What Do You Do When...

smooth

You have just put all the tapes and the beed on and you come in the next day to find that there is a carpenter setting up his bench in the middle of the site and the doors have been delivered, leaning against the walls with casings lying here and there in a small basement suit.I know we have all heard this before " I won't damage anything " or " just let me know and I can move things ". I would like to hear some stories and possible solutions besides walking off the site in disgust.

Mud Master

I do mainly commercial but I also hang and finish high end Custom's and additions and I get this alot. If I know the guy I usually don't have a problem workin' around him if he is a good guy.

HOWEVER, if I come in and I have some random guy layin' his millwork and trim on my new walls, I tell him nicely once that "I need to come in and block or skim these walls, and would you mind moving everything into the middle of the room or to a room I won't be getting at in the morning, and than just switch in the afternoon." If he dosn't than I tell him that "you can leave it here, but it's gonna be covered in mud and your gonna be scraping it off, hoping you don't damage the finish".

But if the builder has any common sense, he won't have any trades in there til AT LEAST after the skim coat. I'm used to workin around other trades during point-up, usually the painter, and sometimes the finish carpenter...but to schedule any type of finish material to be delivered or try to be installed during the 3 days to tape,block, and skim than that project is bass ackwards to begin with. If there is new material laying around that wasn't there when my hangers left, than the GC knows that it is his responsibility to throw something over it.

But in those situations you need to be polite the first go 'round. Just introduce yourself and ask him to move to a place that you won't be getting to til after lunch, and than switch afterwords. Just ask him to keep everything away from the walls. If he dosn't listen ask him again, not ignorantly, but stern like "can you please move your things, my men are almost done unloading and are about to set up." and if he STILL does not listen just say "Hey man, I gotta job to do, i've asked you twice, you can leave them there, but I am not gonna be the one scraping those mud paddies off that nicely stained door"..and go about your business.

Most people are fine to work around, and have no problem moving or helping out another trade, because they know what it is like. However you get those few that think thier sh*t don't stink and they can do whatever they want. Those are the ones you gotta be a total di*k to in order to get your point across.

But as I said earlier...if the GC has any common sense, he won't have any trades in there until at the MINIMUM after the skim coat.

Preferably wait til 2 days after the sand, give the walls a couple days to really cure without any disturbance. I try to line it up so my skim coat ends on a Thursday so I can sand Friday and give it the weekend. Or skim on a Friday and come in first thing saturday for a few hours and sand it out and sweep up, so it still has most of the weekend. Ahh and people wonder why I stick mostly to commercial....

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mdshunk

How about writing up a change order? How about asking the carp to move every stitch of everything out of your work area?

(what does your contract say about site access?)

This sounds like a "homeowner as GC" job. They require a little education ahead of time to avoid this kind of crap.

taper71

Mud Master is right of coarse. I personally contact the gc and let him/her know that it is a safety hazard for me to trip over anybody elses material in the job site and until they are out of my way with their material that I will not be back. I am far to busy to be working around someone that should not be there in the first place. I do not get paid by the hour so for me to work around other people and material costs me time and money.

phinsher

I'm more in the trade of painting than drywall, but we run into the same problem. While it's always good to have a plan in case it happens, it's even better to prevent them from happening in the first place. I made up a check list of things to go over with the GC before work begins, communicating my expectations and finding out what his plans are. Having a good contract helps, so that when something goes wrong you can charge more with a clear conscience.

smooth

I like the idea of dividing the site and switching later, and also talking to the GC to find out his game plan . It just seems to me that if someone gives you a contract, set price, to do a job on time , and in a proffessional manner, you don't put obsticals in his way, or blow sawdust onto freshly mudded walls, damage his work, ect .,
Also Just moving the stuff off the wall doesn't work if your running machines . It has been happening more often lately , so much so that I should start giving two prices, a standard price for a clear worksite, and a premium price for the extra time involved if he intends to bring in other trades.

Richard

put everything in the middle, cover it, and get to work-tell him to come back when you're done

thom

I wonder how you can not work in one area for half a day. My tapers/finishers will work in every room of a 2200 square foot house at least twice in each day they are there.

The problem is, of course, the GC. The GC is the one who scheduled two trades at once. Let the GC fix it.

Mud Master

your correct Thom, it is difficult to try to focus on just one spot, however in a case like that you have to make arrangments. Alot of guys are just going and doing the boss tells them to do, so to lean into a guy who is just doing his job that the boss told him to do isn't right. And if he is willing to work with you, you need to be able to work with him. If there is a basement, save that for last and let the guy do what he needs to do, and he will let you do what you need to do. Now if he is a d*ck and won't cooperate, than you need to do what is stated in the above postings.

However the GC shouldn't have that kind of thing happening on the site in the first place. Let the framers do there job, than the roofers, than the siders', than the rockers, than the finishers, than the trim guy, than the painter, than the millwork guy and so on and so on. Time is always of the essence, but things run smoother if you just give every trade thier time, and don't try to overlap trades. It wastes more time having two trades trying to work around each other, than it does for one trade to go in without interruption and do thier job.

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1KingOfDrywall

Because I ran into this so many times before, I verbally, and somewhat in writing,make it clear on every project that we need to "OWN" the house while we are there.ABSOLUTELY No exceptions. No other trades are permitted.....not even to come in and pick up a left behind tool or piece of equipment. In the past I used to stick any materials and equipment in the driveway and bill the builder for it. Remember if you make an exception EVER it will happen again and again. Like the old saying, give them an inch and they take a MILE. aLL THE BUILDERS NOW know this and I don't really have the problem . They make jokes about it now.......one builder told a plumber......would you jump in a pool of sharks to get that wrench?.......just stay outta there.
.....I set it outside the door for him.....lol

SL-DRYWALL

i would just walk in with a smile on my face ,pick up all my tools , write out a bill for my drive time that day and any work that i had done to the job give it to the home owner and walk out . if they dont want to pay , labor lean. and if they want you to come back raise the price and make the trim guy leave with all his stuff . dont play games with them at all your there to make money .

Tony M

What I do when the other trades try to come in too early is have banging House and Trance music blaring out of my sound system all day. Gets rid of most trades, esp plumbers.