a really long ladder.
-- J.S.
It looks like a lot of guys have never pulled down an old plaster cieling.
Let's double down that bet by hiding cellulose insulation up there to come down with the plaster
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
"It looks like a lot of guys have never pulled down an old plaster cieling."over an old wood floorthe kind with the 1" thick t&g slats (that they don't make anymore)no plywood underneathhelplessly watching a nice big heavy hunk of plaster and metal lath rotate slowly through the air as it plummets nine feet to punch daylight into the basement below . . .
ouch!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
And soot. Gotta remember the soot. Ahh, the days of coal burning."Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton
"And soot. Gotta remember the soot. Ahh, the days of coal burning."
When my house was built in 1913, for whatever reason they plastered the basement ceiling. To prepare for installation of a new furnace and all new ducts, I spent the last week tearing it all down and carrying it out to the dumpster in five gallon buckets.
Argh. The old octopus furnace burned coal for the first 50 years of its life, so there was plenty of coal dust up in that ceiling along with plenty of antique mouse nests. It was nasty.
You aint kidding. I did that a few times as a teenager. Man its amazing how much of that stuff can accumulate. You'd be pitch black with soot ten minutes in. And of course, we had all the necessary high tech gear at the time. Paper dust mask.
I think the only thing similar, but possibly worse, was helping my FIL fix one of his hog sheds. Same kind of thing, but it wasn't coal dust. It was 20 year old pig poo that came down like nasty talcum powder. I had pig dust in places I didn't know I had places. "Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton
Replacing a 3-way switch that is popping.
Then finding that the old wiring is a little questionable. Should be one more wire here somewhere. Wiring is old and crumbly rubber/cloth, too.
Having to pull up 80 year old T&G 1x6 flooring in the attic to access the electrical runs, and find out where that missing wire is ( or isn't).
Having to take out the 80 year old crunchy disintegrated FG insulation under the floor I just took up. Yeah, summer, too. After a reroof the previous year. (3 layer tear off, lots of black granules came through the 1x6 roof decking into the attic.)
Figuring out where the missing wire came from. Someone in the past had borrowed a separate neutral from another circuit to complete the original circuit in question.
The rest was easy. Rewire as needed, add some cellulose (should have rented the blower, even for only the 6 bags I had to put in) put back what was left of the splintered, busted T&G floor, cover with plywood.
Still gotta do the same for the next room. Didn't do it at the time because too much stuff in the attic.
The light switch was several years ago. Hard to believe it turned into such a sucky long term project. Still on the project list, and might be there awhile.Pete Duffy, Handyman
Sounds like my ceiling fan install......
DW says "it sure would be nice to have a ceil fan in our bedroom....don't you think. I'm sure with you skill and tools it won't be too hard."
5 1/2 hours later......she's right.....no problem what so ever.
Turns out the only elec in ceil was the feed from the switch.....needed a constant hot for the fan, so decided to run another wire to ceil box, which led to working in the attic (this was early june.....so only aboiut 95 up there) removing solid, 154 year old, 1' thk t&g floor, that was as tight as the day they put it in.
Got wire run, got fan installed, DW is happy, life is good.
Then just last week........."Hey hon, don't you think it would be nice to have a fan in the guest room?"
"No" I responded.....reasoning that our parents are old, and when they visit they probably won't want any "drafts".
Hate to tell you about it now, but they do have those remotes for fans. Hook the single hot from the switch to the remote receiver input. Then there's 2 wires out of the remote receiver, one for the fan, one for the light. Works great. Even has a dimmer for the light.
Don't ya just hate learning this after the fact? Me too.Pete Duffy, Handyman
Thanks......
Never too late to learn.....still got three more bedrooms to put fans in.
"I had pig dust in places I didn't know I had places."if ever there was a line begging for some country music . . . <g>
I really don't mind demoing plaster too much.
For a ceiling, I'd start by laying down floor protection, scrap plywood over carpet or newspaper, and whatever other dust containment and protection stuff is needed. Then if there's an attic above, just stomp around to drop most of the plaster, but leave the lath hanging.
Without an attic, if there's a floor above, work from a 6 step ladder with a straight blade D-handle shovel. (Hard hat, gloves, and gas mask, of course) Set up under the soundest looking part of the ceiling, bash a starting place, then scrape the plaster off of the lath, away from you. Move the ladder to the cleared area, and work from the safe finished part the rest of the way.
When the plaster's down, shovel it up and to the dumpster. Pull the lath down separately and give it away for kindling wood.
If there's insulation, better to get it out first. If that's not practical, too bad. You just have to live with it falling on you.
-- J.S.
You forgot the most important parts...set up a fan blowing out in the downwind windowAs long as there isn't a Jag parked there.And after wards, use white vinegar to rinse your hair in the shower. It cuts the bond the alkaline plaster has on your hair.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks, I forgot about the vinegar. Around here, the neighbors are generally too close to let you blow dust outside. A box fan with a furnace filter taped on the ingoing side helps, though.
-- J.S.
Edited 8/15/2006 6:48 pm ET by JohnSprung
I take offence to the cleaning up after the drywall guys...
I went with the plaster ceiling.
Not just cellulose insullation, but all that black stuff from the roof botch job, and a layer of something that might have been hard board, before it got wet.17 years ago, and only about 6' by 10'. I'm still coughing up that stuff.I should have cut that whole roof off...
Piffin........I have used my air nailer without nails to loosen plaster with good results. also used nailer on walls for perferation for stucco over after removing the really bad spots of plaster recently saw one of my stucco jobs about eleven years old still looks good.
Lets double down that bet with bat guano mixed among that cellulose insulation that comes down with the plaster.Nothing compares. I"d rather make snow angels in the freshly laid insulation on a hot summer day.
Mixing concrete, laying block.
For the young and dumb.
Joe H
Pouring and finishing concrete! You stand around leaning on the shovel waiting for the truck for one to three hours, then work 'till you puke, and keep on working.Then there is stripping a 3" thick pitch roof in the hot Texas sun all day. That'll find a place to stick in your memory!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Why no "all of the above"
actually painting the window from the ladder isn't so bad... the rest I hate equally
I got the Little Giant ladder with the kick-out work platform. It makes painting windows from a ladder almost as easy as standing on the ground. Really saves the legs and feet.
-- J.S.
I done plaster, I done soot, mixed hundreds of yards of concrete by hand in 3 cu ft mixer, dug out a basement by hand, sprayed with oil from busted hose on dozer, dug wells by hand and drilled with machine, done roof tear-offs, done hot tar (DW's least favorite job of all time in all type tasks), done lostsa stuff;
but, the worst is having left the site for a few weeks and having mouse/squirrel poop and nests all over everything to clean up, plus a momma cat and kittens that deceided to also take up residence to take to the pound. Cats musta came after the good squirrel/mouse availability, sawdust pile used as cat litter.
< I done plaster, I done soot, mixed hundreds of yards of concrete by hand in 3 cu ft mixer, dug out a basement by hand, sprayed with oil from busted hose on dozer, dug wells by hand and drilled with machine, done roof tear-offs, done hot tar . . . done lostsa stuff >
Sounds l ike the chorus of a great Country song! Like:
Forrest -
Well, yesterday it was tearing down soffits and finding them full of old squirrel/mouse nests.
Fixing other peoples bad work.
painting
roofing
project managers
having to fight the "schiester-contractor" image that some people have about us in the industry.
I have no comment...
I don't mind taping and mudding drywall, but I hate sanding it, especially in the corners. And I've done most of that other stuff too.
Peace,
Caseywww.streets.org
Edited 8/16/2006 6:36 am by CaseyF
I've done all of the above and more. Just reading this thread makes me itchy and ornery. And my family wonders why I get moody.
With the exception of working in the rain and "other" those are all remodeling jobs, not house building. Plaster removal is a laborers job, can't afford to pay a carpenters wages for grunt work. Insulation companies provide the material and installation for about what it would cost just for the insulation, why would I want to touch the stuff. Drywall is done completely by drywallers from hanging to clean up. If they leave a mess they will be back and won't be hired again. Painting and prep work are done by painters, another wage issue.
We all do a lot of dirty, hard work but that's the job. The worst part of most jobs is dealing with John Q. The other stuff is just temporary pain.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
hammer
The other stuff is just temporary pain.
I think you hit it on the head! Everything on the list is dirty work but its all just temporary, I can dig ditches if I have to, don't want to but if its gotta be done then I'll do it, wont do it for very long but.......
I checked "other" because none of those jobs are all that bad, maybe if all I had to look forward to for the next three years is tearing down plaster ceilings with whatever choice of insulation that anybody on here wants to pick out then I might look for other work but for a day or two, hell, tear into it and move on to the next thing.
Doug
Ever try pulling down plaster in one with fire damage. Some time in the 20's the building was a 1 room school. It had fire inside; but instead of tearing it out & starting over they nailed up new lath and plastered over it again. Int the 60's we got to strip it & do dry wall.
Another one we used to run into then was sistering on rough 2x12 floor joists under the overhead mow floor in hay barns after the farmer had dropped too heavy a load of bales on bare floor. They generally waited until the mow was full before deciding the floor might give way.
Just finished 30 12 over 12's so ya ain't got nothin' on me there..cake!
Plaster with horsehair removal...no biggie
Drywall a ceiling? yeh so?
Working out in the rain? Whaaaaa, what a babyyyyyy...
Insul in an attic on a summer day and pushing my finger deep into my eye socket till the lil ball pops outta my ear ranks right up there together.
If Blodgett and Gunner say, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
Just wanted to say your place looks pretty sweet.
Shame you're inviting a bunch of people over to trash it ;)
But then you needed work for next year right?
Thanks bro...means a lot coming from you....after all we were there for you through college a marrage a ba...........If Blodgett and Gunner say, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
Pulling down an old plaster ceiling under a bathroom.
The view from above
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I've seen worse. Along with the "expected" muck due to leaks and overflows, they had redone the bathroom tile once and pushed much of the rubble through holes in the floor.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
The "insulating in the attic in the summer" question is going to vary drastically due to location. I'd have put it first like many others, but where I live it's not so much of a problem if you do it at the crack of dawn.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." Voltaire
Looking at your list I see some items that aren't part of "home-building". For example "Pulling down an old plaster ceiling" or "Scraping exterior trim for repainting". These items are part of remodeling, and there are a lot of people here at BT who do this kind of thing. Perhaps you could market a "Fine Home Remodeling" magazine. The target market would be remodelers and do-it-yourself homeowners.
Other - installing marlite
I hated installing "Marlite" by myself with the little "matching trims".
It was a tedious measuring challenge for a cheap crappy product.
hummm never herd of Marlite before... I looked at their web site and kinda got the idea. Is it mainly a commercial product? Sounds like just paneling - maybe like the kind that is installed in campers and mobil homes that comes with the matching strips? Interesting the way their marketing info gives such glowing reports and yours is at the top of the "hate list" :-) "a wide array of design options that install and maintain easily." I think I'll choose to believe you :-)
Wow, you're right - they really put a good face on it.