Tools Left On Your Job Site

Mike Finley

This has been something I have been meaning to post about for a long time, it's kind of a running joke for us.

Do you guys have subs leaving their tools behind on your job sites? It seems to come in waves for us, but it always strikes me as funny when it happens, cause they all deny they are theirs!

Like on a job a month ago - found a nice screw driver in the crawl space, had to be dropped by the plumber as he was the only one in there other than us. A nice pipe wrench found where it fell into the insullation under the tub deck. A work light and a cresent wrench and a nice new tarp left in the other crawl space with the door closed on them had to be left by the other plumber hired by the fire place sub running the gas.

Seems like about every 3rd job we are finding a hammer, some recip blades, screw drivers, utility knives, tape measures... even find articles of clothing. Sweat shirt with the plumbers company name on it left by the assistant, gloves.. etc.

I used to call the subs after we found something but now I just say screw it. Every time I have called the answer is always the same. Nope not mine. Screw it then.

Even when I called the guy about his assistants sweat shirt with his company name on it, until I finally told him about the name on it he was in complete denial. Nope, no, no, not ours, nope... oh it's got our name on it?... screw it, throw it away, serves him right for leaving it.

Now it's like a running joke with us, if we need something we joke around that "Hey the subs will be on the next job, should we just wait and see if they end up leaving it for us?"

The whole thing is just kind of goofy. I just can't imagine leaving your tools behind on jobs so frequently, and then when somebody calls you up to tell you about them, automatically saying nope, not mine. We are acumilating quite a few extra tools, maybe I need to open up a used tool store on Ebay.

A.W.Davis

Hey Mike, would you happen to have an extra Klein 10-in-1 screwdriver laying around.....I cant seem to find mine anywhere!

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
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thom

I'm looking for a skid-steer and dump truck. Had one of those left behind lately?

L. B. Condulet

See if you can get extra tips, I lose those all the time...

POOLMANinCT

I've forgotten tools & denied it. must be an odd pride instinct. last fall I winterized a pool & left my leatherman on top of the heater. drove myself nuts, bc I could swear I left in in basement laundry room. so after a few weeks, like a tool junky I replaced it. I returned in spring to open pool & it was sitting right on the heater...

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TempestV

my uncle (homeowner) hired some masons, who showed up, did the job, and left, leaving behind most of their tools. He tried to contact them to see when they would pick up their tools, and couldn't get a hold of them.

A.W.Davis

No doubt, those pesky little tips never want to stay in the barrel of the screwdriver!!

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

troubleseeker

Some guys seems to be notorious for leaving tools. We ride our electrician that every time he calls an order to his supply house, they must just include a couple of Klien screwdrivers and a pair of lineman pliers, and a 7/8" auger bit, because we find them on every job. Extension cords, small cordless drivers he uses to intall devices, and even his big 1/2" angle drill. He always gets everything from our jobs back, but I wonder how much he looses on other, more "open" sites.

Plumber, exactly the opposite. His guys have been screamed at so much, that anybody working near them has to be careful when they are picking up, ot their screwdrivers or similiar hand tools may get thrown into the plumbers bucket. A couple of jobs ago, he came charging onto the job screaming to find out who had picked up at the job they had completed before coming to mine, ranting about stuff left behind. I figured someone
had left a major item like a Hole Hawg or set of threading dies...he had found three 3/4" copper ells when he went there.

mdshunk

I leave stuff from time to time. I'm often working all over the place in the house, and if there's other people working there too, things sorta blend in. I generally remember where I might have left a given item. If I have no idea where I might have left something lay, the rule of thumb is that I'll never get it back until I've already bought a new one. When I'm in attics working, if it has blown insulation, if you drop a small tool into that stuff, it's as good as gone.

nywoodwizard

I leave empty coffee cups behind and thats it !

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IHateJoeCool

I don't know if this fits the bill but there always seems to be some paving crew, milling crew, the utility co, the state or city, a sub or gc leaving behind a slew of traffic cones, orange barrels, Jersey barriers or wooden barricades on a job. I know the shop back in Waterloo has about a hundred barrels & cones with "NYSDOT", "National Grid" or "Syracuse DPW" stencled on them......
Be safe,
JAY

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RIGHT LANE CLOSED AHEAD

nywoodwizard

Thanks to them kind of guys i've never had to pay for a traffic cone.

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Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

mdshunk

I find the same thing, and I save them up and cash them in to their rightful owners for favors on the job. "Hey, here's a couple dozen of your cones, and oh, by the way... do you have a blah,blah, blah on your truck I can have?".

IHateJoeCool

Ever notice none of these numb nuts never leave a track hoe or bucket loader sitting off the shoulder of the road though?
I bet they'd be back to get that in 10 minutes......
Be safe,
JAY

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RIGHT LANE CLOSED AHEAD

mdshunk

Actually, there's a Bobcat 743 just down the road from me that's been sitting so long they've got "the boot" on the one wheel now. You'd think someone would be missing that?

nywoodwizard

whats the address ?

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RobertCDF

Yeah, I will gladly come and tow it for somebody.

I bet it is stolen from another area fairly far away. Got used some and when it broke down they just dumped it somewhere.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
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MechanicalDVR

Don't ya just hate it when your stolen backhoe breaks down?

I think I have seen at least one 6' fiberglass ladder with a EC's name painted on the side on every job I have gone to in the last month. A few weeks ago I was doing an install at a high rise and saw a ladder in the electrical room with a name on it I recognized, when I went to the supply house that afternoon I saw the owner and told him about his ladder and he said they never work in that building, couldn't have been his. It must get expensive losing ladders like that all the time.

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logdoc

I just don't understand leaving tools. Do they have too much money, because I have to buy my own tools. I guess that I am too anal about putting my tools back in their place. Every tool has a specific place and if it's not there, I can see an empty hole.

te12c02w

I agree with logdoc. I too am anal about my tools, but I am also forgetful. It seems I am always leaving something somewhere. I have my truck laid out so as I can see if something is obviously missing. If it isn't there then I have to go looking. That doesn't seem to translate to helpers or apprentices though. They just think I am way too obsessive. I have to constantly watch if someone else is picking up at the end of the day. If someone doesn't put the tool back where it came from then the next time I need it I can't find it and have to go get another one. The problem with lost or misplaced tools seems to be directly proportional to the number of helpers on the job. Good tools are expensive and it really bugs me to lose one.

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Jim R