Over-Head
02-03-2005, 06:23 PM
I really don’t recommend it to anyone.
It all started yesterday, see I took on a contract to plaster a house, about an hour away from the same outfit that I do 90% of my work for.
They pay on time, for the most part aren’t too pushy, but can be a real pain in the ass if you let them “run you”
.
I was told there would be heat in the home, etc, etc.
To make a long story short I’ll NEVER ask any of my men to do something I wouldn’t or couldn’t do first.
Anyway, with 4 men on the clock for an hour already, I said “ok, I know it’s cold, but everything else we have on the go is either still wet, or waiting for approval befor we can start the next phase, their supposed to have the electricians in by noon.
If you guy’s are willing to stay, lets go grab a coffee, and get started”.
They all agreed and we stayed.
I kept my sweat shirt and down filled vest on, even though I knew they’d get full of plaster, and started at it.
***Bear in mind it’s about –8 out side, and probably –12 in this house, but genius me thinks that if I keep pushing I’ll stay warm.
I laid the tape with 2 guy’s wiping out behind me, while the other two installed and began coating corner beads, and working on the 4 tray drop ceilings.
Now when your “wet taping” (yeah, yeah, yeah, a bazooka is defiantly a better set up, I just don’t have one, flat box’s, and corner system YES, auto taper NO.)
The poor shmuck that’s “Laying tape” or putting it on, gets mighty WET, and mighty messy, as he’s the guy who mixes the plaster, and cleans up the wet tape box, and buckets.
Not to mention your always washing your hands off from installoing the tape that’s just gone through the “shit box”
This would be me.
At least the guy’s wiping out could wear gloves. At one point my hands started getting so damn cold, I took a thermos of coffee and poured it over them so I could feel my fingers again.
My guy’s..all said,,”ahh Boss, were freezing our nutz off, but as long as your willing to stay we will too.”
I just kept laying tape, hoping we’d soon be done.
In 3 hours the electricians arrived, toting a “salamander” which they promptly lit up to take the “chill” as they called it off the house.
After 6 hours of this I sat in the back of the van shivering like all get out. But soon started warming up whilst we all headed for home and fell asleep in route.
I have no memory of getting on the boat, or JoAnn picking me up when I got to the other side, I have no memory of passing out in her car, nor being taken to the hospital, I have no memory of telling the doc “I’m fu@king freezing that’s how I am” at 2 am when I started regaining some kind of semi consciousness, nor do I know when they took blood samples.
All in all it was about 10 am today or so when I started to make sense out of anything. And noon when they finally let me go home.
My body temp was 95.4 when they got me into emergency.
Man what an experience.
I really didn’t like it at all.
PS:
As a result of this I made some mighty heated phone calls to the main contractor I do 90% of my business with and flat out told him, every house I start has heat, or we don’t start until it does, end of story FULL stop
It all started yesterday, see I took on a contract to plaster a house, about an hour away from the same outfit that I do 90% of my work for.
They pay on time, for the most part aren’t too pushy, but can be a real pain in the ass if you let them “run you”
.
I was told there would be heat in the home, etc, etc.
To make a long story short I’ll NEVER ask any of my men to do something I wouldn’t or couldn’t do first.
Anyway, with 4 men on the clock for an hour already, I said “ok, I know it’s cold, but everything else we have on the go is either still wet, or waiting for approval befor we can start the next phase, their supposed to have the electricians in by noon.
If you guy’s are willing to stay, lets go grab a coffee, and get started”.
They all agreed and we stayed.
I kept my sweat shirt and down filled vest on, even though I knew they’d get full of plaster, and started at it.
***Bear in mind it’s about –8 out side, and probably –12 in this house, but genius me thinks that if I keep pushing I’ll stay warm.
I laid the tape with 2 guy’s wiping out behind me, while the other two installed and began coating corner beads, and working on the 4 tray drop ceilings.
Now when your “wet taping” (yeah, yeah, yeah, a bazooka is defiantly a better set up, I just don’t have one, flat box’s, and corner system YES, auto taper NO.)
The poor shmuck that’s “Laying tape” or putting it on, gets mighty WET, and mighty messy, as he’s the guy who mixes the plaster, and cleans up the wet tape box, and buckets.
Not to mention your always washing your hands off from installoing the tape that’s just gone through the “shit box”
This would be me.
At least the guy’s wiping out could wear gloves. At one point my hands started getting so damn cold, I took a thermos of coffee and poured it over them so I could feel my fingers again.
My guy’s..all said,,”ahh Boss, were freezing our nutz off, but as long as your willing to stay we will too.”
I just kept laying tape, hoping we’d soon be done.
In 3 hours the electricians arrived, toting a “salamander” which they promptly lit up to take the “chill” as they called it off the house.
After 6 hours of this I sat in the back of the van shivering like all get out. But soon started warming up whilst we all headed for home and fell asleep in route.
I have no memory of getting on the boat, or JoAnn picking me up when I got to the other side, I have no memory of passing out in her car, nor being taken to the hospital, I have no memory of telling the doc “I’m fu@king freezing that’s how I am” at 2 am when I started regaining some kind of semi consciousness, nor do I know when they took blood samples.
All in all it was about 10 am today or so when I started to make sense out of anything. And noon when they finally let me go home.
My body temp was 95.4 when they got me into emergency.
Man what an experience.
I really didn’t like it at all.
PS:
As a result of this I made some mighty heated phone calls to the main contractor I do 90% of my business with and flat out told him, every house I start has heat, or we don’t start until it does, end of story FULL stop