Paint grade-----REAL FAST---Stain grade-------Not so fast, its funny, some days when the planets align i can run crown like the wind, every cut pefect, never a mistake. When the end of the day comes, start getting a little tired, you know when its time to stop. G

 

Same here.

 

The 2 guys/contractors over their were calling bs on me, so I was just curious about others with production experience thought.

I was hoping I was just special. :laughing:

 

So am I just a superduperextraspecial carpenter? Doing humanly impossible production carpentry tasks....they have me wondering. Maybe I am special, just like my parents always told me? :laughing:


I've done a ton of production trimwork though I never actually timed each task . 8 years ago I was trimming tract homes solo and could knock out an 1800 sq footer in 8 hrs . Had to, the painter would show up after lunch to start prepping . He only got a day and 1/2 and the vinyl flooring guy would be there Don't even want to talk about the 2nd trims . It was like a colony of ants working on the houses .

Trimmed a few that weren't sanded yet either . I can't argue with anything you stated though I will say I now HATE to try and work at that pace . The crap I used to put up with working that way . I will say those builders made me make money . BTW I never felt special on those jobs . The were building these houses in 30 days once the footings were in . Slab on grade houses . I was just a cog in the wheel .

Super would leave the same message every time . House is ready for trim on such and such date and if you can't get it done we will get someone else . This after doing their work for 3+ years . What a jerk . lol

The framers were taking 3 days . Then all the other trades were thrown in at once .
You sound like a hustler but how old are you and can you sustain that pace . I'm 41 and I just can't work like that anymore . Had to get away from the production trim though I still do the kitchens on some of these types of projects .
Lastly as to your take on running base I did it different . I always went from the left side of the room to the right . every cope was a left . I would cut the whole upstairs a room at a time throwing the pieces on the floor then when the whole floor was done I would drop back and nail it up . Used to call it getting my swerve on !

 

So am I just a superduperextraspecial carpenter? Doing humanly impossible production carpentry tasks....they have me wondering. Maybe I am special, just like my parents always told me? :laughing:



You sound like a hustler but how old are you and can you sustain that pace . I'm 41 and I just can't work like that anymore .

sorry, missed that part. I'm 42 now, this was 4 years ago or so, and only for 12-18 months as some filler work. We'd only do 1-2 houses a week.

I agree it could wear you out after a short number of years.

But hell, I was (and am) fat...I just like to work efficiently and like the challenge of how to work most efficiently...it was the only thing that made the production work any fun, trying to figure out how best to accomplish the work in the shortest amount of time....I get bored pretty easily.:laughing:

 

Thanks, I'm just looking to see what other pros are capable of. Damn, I'm not so special :wallbash:.

I've run rooms the same way you have with baseboard but if it's an "open" area (3 walls like in my drawing over on diy), I always place the copes where they will put pressure on the joint, not where the opposite end is an outside corner.

I don't have any issue with the original subject, it's when a couple of "pros" start calling me a liar regarding things I've done numerous times, and I'm not the world's greatest/fastest carpenter either.

I wouldn't have been nearly so civil over there, if it wasn't a diy forum.

 

Thanks, I'm just looking to see what other pros are capable of. Damn, I'm not so special :wallbash:.

I've run rooms the same way you have with baseboard but if it's an "open" area (3 walls like in my drawing over on diy), I always place the copes where they will put pressure on the joint, not where the opposite end is an outside corner.

I don't have any issue with the original subject, it's when a couple of "pros" start calling me a liar regarding things I've done numerous times, and I'm not the world's greatest/fastest carpenter either.

I wouldn't have been nearly so civil over there, if it wasn't a diy forum.

I do it the same way.
if the room has 4 walls
2 get cut square about 1/8" short
2 get cut cope/cope about 1/16" long
and spring into place for a tight joint

 

I've been told by my old boss that I could cut faster than any other carpenter he's ever worked with in his 20+ yr career. When cutting I'm always thinking 2 steps ahead of what I'm cutting. It would take 3-4 guys nailing to keep up with what I had cut, otherwise I'd have **** scattered all over the house ready to be nailed.
We used to do production when I worked for him and we could normally trim 2 houses a day ( about 1500 sq ft, basic trim, mantle, garage)
most we ever did was 3 houses in a day but there wasnt any thing but doors/base/shoe mold in them.

He had a system to trimming houses that works like a well oiled machine when everyone knows what to do.
I still use his system

Since on my own I've tried to lose that mindset of speed but I find myself trying to cut as fast as I can sometimes.
I must be brainwashed.

I used to sub some work from another trim guy when I first started and he couldnt understand why my helper and I could do the same amount of work as 3 of his guys in half the time..

 

As a former fast and clean trim guy I don't think its unusual to be twice as fast as average. But who wants to be average.
But the things that make it hard to be consistent are the same today as yesterday.
Sloppy framing, taping ect can turn a 30 minute crown into 45 minutes easy, and what about when you get to a job and the GC got a deal on 8' pieces, so you got joints all over the place.
I'm not as fast as I used to be, but I recently did 156 LF that included returns, angled partitions and a box bay. Lots of coping.
Pre primed crown, 2 coats of paint, cut in the yard.
All done including nail holes filled and painted in one day and got paid.

For me thats a killer day.

 

As a former fast and clean trim guy I don't think its unusual to be twice as fast as average. But who wants to be average.
But the things that make it hard to be consistent are the same today as yesterday.
Sloppy framing, taping ect can turn a 30 minute crown into 45 minutes easy, and what about when you get to a job and the GC got a deal on 8' pieces, so you got joints all over the place.
I'm not as fast as I used to be, but I recently did 156 LF that included returns, angled partitions and a box bay. Lots of coping.
Pre primed crown, 2 coats of paint, cut in the yard.
All done including nail holes filled and painted in one day and got paid.

For me thats a killer day.

For ME toooo:thumbup:

 

Yep, ya get in the groove.

I guess my main questions is: Could you measure, cut and install (by yourself), basic 3 5/8 crown, 4 coped ends, using a 4 foot ladder and and cordless nailgun....in a 12 x 12 room (9' ceilings) ...with nice tight corners in 15 minutes...if you were trying to hustle?

Now this is new construction (jr. mcmansions) with saw station set up in adjacent open area with crown stacked behind you in correct position (no rotating) to cut "in postion" on saw.

I used to try and beat my best time (just over 14 mins) when I had the opportunity. I've done under 15 minutes a ton of times. Just a game to keep things interesting.

If you haven't, check out the pics of the pediments (opposite each other in entry way) on the diy link in my original thread, normally did the 2 of them (nothing pre-fabbed except for the fluted pieces) in 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours....same pediments in 50-60 houses.

The 2 contractors (and I believe both said they had many years of production experience, but it may have just been one) called bs on that too.....damn, I am special. :laughing:

 

...oh, and your joints have to be tight :thumbsup:

 

I read the DIY tread and IMO they are clueless about production. I cant say I've timed what it takes per room cause I dont work per room.
I'll have 2 guys measure crown while I'm hanging doors or cutting windows.
Then I'll cut all the crown and scatter it, and once they finish window they start on crown.

but the last house I did:
about 3500 sq ft house, crown throughout, even in walkin closets
2 pc crown ( base cap/crown) in LR, DR, KIT, Breakfast area, Foyer
trey in MB
12' ceilings in main area ( LR, DR, Foyer)
I had it all cut in about 2.5 hours, and it took 2 helpers about 3 hours to install it. that includes going back and hand driving every 32"
I wanna say it was about 900LF of crown but not sure

 

but on the other hand I did a house a while ago that took 2 days to run about the same amount as the last house.
reason being the framing/ ceilings was so fvcked up and wavy it was damn near impossible to get anything to match up

 

We didn't work per room separately except for when I was downstairs on the final day doing the 2 pediments and 2 small bedrooms with single piece crown, while the cut guy was cutting the rest of the first floor for everything else....that's where I would time myself for fun.

If I did the crown in the beginning of the day, I could get in under 15 mins quite often, at the end of the day very seldom if ever.

I don't know if you read as far as the door hanging part, but should that be considered super-human amongst mere mortals as well? :w00t:

 

If I did the crown in the beginning of the day, I could get in under 15 mins quite often, at the end of the day very seldom if ever.I don't know if you read as far as the door hanging part, but should that be considered super-human amongst mere mortals as well? :w00t:

Yeah I read the part about the doors and I'd say you are faster than I am/was but not by alot . I have had doors from some manufactuers that some moron (temporarily) put the split jamb together better than the door was . Or over shot the casing so much it was just falling off and I had to reattach. Pissed me off and slowed down the proccess quite a bit .

Funny I never ran my crown 1st . Might have to try that .Makes sense . I'm curious about the laser tape measure . Never used one . I could see that speeding things up as well . Also saw the kapex in your picture and a DeWalt on the ground. The dewalt looks like the model 706 ( 1st version of the belt driven ) I have had since 2001 and still going strong . Do you take the Kapex on the job ?

Same thing with the plastic shims. I just cut a bundle of builder shims into 3 inch pieces and throw them in a bucket . I can't say the plastic would help me speed wise on that part .

Another thing that used to slow me down was a sheetrocker who was in a hurry and left rock hanging into the door opening or finishers cleaning their knives on a jamb . Started happening to much and I started bashing a hole in the wall by each door they did it to . That cured that problem . :laughing:

How about your production kitchen speed . I am doing a 28 box kitchen and 2 bath in just under 8 hours . That is totally complete with laminate tops , marble crap in the baths , single crown , and hardware . Even vacumm the cabinets out when we are done . I usually have a helper on these deboxing and cutting toe kick , drilling out the vanites and getting the trash out .
If they get granite I can knock a good hour off of that .
I hustle on these but it doesn't hurt as much as running trim every day did . Maybe I'm getting soft .

 

yea, I seen the door hanging....
about the same here as long as opening are framed right.
we only use prehung split jamb doors here and I have timed myself on that.
best I remember was about 4 minutes per door.

the spec houses I could have the doors hung in about 1.5 hours
last house had about 18 doors/COs and just about everyone had to have the casing ripped on one side to fit b/t walls.
took me all day on that one

 

I didn't have the heart to tell "sky" over there with his 30 years of experience, that I only did the productions stuff for 12-18 months and was up to that speed after about the 3rd or 4th house....it might have given him a heart attack. :laughing:

I've only been in this since '98, so how could it be possible to achieve such wonderous (and impossible) feats of carpentry glory...:blink:.

I hope they'll both join in on this conversation. Thought sky might be skyhook here, but I don't think so.

 

I started framing in '96,
started trimming about '99 I think.
took me a couple years of trimming to lose the urge to beat the hell out of something that didnt fit:w00t:
still use my framing hammer though just a little more finesse now

 

yeah, that can happen when a framer makes the jump...you gotta become a little more "wussifed" to get into the trim frame of mind. :laughing:

 

You'd kill me on the kitchens. Never worked as an installer, just on my own custom stuff (not kitchens). Speed and efficiency always come down to experience and always thinking ahead a couple of steps.

 

You'd kill me on the kitchens. Never worked as an installer, just on my own custom stuff (not kitchens). Speed and efficiency always come down to experience and always thinking ahead a couple of steps.

Yeah maybe at 1st but judging from what you are getting done trim wise you would have no problem getting in the swing of knocking out production kitchens .
If you ever need more work i would definetly think about adding that to your list . You already have the skills and the tools give or take a few things . Just a matter of appying that skill a little bit differently .

BTW what do your 2nd trims consist of ? Rails , shoe molding ect ?
Thats how I got into kitchens . A tract builder insisted that be in my 2nd trim . I know today their is a sub for every phase . I even did hardware (wire shelving , doorknobs ect ) for a few though I hated it .

 

You guys got me beat for speed, I'll just have to be satisfied being a Baby Boomer sex symbol.

 

That's for production work paul, now way I'm moving like that in one of my client's finished homes :no:.

But yes, you are a sex symbol....

 

I dont like running, hard to smoke.

Ha, speed and trim. Those words dont go together with the houses I work on. Everything is old and nothing is plumb.

I would rather take longer and have it as close to perfect as I can versus hurrying up and get the heck out of dodge.

I can go pretty quickly on kitchen installs though.

 

That's why this was about production trim, not much joy in it, but it can be done fast/efficiently and done well. Like I said these were in mini-mcmansions in neighborhoods with 150-200 homes in the 300-400k range (back a few years ago anyway, can probably pick a few foreclosures at much lower prices now, I would guess).

And like I said I did it for 12-18 months, while building my remodeling bus., so it paid the bills...and taught me that I could put it in very high gear when needed....definitely not my cup of tea, but some of it was fun.

 

I like to walk down the hill and do 'em all.

 

Interesting thread and when I was in my late 20's and early 30's I worked for some new homebuilders.

I would do a duplex in 3 days hand nailing, I used a nail spinner when it was oak. All pre-finished cheapo stuff, including cabinets. L-shaped kitchens with a peninsula.

I bought a compressor and sliding miter box and all the other guys would check it out saying things like, "yeah its fast but hand-nailing is better quality":laughing:

I always had my eyes open for better speed and accuracy.

I respect you production guys, you get my vote for cranking out good work pronto:thumbsup:

And JF, the girls like a guy who shows em a good time, that works at any age.

 

:laughing:

I had a short stint at the productions stuff, it's been 4 years or so. I'm guessing that it won't be coming back anytime soon. I think it's good experience for anyone who does trim work though, as the efficiencies can definitely be carried over to higher-end work as well....you just get to breathe a little easier all day long.

 

I don't think I could do a room in 15 minutes. The coping alone would take 2-3 minutes per pc. At least with the crown I make. Solid wood and a lot thicker than lumber yard pine crown. With 2 guys, mostly to hold the wild end, I could do it in a half hour. I could do it by myself in about 3/4 hour, but it is a pain.

 

That's right, JF is the guy that posts the tool porn!!

You're my kind of guy.

 

This was fjwp, 3 5/8 basic stuff leo...all new construcion with saw station and crown set-up right outside the rooms. Laser measurer, 4 ft. ladder, cordless nail gun...GO!!!