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01-28-2009, 10:37 PM
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#1
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Johnny Come Lately
Trade:
General Contractor
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 3
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How do you clean your drywall tools?
I have what I perceive to be a recurring problem with some employees as far as their cleanup of drywall tools.
One employee in particular cleans his drywall tools in my customer's sink. I don't believe this is a sensible thing to do, but when I mention it to him, he tells me that this is A) how he was taught, and B) how everybody does it.
Same goes for thinset from tile jobs.
This now has me wondering what the best way to clean drywall tools is. Should my employees use a bucket of water to clean their tools? What then should they do with the bucket of water? If they throw it on the customer's lawn, it will leave a spot, and if they send it down the drain, well, that's no different than cleaning tools in the sink directly.
I know this seems like a small issue, but I really do need an answer - this is beginning to bother me immensely.
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01-28-2009, 10:40 PM
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#2
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Handle It!
Trade:
Everything The Union Guys Do Not Want To Do
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY ~ Haverford, PA
Posts: 7,901
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You should use a "B" Vitamin Lavage............
Last edited by MALCO.New.York; 01-29-2009 at 06:40 AM.
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01-28-2009, 10:41 PM
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#3
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Chief Toilet Mover
Trade:
Bathroom Remodeling
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Posts: 11,754
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In a bucket, throw in on the lawn in an inconspicuous spot. Gypsum is fertilizer, your customers grass will be nice an green. Throw it down the toilet if it needs to go down a drain in the house.
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01-28-2009, 10:47 PM
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#4
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Pro
Trade:
GC
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,394
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Bucket or mixing tub, water disposed of as discreetly as possible.
I always use one of those green kitchen scrub pads as well, I've got a bit of obsession about getting every speck of the compound off my tools, then squirt a touch of WD-40 on them so they don't rust.
I like to buy the Marshalltown knives, and they ain't the cheapest.
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01-28-2009, 10:58 PM
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#5
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Pro
Trade:
drywall applications
Join Date: May 2007
Location: mpls area
Posts: 295
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clean your tools in your buckets to get 95% of the mud off then if ok use the laundry sink to finish , if your going to pour it down a drain use the toilet 4 Inch waste pipe all the way flush after . change your water regualarily so you dont end up with alot of mud .
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01-28-2009, 11:00 PM
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#6
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Handle It!
Trade:
Everything The Union Guys Do Not Want To Do
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY ~ Haverford, PA
Posts: 7,901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MALCO.New.York
You should use a "B" Vitamin Lavage............
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Does no one get this yet??????????
Last edited by MALCO.New.York; 01-29-2009 at 06:39 AM.
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01-28-2009, 11:02 PM
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#7
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Pro
Trade:
GC
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,394
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MALCO.New.York
Does no one get this yet??????????
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...let's see here....uh....how can I put this.....
NO!
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01-28-2009, 11:05 PM
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#8
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Pro
Trade:
drywall applications
Join Date: May 2007
Location: mpls area
Posts: 295
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MALCO.New.York
Does no one get this yet??????????
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i had to reread that i though it was lafarge at first but no havent got a clue.
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01-28-2009, 11:06 PM
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#9
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Handle It!
Trade:
Everything The Union Guys Do Not Want To Do
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY ~ Haverford, PA
Posts: 7,901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldrivers
i had to reread that i though it was lafarge at first but no havent got a clue.
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"Riboflavin" is Vitamin "B2". Lavage is "French" and "Medical" for "Cleansing Rinse".
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01-29-2009, 01:31 AM
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#10
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Pro
Trade:
Painting/Framing/Drywall/Tile
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: KC
Posts: 1,669
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Malco.. don't get it still man
I will wash them in a bucket, and a quick rinse off in a sink possibly, but during the summer I use a hose on the side of the house, I always ask if it is acceptable first.. they never have a problem with it
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01-29-2009, 01:43 AM
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#11
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Trailer park boy
Trade:
Remodeling
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Castlegar, BC, Canada
Posts: 1,554
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__________________
"Industry without art is brutality"
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01-29-2009, 06:38 AM
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#12
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Handle It!
Trade:
Everything The Union Guys Do Not Want To Do
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY ~ Haverford, PA
Posts: 7,901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shanekw1
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 Jeeees..........
It took a Canuck to get it!!!!!!
Riboflavin, the name of the poster, is Vitamin B2.
Lavage is a cleansing Wash.
For the poster, Riboflavin, to give it a "B Vitamin Lavage", it would entail a PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION of cleansing substance(s)..........
You decide which Contribution!!!
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lavage
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/riboflavin
Last edited by MALCO.New.York; 01-29-2009 at 06:49 AM.
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01-29-2009, 07:24 AM
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#13
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Pro
Trade:
Drywall Finishing
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Northen NJ..
Posts: 245
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I clean my knifes with another knife. But if i use durabond or plaster i well wash them with a little water. I found if you use the plastic pad that is used for floor buffing it works great.Its like a plastic sos pad. I did a job once and forgot to get rid of my waterbucket. And the contractor I did the job for ,went to get the bucket and drop his cell phone in it. Not to happy.
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01-29-2009, 07:24 AM
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#14
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Butt Expert
Trade:
Drywall
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 262
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Don't let them use the customers sink...
Make them take their tools home and clean them if a bucket of water is not good enough.
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01-29-2009, 09:25 AM
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#15
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Pro
Trade:
GC
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,394
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MALCO.New.York
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Why must I always be so confused on here.....why does the Frostback (no offense Shane) get it and I don't....I still don't....I need a YouTube......I just wanted to learn how to clean drywall knives.....now I'm not sure, but I think this thread is suggesting that it be more fun than it is supposed to be....
The Horror....The Horror....
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01-29-2009, 09:43 AM
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#16
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Pompass Ass
Trade:
Certified Building and Certified A/C Contractor
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Plant City, Florida
Posts: 1,490
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Riboflavin
I have what I perceive to be a recurring problem with some employees as far as their cleanup of drywall tools.
One employee in particular cleans his drywall tools in my customer's sink. I don't believe this is a sensible thing to do, but when I mention it to him, he tells me that this is A) how he was taught, and B) how everybody does it.
Same goes for thinset from tile jobs.
This now has me wondering what the best way to clean drywall tools is. Should my employees use a bucket of water to clean their tools? What then should they do with the bucket of water? If they throw it on the customer's lawn, it will leave a spot, and if they send it down the drain, well, that's no different than cleaning tools in the sink directly.
I know this seems like a small issue, but I really do need an answer - this is beginning to bother me immensely.
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You need to tell your guys to quit using the clients sink as you are the boss and you don't care how they were taught, this is your job, they work for you and they will do it how you tell them to do it, or they will leave.
I did a remodel on a commercial building, later we had an issue with the building drain backing up, we later found out that the Plumber when he grouted the toilets in dumped the grout in the toilet and flushed it, he didn't run enough water to thoroughly flush the lines, so the grout sat in the lines and ended up causing us major problems. $$$$
The plumber tried blaming it on the tile guy, but the plumber had inserted test balls in the toilet flange to keep sewer gases from coming into the building, so it was not possible for the tile guy to dump the grout in the toilets.
We keep a bucket with a srub brush to wash out our tools, and do it outside, dump it into the dumpster or an empty drywall mud bucket.
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The Following User Says Thank You to bwalley For This Useful Post:
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01-29-2009, 09:46 AM
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#17
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Pompass Ass
Trade:
Certified Building and Certified A/C Contractor
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Plant City, Florida
Posts: 1,490
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldrivers
clean your tools in your buckets to get 95% of the mud off then if ok use the laundry sink to finish , if your going to pour it down a drain use the toilet 4 Inch waste pipe all the way flush after . change your water regualarily so you dont end up with alot of mud . 
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Very bad idea, the building drain is not a garbage can.
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01-29-2009, 10:21 PM
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#18
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Handle It!
Trade:
Everything The Union Guys Do Not Want To Do
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY ~ Haverford, PA
Posts: 7,901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodger
Why must I always be so confused on here.....why does the Frostback (no offense Shane) get it and I don't....I still don't....I need a YouTube......I just wanted to learn how to clean drywall knives.....now I'm not sure, but I think this thread is suggesting that it be more fun than it is supposed to be....
The Horror....The Horror....
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KURTZ
" Are you an assassin?"
WILLARD
" I'm a soldier."
KURTZ
" You're neither. You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks
to collect a bill."
Last edited by MALCO.New.York; 01-30-2009 at 03:09 AM.
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01-30-2009, 05:28 PM
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#19
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Pro
Trade:
drywall applications
Join Date: May 2007
Location: mpls area
Posts: 295
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bwalley
Very bad idea, the building drain is not a garbage can.
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Havent had 1 issue yet. like i said if you change your water regularly it wont have hardly any mud in it when you dispose of it. But i always ask the general contractor what to do with it. most of the time i pour it in the dumpster but thats not always the best either . dont use a bucket of water for the whole job and then at the end try dumping 2 inches of crud down the drain.
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01-30-2009, 05:32 PM
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#20
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Pompass Ass
Trade:
Certified Building and Certified A/C Contractor
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Plant City, Florida
Posts: 1,490
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldrivers
Havent had 1 issue yet. like i said if you change your water regularly it wont have hardly any mud in it when you dispose of it. But i always ask the general contractor what to do with it. most of the time i pour it in the dumpster but thats not always the best either . dont use a bucket of water for the whole job and then at the end try dumping 2 inches of crud down the drain.
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The problem will not show up for awhile, but it will eventually cause the building owner problems.
Another problem is if the building is on a septic tank, lift station or a grease trap.
In Florida it is illegal to dump drywall mud, grout etc. down the drain.
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