We called off a driveway pour today due to 50% chance of thunderstorms today and now we have to wait one week until the next opportunity for concrete. These decisions are always a struggle for me in that when I decide one way, the opposite usually happens-except one time.
Five years ago, we were doing a roof tear off, reframe for new pitch and reroof. The forecast for the week was just about 10% chance of rain everyday which is generally the forecast starting in May through October around here. So I decided we would go for it. We have sufficient tarps to work in virtually any weather, but when the thunderstorms hit around here, the tarps a generally torn up in no time. We tore off the roof and got half framed and decked. Shut down for the day and went home. At 3 am a huge storm rolled in and despite my best tarping efforts, rain was flowing into the house. So we got to replace alot of insulation and drywall. Owner was very reasonable. Since then I have been very gun shy when forecasts are above 30% chance of precip.
How do you guys manage it?
Replies
I control it.
let me know where U are and what ya need ...
and when.
No problem.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Do you do weekend weather too? If so, please cancel the rain expected in the north central section of Minnesota this weekend.
OK ...
gotta see where I can shift it to.
anyone dry out there?
my real answer to the first post would be ... work around it like everyone else ... 'cept I do my own weather reporting when it's really important.
had some meteorology class when in flight school ... really took an interrest in it ... so I'm one of the weather geeks that pay attention to all those maps they show ...
when I really need to know ... I hit the weather channel website and try my own guess. Certainly not an expert ... but I find I get the local conditions right more than the local news.
and then ... keep extra tarps on hand ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff,
I always knew you where good, but not that good. By the way, the sky came down about 5:30-so lucky we did not pour.
Bruce
Hiker,
I may be wrong but I thought Jeff did mostly kitchen remodels... always nice weather inside and easy to predict . ;-)
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
I'm one of the few high end cabinet install Diva's that also whores himself out to dig ditches and roof in the snow ...
up till this last winter ... I actually managed to book myself inside ... usually in a basement ... all summer long ... and work outside each and every freaking winter!
was 3 going on 4 years in a row ...
kept telling the wife when I find the idgit that's scheduling me I was gonna kill him ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I tried MSweather but it kept crashing my machine. Now, I've got a linux clone of it that really works. Simply drag and drop clouds. Point and shoot temperature. Besides being free, it doesn't crash. Now it is always 64° with a slight breeze.
We have taken to using reinforced poly for tarping roofs. It can get holes as easily as the blue tarps, but never larger than the grid created by the reinforcing (about 1/2 squares). I've never had it rip or pull out if fastened well, unlike the blue tarps. It comes is some pretty long rolls, but isn't any more expensive than the blue tarps on a square foot basis.
I have not seen the reinforced tarps. Where do you get them?
Bruce
NOAA, the national weather service, reports local weather continuously on several frequencies. They give complete forecasts too. I have an old pocket radio which tunes only to those frequencies. Got it at Radio Shack. Big help in making timely decisions.
Edit: here's NOAA's website where you can also get local weather information and forecasts.http://www.noaa.gov/
Edited 5/25/2007 11:02 am ET by Hudson Valley Carpenter
My wife found one in a closet yesterday and I am going to keep it in the truck. Continuous forecast would be helpful.
Thanks
Bruce
Alot of the new cheap walkie talkies have a WX feature..just hit the button and NOAA is broadcasting 24/7.
I think I paid 30 bucks for two of them...mostly so when I am in the basement at the water cut-off, the wife can yell into her's " TURN IT OFF< THE PIPE YOU FIXED STILL LEAKS" LOL
Or when at the breaker panel and she is upstairs... "Yup, still got smoke".Parolee # 40835
its real easy here, if the winds blowing out of the south , no rain. if its coming from nw, its going to rain
we get more rain in Mobile al than anywhere in United States. It average about 66 inches a year and 27 rain days. But do to the heat coming off the gulf it rare to rain before 2 pm. so we just work early and all dirt is sand. We really can get three inches and be back to work normal the next day.
<<we get more rain in Mobile al than anywhere in United States.>>
NOT!!!
Hilo, Hi averages 200"/year.
Ozlander
Ozlander, You may be right . Brownie is correct for the continental US though.http://www.livescience.com/environment/070518_rainy_cities.html
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Probably so, those afternoon showers do add up.
Ozlander
Ozlander,
Then just for the fun of it there is this.
""Wet and Dry Extremes in OregonOregon has its wet and its dry sides - with remarkable precipitation differences between the two geographical areas. As of 1996, the wettest station in Oregon (on an annual basis) was that at Laurel Mountain (Polk County) in the Coast Range, where in 1996 the precipitation totaled a whopping 204.12 inches, washing away the previous record of 168.88 inches at Valsetz (1937). By way of contrast, on the dry side of Oregon, at the Warm Springs Reservoir Station (located about ten miles southwest of Juntura) Malheur County) the annual precipitation total in 1939 was a meager 3.33 inches (3.05 inches below the annual average).""I used to live about 15-20 miles as the crow flies from Valstz, maybe 7 or so more to Laurel Mtn. and not quite as high in elevation. Makes 60" a year look like a spring shower. "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Edited 5/25/2007 12:45 am by dovetail97128
97128
i have been looking at your name. then it hit me. that is where i grew up. LOL
I think there is some place in the Coast range, not Valsetz that gets a BUNCH of rain. Can't quite remember it. Laurel isn't quite right. I think it's west of Corvallis ish.
Scrapr,
I lived out in the west valley area, hills around Willamina until 86, then moved into Mac. Laurel Mtn. is now the recording station that holds the record, it actually isn't far from Corvallis I don't believe, since it is south west of Dallas.
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
I just call God--- was working on a church several years ago and found the 800 number, which I'm forbiden to share, due to a confidentiality agreement.
Roger
Thanks to those with access to divine intervention-please let me know what sort of retainage is necessary to utilize your special skills.
I guess I should rephrase the question. How do you go about deciding to call off work or not? and how do you budget for non productive days due to bad weather? and how do you address lost productivity as a result of weather, i.e. slogging in the mud as opposed to dry dirt, working in the cold when it should be much warmer. Perhaps this should be in the business folder, but lets leave it here for now.
For instance, last year we lost nearly six weeks to bad weather. Year before-only two weeks. The impact is significant in terms of lost production. Last year we lost 10% of the time of potential work time. My crew lost 10% of their incoming earning time-made up for in spades with overtime, but not completely budgeted for by me and thus impacting my ability to cover overhead and fixed expenses. I realize much of this is a WAG at best, just looking for insight on how others have addressed this issue.
BTW-we got six inches of rain last night-WOW!!
Bruce
BTW-we got six inches of rain last night-WOW!!
Y'all plannin' to transplant a rain forest? To Austin?
Living in the North East, winter weather has always been the biggest challenge. My plan, such as it was, involved working long days, six days a week, during the summer months, doing work which paid well. During the slower winter months, I tried to keep busy enough to pay the bills. Anything more than that was always welcome but not expected.
I tried working in Dallas/Ft Worth one spring but by the first of June the Texas heat/humidity had me running for home. How y'all deal with the summer heat there is difficult for me to understand.
I'm saying that you've asked some good questions but everyone has to make their own choices and decisions about what kind of work to do, when to work and how much weather related misery they're going to try to deal with. The last part seems to be related to need more than anything else.
Facing weather and trying to work in it leads to problem solving above and beyond the usual methods. But often the only answer is to pack it up, go have a beer and shoot some pool with your crew.
I can't say that construction ever provided me with a predictable income but it was a lot more interesting than any office job would have been for me. Still is.
Use the New Farmers Almanac when forecasting the effects of weather on your annual cashflow. They have a pretty good record at predicting weather trends.Hire some old geezer with a trick knee to decide when to tarp and when to pour 'crete.SamT
Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public.
"Thanks to those with access to divine intervention-please let me know what sort of retainage is necessary to utilize your special skills."Sorry, I signed a non-compete contract with God
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