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Discussion Forum

Working alone

Oak River Mike | Posted in General Discussion on June 30, 2006 04:26am

How many of you guys work alone?  And if so, is it everyday?

Just curious. Thanks

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Replies

  1. hmj | Jun 30, 2006 04:39am | #1

    I work alone most every day - warn the homeowner that I talk to myself out loud. I worked a desk job for the federal gubment for a while and I supose that made somewhat of a misanthrope.

  2. CAGIV | Jun 30, 2006 04:44am | #2

    I drink alone..... that count?

    seriously though, why are you asking?

     

    Team Logo

    1. Oak River Mike | Jun 30, 2006 07:00pm | #12

      Just curious as I'm trying to grow the business and tackle larger projects (complete homes) as I'm kind of getting tired of the smalller jobs.  I LOVE doing the work but for some reason doing it alone is starting to beat me up.  Not sure why.  Not physically but mentally.

      And unfortunately, we're at that point where the jobs aren't big enough to hire someone (need insurance, workmen's comp) yet just large enough to be too much.

      Mike

      1. craigf | Jul 01, 2006 04:22am | #29

        I work alone all the time. I think one of the hardest things about it is that I have to plan everything, do it and do the bidding, customer service, billing etc. If I was working in a company, I would just have my area of responsibility to worry about. I think thats what wears me out mentally.Physically, sometimes I do jobs it would be better to have someone on the other end of the drywall or plywood. The problem is that many of my jobs are too small to have someone else.I played around with the idea of trying to grow into something big enough to hire someone. I looked at labor burden and decided the only way it would work is to do cookie cutter jobs. With the cost of the labor, everything has to be done very efficently.I have some sort of sick need for the variety and an even sicker need for the oddball head scratching stuff.The best part is the independence. I don't have to argue with someone how to do something.The real reason I work alone is I would feel guilty for dragging someone else into messes I get into:)

    2. rasconc | Jul 01, 2006 05:02am | #35

      I used to worry about that then I read it is a problem if you prefer to drink alone.  I felt fine since I would drink alone or with most anyone.

      Bob

  3. VaTom | Jun 30, 2006 04:54am | #3

    I'm happily solo, everyday.  Large project changes that, but I rarely do one.

    PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

  4. User avater
    McDesign | Jun 30, 2006 05:23am | #4

    I work alone - I'm always distracted when anyone's around.  My favorites are when the client hands me the keys and says' "we're going on vacation".

    Just finished a 2-week job like that today. HO is coming home tomorrow.

    Tiling in 3 rooms, some wood floring, a breakfast bar, some repairs.

    Got a lot of trusted subs, and no employees - wouldn't have it any other way.

    I had a corporate career once, where I was engineering director of a fairly large division, but that's all just glorified paper pushing and babysitting.  Never again!

    Forrest

    1. Dave45 | Jun 30, 2006 06:04am | #6

      I've been working alone so long that "help" gets in the way more often than not.  Over the years, I've worked out so many little tricks that a helper usually just stands there watching - lol.

      Most of my customers give me free access to their homes and I take a great deal of pride in their trust.  One long time customer almost got annoyed when I refused to just keep the key and gate remote to her condo.  I gave her a song and dance about how I lose things so it would be better if I just came by her office when I needed to get in.

      My next job is modification of some very nice maple cabinets in a mega-bucks house at the local country club.  I met with them twice and emailed my bid.  She called today to tell me that they were off to New York for a vacation and where she had hidden the key.  She also added three more projects to the list - lol.

  5. dustinf | Jun 30, 2006 05:37am | #5

    Alone.  Everyday.  Projects from $30 to $400,000.  Just a matter of picking and choosing what I handle myself, and what I sub out.

    I was working with a helper a few days over the past couple weeks, and I find it very frustrating.  I'm just used to doing everything exactly the way I want.  I almost blew a gasket when I saw him wrapping my cord up around his arm.

    I'm gonna break my
    I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

    1. BruceCM | Jun 30, 2006 06:05am | #7

      I too have thouroughly enjoyed working alone. Nobody to answer to, to explain things to or depend on...just me.

      C-Clamps are my best friend....got lots of em!

      And if its heavy and needs to get from where it is to some other place, patience and careful planning will get it there.

      Safety tip: keep 911 on speed dial always reachable.

      Finally, for those working alone that haven't read it yet, consider reading John Carroll's

      BruceM

      Working Alone: Tips and Techniques for Solo Building

       

    2. User avater
      dieselpig | Jun 30, 2006 10:31pm | #17

      I almost blew a gasket when I saw him wrapping my cord up around his arm.

      LOL... I can relate.  Who the he11 is going around teaching kids to do that?View Image

      1. dustinf | Jun 30, 2006 11:07pm | #18

        Probably Play Station 2, or whoever is raising America's children these days.I'm gonna break my I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

      2. DougU | Jul 01, 2006 06:40am | #38

        I love working around a guy that gets bent over the cord around the arm thing, I'll do it every night at quitin time!

        I love knowing some simple little thing that just gets under someones skin!

        Doug

        Go Yanks

        Edited 6/30/2006 11:40 pm ET by DougU

        1. User avater
          dieselpig | Jul 01, 2006 01:48pm | #39

          Ok.

          Go Sox.View Image

    3. DustinT | Jul 01, 2006 06:27am | #37

      That is so funny what you said about the cord.  This kid that worked with my brother and I did the exact same thing as you mentioned-after I explicitly told him not to.  The reason why I told him this is because my brother will "blow a gasket," and he did.  I chuckled to myself while my brother's blood pressure soared.

      Dustin

    4. jrnbj | Jul 01, 2006 10:46pm | #41

      Good thing you work alone....I've got cords I've been wrapping around my arm for twenty years, & they still work fine.....

  6. Dale Olson | Jun 30, 2006 06:13am | #8

    Know what you all are saying.  Even though I do not work in the building trades.  I enjoy working on many projects by myself.  If I make a mistake (made many) its my choice on what to do.  Cant stand someone looking around saying "you know I do it this way".  Like to learn in my own.  Although if totally I do ask questions until i get it.  Sometimes takes me a while.

  7. DanH | Jun 30, 2006 06:21am | #9

    There's alone and then there's alone. Working by yourself in an are where others are working is one thing, but working in an isolated area with no one else around is another.

    A friend of ours was working alone when he fell off a stepladder, injuring his back so he couldn't move. He just happened to have his cell on him (didn't normally, but was expecting a call) and was able to call for help. Without the cell he'd have been laying there all weekend (winter in MN in an unheated house), since his wife was out of out of town and no one would have missed him.

    If you gotta work alone, make sure someone knows where you are and will check up on you, and keep your cell on you.

    If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
    1. ownerbuilder | Jul 01, 2006 07:56pm | #40

      That's a great point.  I run a machine shop, and I never schedule someone to work alone.  A few years ago I saw a guy get hung up in a large lathe when the curling chip string grabbed both of his hands and pulled them around the work piece.  Broke both of his wrists and it took three guys to get him loose.  Can you imaging hanging like that for hours, or even days?  Fall off a ladder and get a piece of rebar thru your thigh and you'd be real happy there was someone close by!

  8. calvin | Jun 30, 2006 12:50pm | #10

    Solo all the time except for subcontractors.

    More fun than one guy should have.

    A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.

    Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

    Quittin' Time

     

  9. Jer | Jun 30, 2006 01:53pm | #11

    Yes, now I work alone.  Sometimes I work as a sub or with subs of my own, but mostly I am alone.  It has its good & bad.  I suffer from  this damned ADD stuff and it can really get awful at times when I'm alone because I can't stay focused.  I have had to teach myself techniques on methodical workmanship and how to set things into a production mode instead of going from one little moment to the next.  One of the things I do is have a little note pad with me and follow the list down as I work through the steps of whatever it is I do.  If I get a good show on NPR or the music station I like that will help with the flow.

    Working with people can be good if I like them and they're on the same wave length as me.  I can't stand being around complainers and people who are over the top political fingerpointers.  Part of the reason you don't see me getting too embroiled here in the Tavern.  I admire quiet proactive types. 

    Throughout the years I have developed many techniques on how to accomplish projects alone.  Sheetrock a cieling without a hoist?  No problem.  The secret is in balancing and using the objects weight to your advantage. I have many different types of clamps.

    Some things however I won't do alone anymore.  The cell phone is always charged and on me.

     

    Q:  How many people with ADD does it take to change a lightbulb?....

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A:  Let's ride bikes!!!...

    1. TheLargestAl | Jun 30, 2006 10:25pm | #15

      Jer -

      Let's ride!  I am also mildly ADD and it is amazing the little things we do to keep our focus.  Talk radio helps me but if I hear songs I know the words to, I slow down working and sing along.

       

      1. DanH | Jun 30, 2006 10:27pm | #16

        Yeah, and if you sing like me then that's why you have to work alone.
        If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison

  10. Oak River Mike | Jun 30, 2006 07:00pm | #13

    Thanks guy, I appreciate the input.

    Mike

    1. Shep | Jun 30, 2006 11:15pm | #19

      I work alone probably 80-90% of the time.

      When I do need a hand on a larger project for a day ( or 2 or 3), I have a couple of contractor friends that I can call for help.

      And they can call me when they need a hand.

    2. Shep | Jun 30, 2006 11:17pm | #20

      Besides, when working alone I always know who to blame when something gets f'ed up.

      <G>

      1. User avater
        Gunner | Jun 30, 2006 11:50pm | #21

        I still blame someone else. Even if I have to make up a person. It just makes me look and feel better.

         

         

        Rock the Tipi!

        1. Stilletto | Jul 01, 2006 12:31am | #22

          I run a crew of guys thats four guys at full strength.  Monday through Friday 99% of the time for them. 

          Then I work Saturdays and Sundays by myself and love it.  I can get more done on the weekend than I can on any two given days in the week,  phones not ringing,  suppliers aren't stopping by,  and the guys aren't there to ask what they should be doing. 

          I like sheeting roofs and doing stairs on the weekends, kind of scares me with the guys running around on a 12/12.  And stairs I can concentrate more on those without being distracted.  Now that all new stairways around here have winders and multiple landings they are easy to screw up.Can't you hear the violin playing your song.

          1. User avater
            dieselpig | Jul 01, 2006 12:47am | #23

            There's nothing worse than framing a landing at the wrong height.  LOL... that one just kills me.  Was that number to landing subfloor or landing finished floor?  Aw man....

            Not trying to be a downer here, but sheeting a 12 in 12 on a jobsite all by yourself Stilletto?  I'm only calling you on it because I like you and would like to see you posting here for a few more years brother.  Stick to stairs on weekends dude.View Image

          2. Stilletto | Jul 01, 2006 01:06am | #24

            I'll be around for a long time man,  you can't get rid of me that easy.  I'm not bullet proof but I am careful.

            My wife says the same thing too about my weekend sheeting habits so she hangs out with me from time to time in her lawn chair.  It freaks her out so, she only comes out when she forgets what she saw the last time.

            Finshed floor is,  aw crap have to measure again,  I have the attention span of a 4 year old so getting distracted is very easy.Can't you hear the violin playing your song.

          3. newbuilder | Jul 01, 2006 01:45am | #25

            I'm in the process of building a 40 foot 'tower' addition to my house.  Four floors, each about 20 by 13 ... unbelievable view from 3rd, 4th and rooftoop.  I'm only just putting in the third floor floor right now ...     I'm doing every single thing myself and alone and will do through to the final inspection.  I'm absolutely lovin it.  Most true fun I've had in years!  If I'd known how much fun building alone was 40 years ago I woulda made a career out of it!

            T.

          4. Oak River Mike | Jul 01, 2006 03:46am | #26

            Very interesting stuff guys. Great responses.  I'm amazed at how many of you go it solo each day!  I don't know one other guy in my area that does and all my buddies think I'm crazy and should just go get a real job with some company.

            I built my own home about 6 years ago all by myself (some of you might remember all my questions during the two years it took)so going solo is not new.  I guess lately I'm just having trouble being motivated or feeling overwhelmed.

            It just seems like I can't get enough done during each day yet the jobs aren't large enough to hire help.  I want to do larger projects where I just manage subs (OK, maybe do some framing which I LOVE) but the phone just isn't ringing for those so I'm paying bills by doing smaller ($5k-10k) stuff.

            Just having trouble getting through them.  And its not age as I'm only late 30s.  Its all mental I think?

            Mike

          5. jimblodgett | Jul 01, 2006 04:28am | #30

            Have you tried working with someone with complimentary skills to yours?  So you take the lead when the work demands your strengths/abilities, and the other takes the lead when the work favors their strengths?  But throughout you have company, someone to share the load with, to bounce ideas off of, to keep you motivated when your batteries get low?

            As far as the "It just seems like I can't get enough done during each day..." statement - do you mind me asking how you determined that?  I mean, you can only do so much in a day, right?  Is it possible you have unrealistic expectations of yourself?  Or is someone else telling you you're not producing enough/day, or what?Tipi, Tipi, Tipi!

            http://www.asmallwoodworkingcompany.com

          6. Oak River Mike | Jul 01, 2006 04:41am | #31

            Jim,

            Thanks for the input.  I like the idea of using someone complimentary to myself, just can't seem to locate that person.  The guys I know in the biz all work for someone else and don't want to go out on their own.  Maybe I need to place a personal ad for a "good contractor".  As long as I don't get any female replies that might work or the DW won't be too happy.

            And you may be right on my expectations as I do feel like if I get 20 sheets of rock put up in a day it should have been 25 just as an example.  I guess I just base that on the fact that the sooner I get the job done I'm working on now, the sooner I can get to the next one and make some money.

            Don't want to sound like money is the only reason I'm doing it but unfortunately, it is one of the top reasons.  Just can't seem to get them finished and to the next one quick enough. 

            Mike

          7. User avater
            McDesign | Jul 01, 2006 04:47am | #33

            I like the idea of using someone complimentary to myself

            You know, the real goal is to have someone complimentary OF youself -

            "Gee boss, that's nearly god-like in its goodness.  Let me buy you a steak tonight!"

            Yeah

            Forrest

          8. Jer | Jul 01, 2006 05:35am | #36

            " Is it possible you have unrealistic expectations of yourself? "

             

            This was a huge problem of mine for many years and I would beat myself up often for it.  I'm older now and instead of unrealistic expectations, I know my realistic limitations and act accordingly.  Oh for the stamina and brawn of my salad days yet such sweetness there is in these years of self contentment.

            "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"   Ecclesiastics

          9. User avater
            McDesign | Jul 01, 2006 04:45am | #32

            I've been trying to talk the DW into a 3-stort tower for years on our old Queen-Anne style home.  She says okay, when all else is finished.  She thinks guys have a phallic obsession with towers.

            Sounds good!

            Forrest

          10. Piffin | Jul 02, 2006 12:20am | #42

            I did a 12/12 with green wet 2x12 rafters and sheathed it myself once twenty some years ago.Only offing that as evidence it is survivable.But I wasn't so sure when that week was over. 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          11. RedfordHenry | Jul 02, 2006 05:34am | #43

            I work alone about 98% of the time.  The funny thing is, I always refer to myself as "we" whenever I'm talking to a prospective client. 

          12. AlanRoberson | Jul 02, 2006 07:14am | #44

            You guys have kids to coil your cords?

          13. Oak River Mike | Jul 02, 2006 07:30pm | #46

            Alan,

            I'm glad you mentioned it first as I was going to say I don't care how someone rolls up my cords, I just wish I had SOMEONE to do it! 

            I don't have any kids of my own so I'm stuck doing my own "roll out and roll up"

            Mike

          14. User avater
            AaronRosenthal | Jul 02, 2006 11:05pm | #47

            Like most here, I work alone usually.
            In the summer I normally have a high school kid around, but my son (17) refuses to work with me.
            The down side is, that I need to make a certain amount of money and working by myself at 61 makes life harder. No the DW does not pitch in, and my 7 year old (it's a long story) has a ways to go before he's capable and safe.
            Like a lot of you, I like talk radio. My Job Site radio has quit working on AM an it costs as much to get it fixed as a new one. Only music on FM.Quality repairs for your home.

            AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada

             

          15. Oak River Mike | Jul 02, 2006 07:29pm | #45

            Red,

            Yeah, I catch myself doing that too!

            Mike

          16. Jer | Jul 01, 2006 03:54am | #27

            "Then I work Saturdays and Sundays by myself and love it. "

             

            You take time off at all?  That'll kill ya as fast as anything.

          17. Stilletto | Jul 01, 2006 04:15am | #28

            I don't really take much time off,  sometimes I work until noon on saturday then play 18 holes.  Can't you hear the violin playing your song.

  11. joeh | Jun 30, 2006 07:21pm | #14

    30 years, 90% of that time alone.

    Joe H

  12. fab4beck | Jul 01, 2006 04:48am | #34

    I work alone most of the time myself but if i get  job where I feel I need help usually my wife will come along to give me the extra hand or I ask one of my nephews to come along and I'll just pay them out of my own pocket for there help. On painting jobs that I do anymore my wife wants to come along to help me paint and I got her trained in a method of painting that seems like we are do in a snap.

    All in all I enjoy working by myself for the same reasons everyone else has mentioned I can keep focused on what I am doing, and seems like I get more done with no one asking me questions or I have to stop and check up on who ever is working with me, but I love working alone and the cell phones hooked on my tool belt or on my side.

    Scott 

    Scott Beckett's Handyman Service

    Jack of all trades

    "Can't never did anything but can did"

     

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