Tools Left On Your Job Site

varybarry

My brother and I are co-owners in our business. He is constantly leaving our tools laying around and I'm too obsessive to leave stuff behind. The arguments never end.

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killamike553

^ You want see tools laying around job sites that often in Miami, when you go back for them they wont be there!!

Mike Finley

Almost had a nice Dewalt 18volt snake light. Electrician came back on the job after 5 days to do some other work for the homeowner and found his light still sitting where he left it. His comment: Oh wow, there's my light, I thought I lost it on a custom I was just working on.

Chazbe

This seems to be an age old problem!!!
Last year I had to re-do some plaster and lath ceilings in a 100 year old apt building(built by George Westinghouse for his foundry workers). The plaster had become unkeyed over time and was sagging real bad. As I was tearing it down I got plopped in the head by a hammer. I can gaurentee that the ceiling and the floor above was never touched since construction.

I kept the hammer. If anyone knows anything about vintage tools and their markings I would love to find out some history on it.
Cheers
Chuck

bustedbolt

thats great chuck.
bet that guy 100 years ago got a CHEW out and cursed that hammer so much it was doomed to fall on someones head.

I still remember the summer I cleared about what seemed like an acre or two of brush and briars and my dad said good job, where's the sickle?
I had to pay for the the sickle with all the 10$ I just earned at 2$ a day.
I was 5 years old.
tough love in appalachia.

I agree about the electricians and their ladders. why bother to put your name on it if it won't even remind you to put it on top of your truck!

b

Kingfisher

I have left thing over my career, but I think all and all as a GC I'm ahead in the game now I have found several extension cords, hoses, 2 axs, 2 6' step ladders, hammers, tapes, 20' extention pole elec. uses for fishing wire in drop cielings, screw drivers, and cones. I keep them on the job till the end for the owners, then if they are any good I take them to the next job. Its nice to have a hose, extention cord , and 6' step on all your jobs without caring if they walk off

KillerToiletSpider

Two months ago one of the electricians left a Hilti cordless sawzall on a job, case charger and all. I called the owner of the company, and he tells me that it was Adrian's personal sawzall, and to just keep it, as Adrian' work visa was up and he had returned to Ireland.

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aWorkaHolic

One of my clients called me up a few months ago and informed me that my crew forgot to bring back a scissor lift. I sent one of my guys out there to retrieve it. When he brought it back to the yard, I noticed that it wasn't ours. Come to think about it, I don't ever recall buying one for the company we always rent one. So I called the rental company that it belonged to and informed them I have one of their lifts....what did the rental guy say???? Sorry sir but all our lifts have been checked in and accounted for.

So being the nice person I am, I asked him to get his manager. I spoke to the manager a couple of weeks later and he thanked me for finding the missing lift. I off course used it on many jobs before returning it.

We later found out that it was rented out by another contractor that forgot all about it when he was kicked of the job.

Chazbe

I could see misplacing or leaving a hammer or screwdriver now and then but a SCISSORS LIFT!!!!

If someone left that I would wonder what their work would be like.
Chuck

aWorkaHolic

From what I understood , the kid that worked at the rental yard had checked it as a returned item on the shops paper work when the other contractor called it in to be picked up. I really don't think that kid works there anymore.

Man if I wasn't such a nice guy, I would of saved my company $$ on rental fee's in the future.

nywoodwizard

I know i said i don't leave tools on the job but i left two ladders at my Friends house a few weeks ago ,10' alum step and a 16' fiber extension, they both mysteriously disappeared . I should of put two and two together when the week before, i had a roll of coil stock i think some crack head took from the side of the house and ran to the scrap yard with I'm sure, i should of taken the ladders back at the end of the day, stupid me.

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daArch

Without knowing it, I left a five foot step at a job. If I didn't know it, how'd I find out? Six yeras later when I did other work, I saw a "familiar" looking ladder in the basement. I left it, it was a crappy one anyway.

Supply company left a real nice hand truck at my house. I called and left a voice mail that evening. It sat by the driveway for weeks. It's under cover now and is often put to good use.

And then my old partner and I would mark each other's tools with our own initials. I am seriously confused if some of the tools I have are his or mine.

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Chris Johnson

A buddy of mine is a tool jobber back in Ontario and I was at his shop one day when I saw some guy driving off with a whole skid of Milwaukee cordless drills, I said nice order to him, he laughed, this electrical company who does large jobs buys 1 skid every 2-3 months due to theft/lost/broken, they also buy get ladders after ladders constantly for the same reasons.

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Chris

TimelessQuality

I do some small stuff for a realtor friend... whatever to get the deal closed. One time it was 'crawl under the house and try to get the LR floor a little less springy'. I went down there and found five 12 ton bottle jacks! They had all fallen over from settling... Grabbed one and went to work.

Workaholic

I found a dewalt charger and 2 18v batteries left by an electrician. I just left them there figuring they would come back and get them, they never did the whole time i was there.

I lost one of my good 6' steps type 1a a few weeks ago at a job, it has been driving me nuts.

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Sean