Improvement!!

Boogga

What needs improvement in the Building Industry?? What things just aren't good enough that could be done better?? Methods, machinery, tools etc.



Boogga

__________________

"It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees"

Ed the Roofer

Now a days, I run an open shop workplace, (non-union), but when I first started out in 1978, I did my Union apprenticeship, required training and classes, and journeynman skill/apptitude test.

Unless an organization such as ABC,(US open shop organization, booga), offers trade skills training, I am not aware of any such learning programs. It is usually, I learned this and that from this guy or that guy. If the supposed teacher has never acquired the proper skills, he is handing down the wrong ways of doing things over and over again. It is the rare individual who really knows all of the related skills required for a professional job.

Also, anything to do with job-site safety issues. I am inviting everyone of my employees to attend a roofing industry fall protection and train-the-trainer safety program sponsored by OSHA in a couple of weeks. I am not aware of any previous free safety training seminars. I gladly would have attended even if there were a cost associated.

Currently, I am starting this year out with a 1 hour toolbox session, mandatory on every Friday, after a slightly shorter work day. We will be studying the master shingling book for technical advancement, and we will address safety issues which may have been overlooked in the past. Also, how did this past weeks jobs go-what do we need for the next week-any suggestions from the crew. Open discussion forum. How can we all do our jobs better, safer, and more productive. Doughnuts, coffee, and pop are on me. The sessions will initially not be compensated for, but if they pass the tests required each quarter, then I will bonus these hours to them.

I also have picked up a pocket reference book for Spanish/English to assist in better communication between all parties involved.

Ed

Boogga

Onya Ed....The toolbox session is the best way of retrieving ideas and issues from our workers on health and safety. It is informal and I guess the workers are relaxed and you get the best out of them. Rather than in an office around a table hush hush listening to one leader harp on and waiting to be allowed to raise your hand to speak on an issue.

Yep there should be more of them! This is an improvement.

__________________

"It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees"

Tom M

Excellant suggestions Ed. The trades lack proper training. back in the day we had a tech school that was great for auto trades but not nearly enough education on saftey or skill. Handed down knowledge is only as good as you were taught.

Ed the Roofer

One noteworthy point I did not expand upon. Regarding training; If you are already involved in a trade, such as roofing like me, then there are manufacturers certification and training classes available for minimal or no fee. Since I have been involved in roofing since 1978, I still grasp at every opportunity to enhance my knowledge or talent level. It doesn't matter if it is about business administration, sales, marketing, accounting, or the actual trade skill itself.

The other side of the coin is; What about the completely untrained future potential employees. There is a vast resource that is not even aware of the income potential and source of pride thay can receive from becoming a properly trained tradesman. This group is who should be sought out and made aware of any pros about joining the skilled contractor field.

Ed

Tom M

Im with you Ed. Its a great solution if it can be organized. Imagine getting an employee with the skill level that is proven. For them a guage at what the potential can be down the road based on growth experience. I always thought the mechanical trades provided better employees if no other reason than the fact they had to take the trade serious enough to study and attend or learn to become licensed. The carpentry, and roofing thing is all about the habits the installer has acquired from previous employers. I often felt union guys were lazyier than non-union guys but provided better skills because they worked with many other guys , in which new ways of doing things are adopted. Ed do you remember "GAF Woodline" thats how far I go back. I never bothered to get certified as an GAF installer but thats what your saying right?

Ed the Roofer

Yeah, I liked the Woodline series alot at the time they were out. Then the asbestos suit, JM turned over their residential line and just went commercial products. It was a good F-G arch shingle.

After that I switched primarily to Tamko Heritage and a few of the upper lines from Certainteed. Not Hearthstead or Halmark though. There have been alot of claims on those two lines.

Ed

JohnJ0906

Safety training.

PressurePros

More contractors like Ed that have their sh*t together.

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Ken Fenner
Pressure Washing PA
Roof Cleaning Services PA

concretemasonry

Window installation is a big thing considering the amount of problems with mold and moisture pentration. It is estimated that over 60% of the windows are installed improperly if you really look at them closely.

There are courses (2 day) offered around the country that offer a certification rating.

I took one. Many contractors are sending their people to get certiified. Other builders are subbing out the installation to certified installers and using their people in other areas where they are valuable. There are a lot of little things that are pointed out that can be big problems in the future. Many of the good traditions do not always fly with some of the complications added with some of the newer systems in homes.

The reason is the number of moisture problems and law suits. Having a certiified installer makes it much easier to cut through all the other baloney to determine what the real problem is. Having a certified installer puts the burden back on others.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

Ed the Roofer

Thanks for the compliment, but I feel that the only place I have my doo-doo together is in my head sometimes. It's taken 23 years in business to learn that I still need to learn and improve, substantially.If good motives and good plans are all they remain, and never implemented, you or I will always get what we have always gotten.

At least I am always heading in a positive direction, forward and forward some more. First things first and a little at a time.

If it were not for two accidents in my company this past season, I doubt I would be so proactive regarding going to next weeks FREE OSHA training seminar.

I'm glad I have the time to get to 10 % to 25 % of al the ideas I have.

Maybe that is one of the improvements that we overlook. Networking like this or in some cases face to face, with an honest and open discussion of problems and how to obtain results!

Ed

Boogga

I have a metal roof and on the hips and ridges there is always this gap. Now in Australia at the moment we have quite afew bushfires about and when I was in my attic the other day, there was heaps of ash (black ash) on the floor. The alarm bells are ringing in my head and saying where the hell is this ash coming from. I think it's from the gaps left from the sheeting. Rather crap really. Since ED is a Roofer, maybe he knows how to conquer this problem and IMPROVE on it. I'd say every metal roof has this problem.

__________________

"It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees"

Tom M

Sounds like ventilation slots in the sheathing. Many products suggest hip slots in a addition to ridge. I never open hip sheathing myself its to weak but standing seam roof is all metal needs to breath more than asphalt. The vent could be fabric or mesh like GAF Cobra so its hard to see from the exterior. It sounds like your stuck with this situation.

Pearce Services

I'd like to know why most sheetrock jobs I see lately are horrible, I have seen so many new construction sites where the seams are all showing, and separation at the ceiling line, Maybe truss uplift or something.

Is this "New and improved" gone bad, or is it that no one cares anymore?

Mrmac204

I would think that goes hand in hand with the job quote rather than the deadly "paid by the hour" thing,, of course the faster that you get a job done, the more money you make... we see this all the time, framers who sorta get close, drywall guy isn't gonna spend his time to correct that, the finish guy is stuck tryin to make it look good- and the painter has to clean it all up... it would take a hard line GC to keep everyone on thel level...

Ed the Roofer

Sorry it took so long to get back to you Booga.

1st problem with standing seam or other varieties of metal panel roof systems are application error. Where the panel intersects either the hip or the ridge, there should either be a seperate j-channel piece installed to prevent wind (and particle) infiltration. The other method is for the sheet metal to have an additional bend at the top edge to create this same weather inhibitor.

If these are the problems which allow wind to blow itself along with particulite into the open cavities, then a preventative measure would be to install what would be known as bird-stop or enclosure plugs. The ones they sell that I am personally familiar with are foam enclosures
pre-molded to the profile of the panel configuration.

Foam? Not a good idea if brush fire is the concern. They do have hardened manufactured products that offer the same characteristics.

Personally, I would brake enough j-channel to create a tight fit in the recesses and bend a spring lock v-wedge on the top portion which would tightly abutt the hip or ridge material. A proper seating in a caulking adhesive should prevent leakage issues. I would use stainless steel blind pop rivets to secure them to the field panels, and then as an additional precaution, cover the rivet heads with a minimum amount of clear silicone or the manufacturers recommended sealant.

Additionaly, to take this barrier one step further, I would possibly fill the opening under the hip and ridge caps with a non-combustible insulation, such as pieces of fiberglass batt insulation, to ensure wind resistance and reduce internal fire potential hazards.

I hope this helps.

Ed