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I want to know

19K views 188 replies 30 participants last post by  JBM 
#1 ·
How many of you brick guys clean up completely when you finish? And I mean leave the job site clean of all brick not used, mortar splashed on the ground, all of it?

I used the same mason for many years, and he always raked up the broken brick, and pretty much cleaned up his own mess...now he wouldn't touch anything that wasn't his, but he left no mess.

My last regular crew was not as "tidy", but still not a big deal since we have to clean the job site anyway....but the last job was awful. Left broken brick everywhere, mortar piles all over, had to threaten them to come and acid wash, and then clipped me on the bid.

I told them as I wrote the check I wasn't happy...they said it was now "extra" to clean up....really?

So I old them to get lost, I would never use them again, ever.

The guy who is the chief brickie called yesterday and said that he had a guy who wants me to build a house for him, and maybe we can patch things up? :no:

I asked if he had a short memory, told him to not call again, and hung up.

Too much?
 
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#74 ·
I'm not a mason, but I have a guy that all he does is clean and organize. Just follow the crew around get tools out of the trailer when needed, put them back when they are done. Makes us look good when the h/o comes by unexpected and their house doesn't look like ground zero.


Now from my gc standpoint. When mechanicals are going in I don't care, after drywall is finished we clean everything. After walls have paint I expect subs to clean.

I refuse to use a mason that left a job site completely destroyed. Piles of sand and gravel everywhere. Had the concrete truck clean out in the neighbors driveway. That was a 3k back charge.
 
#84 · (Edited)
I never gave a reason/excuse to not clean up, I was saying that cleaning up and taking away every scrap is not needed. Yes I saw the first sentence and thought that Joasis wanted everything cleaned up completely and removed. I was mistaken but I have only been talking about the habit of masons making orderly piles of their waste and the practise of using that waste (or at least some) as fill.

I also stated several times what my cleaning habits are..and in different posts you said that exactly what I do is what you would consider acceptable, so which is it? Am I a lazy excuse maker or am I someone who does what is commonly expected?

Masonry waste has been used as clean fill for literally millenia, makes no sense to stop now

As to how expensive? I'm not certain but I know that most builders don't want my masonry waste in bins, not when it can go in the garage after the soil has been settled or under a window well or wherever they want it. It's not a lot and the bits that end up in the front or back yard ends up being driven over by a grader so often that it is well compacted, no lumpy lawns here...maybe the sites you work at have all the soil removed and sifted so there are no stones either, but not the ones I work on.
 
#86 ·
I never gave a reason/excuse to not clean up, I was saying that cleaning up and taking away every scrap is not needed. Yes I saw the first sentence and thought that Joasis wanted everything cleaned up completely and removed. I was mistaken but I have only been talking about the habit of masons making orderly piles of their waste and the practise of using that waste (or at least some) as fill.

I also stated several times what my cleaning habits are..and in different posts you said that exactly what I do is what you would consider acceptable, so which is it? Am I a lazy excuse maker or am I someone who does what is commonly expected?

It's not mutually exclusive. If being lazy is common practice, it doesn't change that it's lazy. But that's not what the subject. You guys want to take it personal. All that I am doing is having a conversation about the OP. Like I said, if you have an agreement and are cleaning your area, great! If you are just throwing your crap whereever and not cleaning and picking up after yourself you are lazy. If you don't because of time and cost, then you are just making excuses for your laziness. It's that simple.

Masonry waste has been used as clean fill for literally millenia, makes no sense to stop now

Age old building practices and traditions are changing every day, this is not a good reason not to change habits. FJN gave a great reason...dumpster free building. It's always been my pet peeve rolling construction debris into the fill.

As to how expensive? I'm not certain but I know that most builders don't want my masonry waste in bins, not when it can go in the garage after the soil has been settled or under a window well or wherever they want it. It's not a lot and the bits that end up in the front or back yard ends up being driven over by a grader so often that it is well compacted, no lumpy lawns here...maybe the sites you work at have all the soil removed and sifted so there are no stones either, but not the ones I work on.
You wouldn't believe the debris that I have dug up over the years. It's far from what you are describing.
 
#85 ·
Jaws said:
Thats nice, dude. I tried to hire a full time roustabout recently, it didn't work out. I hired a dude part time that is on the VFD with me, he works 35 hours for someone else. He is about to move to the coast to be a paid FF. He has been doing 3 5's for me. He has gathered and delivered some materials and done some clean up, but mostly he has been confiscated by the old man to remove brush and bushes and flower beds from his new place we are remodeling :laughing: We all end up doing clean up, I clean crap up all the time. To who ever said do you vacuum dust out of the wall cavities, yes. You are supposed to, right before insulation or Bora Care.

He isn't full time, he comes in at 11:30 he has classes in the morning. By the time I eat lunch were pretty clean. He works weekends all day if we work, there has been times when doing demo that he's stuck around till 8 to get everything ready for us for the next day. He's a good kid, been with me since before he could drive, he's almost 20 now. I've fired him about 30 times, he's quite about that many times. No real father figure so I'm playing big brother trying to make him into a man. He's the kid I've talked to you about before. He's all a.d.d and ocd crazy, but I love that little fvcker, even when he pisses me off.
 
#87 ·
Masonry waste is different from the bulk of the crud most remodelers need to remove from the site once the job is done. As long as it's buried deeply enough, or stuffed into block cores, it has absolutely zero effect healthwise or aesthetically, and in the latter respect may actually help with meeting code requirements.

Obviously, any trade should leave the site looking "clean", but I wouldn't dream of requiring a mason to cart all of that stuff away if it could be decently disposed of on-site. :rolleyes:
 
#95 ·
It's job by job scenario. If the gc needs to bring in truckloads of fill might as well push the excess masonry around. I don't know many masons who leave full bricks laying around but half bricks and pieces are perfect to be mixed with full. If the yard only needs topsoil give it a decent rake and get rid of it via dumpster or haul it away. Seems pretty simple
 
#98 ·
I like to meet a new sub on one of his current job sites for several reasons. One is to see how orderly it is. I'm not looking for a hospital. But it's easy to see sloppy thinking, especially unsafe messes.

I keep a orderly job site for three reasons. First, it is safer. Second, it sends a clear message that my job is not a sloppy one. Third, sometimes I get a nice price from good contractors because they know they won't have to work in a mess. I like it when a contractor comes over to quote and says 'nice'! Fifth, I don't want a contractor coming over and messing everything up. Again, not looking for a hospital. But it should be orderly. Oh, finally, the mess is going to have to be cleaned up some day. Why should it be me to be stuck with a ridiculous mess at the end instead of just keeping up with it day to day?

It's in my contracts for the big work. For the little stuff I'll start cleaning toward the end of the day and ask for some help. If they make some stupid joke about it and don't at least help, then I'll finish cleaning and they won't hear from me again.
 
#107 ·
As to the vacuuming inside the walls before pest control or insulation, we always have and do. Im about to insulate a whole house remodel tomorrow, or the insulation guy is. Ill see if I get over there before and take some pictures for you.

My god some people are lazy, a 3000 sq ft house doesnt take long with a regular old shop vac. Even the lower end builders I worked for did it. I doubt the tract guys I trimmed for later did, but the other builders I worked for did.
 
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#129 ·
For one it can harbor pests. It's bad for allergies. Creates voids that cause energy leaks. It's also just lazy not to....heheheh. I do it because when I first start playing around with remodeling at 16 I thought it was disgusting to open a wall and a bunch of junk and trash fall out.

Today it just says I care. I care about what is seen and unseen. Why does a plumber care to wipe a pipe if it's going to be covered with drywall and not seen for decades?
 
#131 ·
Ok so you guys vacuum out the stud bays of walls that will be insulated,(I've only seen removal of junk and sweeping of sawdust) what about the ones that aren't insulated? What about after the board goes up and the rotozip dumps a bunch of dust in the wall cavity? Do you remove the board and vacuum? Do you wipe down the inside of the walls with a damp cloth to remove all the dust?

If no to any of those why not? Lazy?
 
#133 ·
Ok so you guys vacuum out the stud bays of walls that will be insulated,(I've only seen removal of junk and sweeping of sawdust) what about the ones that aren't insulated? What about after the board goes up and the rotozip dumps a bunch of dust in the wall cavity? Do you remove the board and vacuum? Do you wipe down the inside of the walls with a damp cloth to remove all the dust?

If no to any of those why not? Lazy?
Now who's gasping?

All bays are vacuumed. I vacuum the floors. As far as after the wall is closed there isn't really any way to clean it up. With that said my rotozip has dust collection. So I do everything I can to eliminate and reduce my mess.
 
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