[Mike Finley]

Friday was day 4 on a 5 day project. The day before I had a company come out and do an epoxy repaint of the customer's bathtub, turned it from blue to white. Friday morning I come to the site and man does the tub look freaken great. Customers are raving about how it looks like a new tub, just loving it.

Next on the list is installing some bathtub doors. I'm super careful the whole time, don't want to do anything to mess up the still curing epoxy finish on the tub. I put some plastic in the tub if I have to walk in it, take off my tool belt so I don't risk leaning against it and scratching it. I vacuum the little debris the hammer drill puts into the tub just in case it would scratch the finish under my feet if I get in the tub...

Well, the last task in the installation is putting the handle on the door. The doors are looking awesome, everything is in tune, I am about to finish and the tub is still perfect.

Reach in holding cordless drill, left handed to screw in last screw in the handle bracket --

drill flips out of my hand! hit the tub and spins 3 or 4 times in the process!

Luckily the homeowners weren't home because I was swearing like crazy.

I couldn't believe it! I now have at least a dozen scratches and gouges and of course it's going to take almost a week before the epoxy guy can come out and repair them! What a way to start the weekend. What is even worse is having to tell the customer about it.

You guys ever have stuff like this happen to you?

 

[mdshunk]

You guys ever have stuff like this happen to you?

Sounds like a pretty normal day to me! :cheesygri

Accidnets happen. You're gonna make it right, so no big deal. What you do when problems arise is what seperates pros from hacks. The customer will get the added benefit of having two coats of epoxy on the tub, you should tell them. :Thumbs:

I fell on an acrylic tub once (no ceiling yet, through the trusses from the attic above) and broke the side of the tub out. Luckily, it was new construction, so there was no homeowner to deal with. The GC just said something like, "these things happen", and didn't bat an eye.

 

[ProWallGuy]

You guys ever have stuff like this happen to you?

Closest thing I ever did was hang a very expensive paper in a kitchen. Customer was there almost until the end. It looked fabulous, and she was raving about it all along. She cuts me check and leaves for work. Job is done, truck is packed, and ready to go. I'm in the kitchen making one final inspection, and notice a scrap of wallpaper sticking out from under the fridge. Snatch it up to put it in my pocket, and find a razor blade is hiding in the fold, and it cuts me, real deep. Instinct makes me shake my hand and exclaim &%%$##$%, and blood promptly squirts acroos the main focal wall. Paper is an English pulp, and instantly stains, and there not enough paper left to replace it. I have to tell the customer, and re-order a roll from England, probably a 1-2 month wait. Talk about killing a good job.

 

[Mike Finley]

Closest thing I ever did was hang a very expensive paper in a kitchen. Customer was there almost until the end. It looked fabulous, and she was raving about it all along. She cuts me check and leaves for work. Job is done, truck is packed, and ready to go. I'm in the kitchen making one final inspection, and notice a scrap of wallpaper sticking out from under the fridge. Snatch it up to put it in my pocket, and find a razor blade is hiding in the fold, and it cuts me, real deep. Instinct makes me shake my hand and exclaim &%%$##$%, and blood promptly squirts acroos the main focal wall. Paper is an English pulp, and instantly stains, and there not enough paper left to replace it. I have to tell the customer, and re-order a roll from England, probably a 1-2 month wait. Talk about killing a good job.

Ouch! That's a good one.

 

[6stringmason]

^Yikes! I think that trumps all so far. I havent been in business long enough to have anything real bad. But... once during the winter I was doing a job in a new subdivision in an open field. It was friday and we moved all the scaffolding and loaded with brick. We hung our tarp around noon and went home. We had it secured but there was an unexpected snowstorm which happens alot up in WI. Monday got to the job and the tarp was ripped off the top and and piles and piles of snow lay on it. Not a good way to start Monday morning when its barely light and about 5 degrees above 0.

 

[nywoodwizard]

not with tubs

had my own shower door fall off and put a chip in the dam tub,one of the kids pulled it closed so fast it came off the track,I've been doing bathrooms for a long time and this is what i do ,right after the tub is installed we take a moving blanket and fold it a few times and lay it in the bottom of the tub,then we take another one and and pull it up around the insides and tape it along the top edges of the tub,when it comes time to install the shower doors its pulled back just enough to install the track and remain taped until the entire bath room is comeplete,i've had electricians and plumbers drop all kinds of tools in the tub and so far no damage,no need to take chances,guess you kind of got lucky it was'nt a brand new cast iron tub,sounds like it can be fixed fairly easy,i know it still must be aggravating.what type of warranty on that product?and what does something like this cost? :Thumbs:

 

[nywoodwizard]

A friend of mine assembled a wall unit at the job and all he had to do was laminate a few pieces on the unit and he was finished ,along comes his helper and kicks the contact cement over on the "brand new white carpet" , i'm sure that left a nice YELLOW STAIN,the funniest part is the boss tells him to look around for a piece of carpet and cut it out and patch in a new piece ,the homeowner walks in at this time and nearly faints,throws them out and sues for a new one The butchers strike again!

 

[Glasshousebltr]

Got one.

Finishing up special order steel siding job. 2 and half stories up on ladder jacks. Replacing drip edge for punch out. My maggot on the ground kept wondering off, nature walk, smelling the flowers, who the hell knows, but it pissing me off. Told him 10 times keep my hose in check. well the hose got hung, maggot was nowhere in sight, so I yanked the hose a new nail gun, pissed and cursing.

It was the leg of the loose ladder she hung on, down the side of the house she went, clank clank clank ....not missing a single panel.

The maggots name was Jim, wore cologne to work every day. Dam patsey!

Bob

 

[nywoodwizard]

i had one two

Got one.

Finishing up special order steel siding job. 2 and half stories up on ladder jacks. Replacing drip edge for punch out. My maggot on the ground kept wondering off, nature walk, smelling the flowers, who the hell knows, but it pissing me off. Told him 10 times keep my hose in check. well the hose got hung, maggot was nowhere in sight, so I yanked the hose a new nail gun, pissed and cursing.

It was the leg of the loose ladder she hung on, down the side of the house she went, clank clank clank ....not missing a single panel.

The maggots name was Jim, wore cologne to work every day. Dam patsey!

Bob

one of my helpers was a full time bird watcher (on the clock of course)

 

[reveivl]

Cutting the edge of a laminate splash flush with a router to finish a bathroom remodel I had the router set too deep and 'swung' it into the face of the splash. Just barely touched it, but you could see it from the door as you walked in. (Or at least I could). Nothing for it but to fess up and wait for a replacement splash (and payday). Rich.

 

[TimNJ]

Once I was on a ladder in a hallway that was open to the livingroom below. As I was turning when I stepped off the ladder my tape caught the ladder and bounced across the floor, through the railing, and straight across the room on to the center of the customers mirror black baby grand piano below. It was like time stood still as I watched that tape make its journey. Amazingly enough it only left about a 1/32 dot where it hit. Luckily the homeowner wasn't home when it happened.

 

[Niner]

Picked up a project supplying the concrete for cart paths at the local golf course. Job is going just fine for the first week or so, when I got "The Call". One of my drivers had backed up in between the #8 tee box and the pond surrounding the #7 island hole. I get to the job and the brand new cement mixer is leaning hard. Fully loaded with the drum still turning. The driver (ex-bus driver, fairly new to mixer driving) is out of the truck and pretty shook-up. I carefully climb in the cab to shut off the ignition because the vibration of the drum turning is making the bank give way. The first wrecker has shown up and he's rigging to the front of the truck as the other wrecker is backing up from the other direction to hook onto the back of the mixer and keep it from rolling over. The second wrecker gets stuck just 20 yards from where he needs to be to support the rig. While they're fooling around trying to get unstuck, I'm watching that mixer lean more and more. Sure enough, there it goes. It was like watching a dinosaur die in slow motion as that brand new truck splashed into the pond and rolled over twice. 10 hours later we had the truck out of the pond and back upright, but it was totaled. Unfortunately, the media had also got wind of it and we were plastered all over the news and local papers that night. Ironically, for years my company has sponsored that #7 hole. Still do. I take alot of ribbing over that.

 

[reveivl]

Niner, you gotta have pics of that, right? Rich.

 

[AAPaint]

Picked up a project supplying the concrete for cart paths at the local golf course. Job is going just fine for the first week or so, when I got "The Call". One of my drivers had backed up in between the #8 tee box and the pond surrounding the #7 island hole. I get to the job and the brand new cement mixer is leaning hard. Fully loaded with the drum still turning. The driver (ex-bus driver, fairly new to mixer driving) is out of the truck and pretty shook-up. I carefully climb in the cab to shut off the ignition because the vibration of the drum turning is making the bank give way. The first wrecker has shown up and he's rigging to the front of the truck as the other wrecker is backing up from the other direction to hook onto the back of the mixer and keep it from rolling over. The second wrecker gets stuck just 20 yards from where he needs to be to support the rig. While they're fooling around trying to get unstuck, I'm watching that mixer lean more and more. Sure enough, there it goes. It was like watching a dinosaur die in slow motion as that brand new truck splashed into the pond and rolled over twice. 10 hours later we had the truck out of the pond and back upright, but it was totaled. Unfortunately, the media had also got wind of it and we were plastered all over the news and local papers that night. Ironically, for years my company has sponsored that #7 hole. Still do. I take alot of ribbing over that.

 

[IHI]

OMG!!

Mine aint that good, today was gutting a bathroom, took out the tub, shut off water to house then went back upstairs to cut the supply lines to the existing faucets and just install some temp shut off valves so I can keep working and water lines shut off. Double checked the handles to be sure they were seated-keep in mind the "hard work" of installing them was over and I was talking on the cell to the electrician telling him I wish my helper was there to turn the water on in case there was a leak somewhere, sprint up the stairs as fast as I could and closer I got to the bathroom the louder the rushing water sounded

I did'nt really want to look, but there it was in all it's glory-2 nice 3' tall streams of water shooting up towards the ceiling!!! FOOCK!!, rushed over and turn the shut off knobs off ended up the ones I grabbed outta my box were the 1/4 turn style and while gabbing on the phone I just did'nt realize it.

Worst part is dircetly under this bathroom on the main floor is the basment bathroom, walked down and sure as sheeot water dripping down through the holes in the drywall ceiling where drain pipes peek through, floor was soaked and covered in plaster debris that washed down, water was trickling down through the exhaust fan too....I was'nt happy and really wished my helper was there to yell at to cover up my mistake LOL!! The homie (wife) just happened to be downstairs doing laundry and heard me say oh crap, once she saw it she just laughed and told me this is'nt the first time they had water leaking through the ceiling in there, then grabbed me some towels so I could start playing Benson and clean up my mess.

Learned another thing too...bid demo WAAAAAAY higher than i did for tearing out tile walls and tile floor....steel garbage can is all contorted from bearing multiple trips along with my back...man that was awful. Just guessing from the way it squatted the 1 ton, I'm sure i'm easily in the 2 ton range and the bathroom is'nt even that big!!!

 

[Teetorbilt]

Going on 2 mos. of major F/U's and I am on the hotspot. Crises come and go, it's part of the biz, dealing with it is what will make you or break you.

You may have a situation but you have no problem.

 

[Mike Finley]

IHI - lol, that hasn't happened to me yet, but I sure think about it every time I am about to turn the water back on! I usually sprint back up the stairs as fast as possible!

Something you said brings up a question, you load all the demo debris into your truck? How many people do that? I'm more of the roll or or small dumpster mentality. I like the having a dumpster on site for my remodels, I don't like the image of being a garbage hauler, but that could be just me.

 

[IHI]

IHI - lol, that hasn't happened to me yet, but I sure think about it every time I am about to turn the water back on! I usually sprint back up the stairs as fast as possible!

Something you said brings up a question, you load all the demo debris into your truck? How many people do that? I'm more of the roll or or small dumpster mentality. I like the having a dumpster on site for my remodels, I don't like the image of being a garbage hauler, but that could be just me.

LOL, I hate messing with anything water related, H2O and I made an agreement years ago that I would just call the experts when it came plumbing time, but I hate bothering my guy to just come out and cap lines so I can demo...my mother has even gotten mad at me for telling her to call my plumber to fix her problems-"why cant you just come over and take a look", told her I'll look at it with her, but that's as far as I'll go

Ya know, I've been debating getting a dump truck for such jobs, but typically my debris does'nt add up to a whole heck of alot so it's just as easy to load it in the truck or my trailer and make a monkey go unload it...lots cheaper that way too then what I get charged for dumpster in this area, typical dumpster bill for a 12yrd bin is in the $230 range, the last 20yrd I had for a roof was a tad short of $650....I can unload alot of junk for what these pocket gougers get in this area...and I always use the cheapest guy too for the dumpsters.

Not that I'm against using them, sure make it nice to have a huge garbage can for us and the subs, but for the typical work I do on a consistant basis it's just not justified-but we do use them when the project justifies it, same with on site porta potties. Garages and decks produce such minimal scrap on a daily basis I can go a week or a full build fillng my pick-up maybe once or 2 times. I also have to look at the space the homie has, more often than not if I had a 12yr container placed, it would take up their entire driveway...most of the homes we work on are the kind you can read your neighbors paper at breakfast time through the kitchen window.

FWIW, just had a buddy of mine that is in business with his dad doing siding got all focked up. He was on a ladder 2 stories up and somehow the ladder came into contact with the powerline which threw him off, shattered his ankle and wrist, guess as bad as his wrist is the doctors doubt he'll ever regain us of his hand again Told him to keep his head up and keep the lotion close, will be like having a different "girlfreind" for awhile LOL!!

 

[Mike Finley]

I certainly can understand the economies of the dumpster. For me about 50% of the time I am using a nice 3 cu yard dumpster company called Tubs. They charge me $98 and it can sit for 3 weeks. 3 cu yards is just enough room for a bathroom remodel for me. Since I charge the customer for the tub plus a mark-up I have no problems using them.

The problem is now I am getting addicted to them. I have a bathtub surround tile job coming up, just need to rip out the old tile, install CBU and install new tile and I have ordered one of those $98 tubs for that job!

For small jobs like that I always ask the customer if they would like to do a curb side disposal of the waste material or do a dumpster. I tell them we can set it aside in a few bags and they can save the $125 dumpster fee or we can order a dumpster. 100% of them so far when asked say do the curbside, they then are very accomodating about where to leave the bags and such.

I just refuse to haul garbage in my truck, but that's just me.

 

[IHI]

Heck when I started helping my grandfather when I was 14 he subbed alot of windows/siding so picking up after ourselves and throwing it in the truck to take to the dump has always just been par of the course, one of those things I have never thought much about it until you asked LOL!! I wish we had lil Tubs like that, would'nt take up much space and make my life alot easier.

It never ceases to amaze me how much material actually comes out of these small bath gut/remodels This was thw worse one I've demoed so far, all tiles walls and tile flooring that was installed correctly...dem bastards!!! Walls were'nt so bad, but that fricken floor was terrible, even rented a pogo stick to help chiesel it up, barely touched the tile at all, so ended up on hands and knees with maul and cold chiesl busting up tiles, then went back with the rented pogo stick that was supposed to be designed for this type of work (tearing up tiles) it made pretty quick work of busting up the cement board into nice marble size pieces then spent rest of the time with my grinder and cut off disc cutting off screws....next time it'll be bid ALOT higher, only figured $700 to demo for 2 days, ended up 2.5 days and sore azzed back LOL!!!