Good grief! How smart do ya have to be to roll latex paint on a wall?
It’s a weird enough situation anyway: The client just closed on the sale last Monday and wanted half of the house painted and re-carpeted by the 16th. That’s eight days, and I don’t have time to do anything this time of year, let alone a rush job.
But she’s knocking the place down next summer and building a new one…and I could sure use a fat contract like that, so I stretched myself and subbed the carpeting, and hired a helper who’s worked for me occasionally to roll some paint on. The client is, understandably, not looking for a top-flight job–just good enough so her friends can use the place this winter for a few ski weekends and vacations. I promised her only a level 2 finish on the gyprock repairs (several holes and a fair number of cracks) and she was good with that, so I figured it would be a safe chance for this helper to show what he could do unsupervised and maybe bump himself up from helper to apprentice permanently (I promised him apprentice wages for this job).
Wrong.
We’re not talking a few roller marks here; we’re talking stretching 400sf/gal paint out to 800 sf and seeing roller marks every foot and seeing everything else through the paint. I bought him seven gallons for 2400 SF; he used three.
Dammit!!! This should have been a one-coat job; it’s medium beige over white, a decent latex acrylic eggshell paint. Now I’m looking at the client arriving late tonight (if the snowstorm doesn’t cancer her flight from Florida), and at least 8 hours of re-painting that I’m gonna have to do myself after work in the next two evenings over a brand friggin’ new carpet which is going in at 8:15 tomorrow morning.
Arrrgggghhhh! Why am I such a dumbash!!!???
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice….
Replies
My dad is working for you?
as much as I hate to say it, why aren't you rolling right now?
Been there, done that, still kicking myself, and sometime in the next two weeks I gotta go re-do work I already paid for. Don't ask. Some days are just like that.
bakersfieldremodel.com
I gotta go re-do work I already paid for. Don't ask
BTDT. And with a pair of hispanic painters. One guy had done work for me before and i thouyght I trusted him. He never worked for me again, and spread the word back to the guy who referred him, and everyone else, about the incredible chitty job he did. His was not trying to stretch paint, he was clearly trying to do a 2 day job in half a day and pull oner over on the gringo."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Thanks for reminding me why I work ALONE!
heh,heh,heh.....
painter & roofing subs are the ones i get into the most trouble over....
y shud u be any different ?
sorry, bro
Does this guy do a good job installing upside-down crown molding?
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
You aint the dumb one.......its the other goober.
Did you tell him to kiss byebye to any future money from you?
I had a fella working for me once. Had a job that needed painting.
I asked him if he could paint. He said 'I DONT PAINT'
If its push a roller up and down getting paid full rates vs no pay, I woulda thought it was a pretty simple choice.
Nope.
I work on my own now. Do everything I can do myself, by myself. Bottom line is....if you want it done right...................and the ones who can do it right are already working for themselves.
I think we forget that rolling isn't an
automatic skill.
Those of us in the trade know it's pretty frickin easy. Yet
I've seen laymen struggle several times.
I hate to say it but, You should have taken ten minutes to
instruct him on how it's done and more importantly how
you want it done.
Can't blame a helper for being a beginner can you?
For some reason, you can teach a guy to install siding, frame a wall, nail down flooring, whatever. But give him a paint roller and for some reason he thinks no instruction is necessary. And usually it's fill 'er up and see how far you can get before you have to bother with re-dipping it.
"But give him a paint roller and for some reason he thinks no instruction is necessary."Yes, there are a few skill sets that seem to work like that. I used to be certified as a whitewater canoe instructor. I can't count how many times, when learning of this, someone would say to me, "What's there to teach?"Then they'd launch into their canoeing story, which I could finish for them -- I just didn’t know the brand (and exact count) of the beer they were drinking, or the brand of the camera that they lost.Sheesh!But nevertheless, Henley and Hudson Valley Carpenter are right: you have to insist on an instruction session, and stick around for at least one wall, preferably one room.AitchKay
I think there is a similar attitude problem with mowing lawns.
One guy goes at it with the mindset that he is going to make this lawn LOOK good! The other guy thinks of it in terms of how fast he can go back and forth with the machine to cover the area and get gone.Ya gotta stop them and say - the goal is not to put some paint on the wall, the goal here is to make the wall LOOK good.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
1) Quality paint. Behr and Glidden don't count. I use Parker.
2) 1 gallon will cover 250-300 sq. ft.. That's it. Don't try to 'stretch' paint, it does not work. You MUST use plenty of paint.
3) Fully load roller, not so much as to be dripping all over the place. One roller load will cover about 3' x 3'. Do the 'W' pattern to get paint on the wall, go with horiz. strokes, then vert. strokes, maybe both again and check that you have blended invisibly into previous area(s).
4) Do not press roller against wall. Angled into wall will be sufficient pressure. If you've got roller sufficiently loaded and are using good paint, you'll get the 'sucking' sound as you roll.
Not rocket science, but not something any unskilled labor can necessarily do well. Lines and lap marks? Does not happen when I paint as outlined above.
Amen....I replied before reading your response, but agree whole heartedly.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Look at the bright side. He left you enough paint to do the second coat.:)
Reminds me of the time I did a level 10 taping job on a bathroom, and the homeowner painted the whole thing, including the door with a 4" brush.
Reminds me of the time I did a level 10 taping job on a bathroom, and the homeowner painted the whole thing, including the door with a 4" brush.
This has happen to me with painting & other aspects of the job too. In those times I instruct the customer not to use my name when showing people the project.
Also before I will let a customer touch a project, I make sure they can preform the task at hand, much like letting any helper do anything including PAINTING.
I tell them, If it doesn't look acceptable or complete, "IT ISN'T"
Paul
No one should regard themselve as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whos gifts are from God.
One of my continuing mistakes is assuming. But when it comes to instructing helpers I follow a personal discipline which comes from seldom receiving good, complete instructions when I was the helper.
I explain, then demonstrate, all the time watching his/her eyes for comprehension. Then I ask for a repeat performance of whatever I just showed him/her how to do. If it looks like the brief lesson hit home, I'll leave him/her to it with one final instruction about the most important thing to watch for.
I was taught to roll paint by an a guy from Israel who spoke english poorly with a heavy accent.
"Double roller" he would shout, meaning that I should go back over the just rolled area, placing the center of the roller over the vertical lines left by the first pass. The second pass was more gentle, done by feel, and meant to remove the lines without laying down any new ones.
It's a technique that takes time, attention and practice to learn well. Along with applying just enough paint to cover, using the correct pressure, moving the roller at the best speed, avoiding drips and becoming adept at getting the correct amount of paint on the sleeve, that's about all you need to know how to do.
It may not be a skill set that requires a lot of gray matter to learn but it does take time, attention and practice to do well.
While you're at it - Cut in first. When rolling, start at one end and work across - never start in the middle. Start at the top and work down - any drips will be rolled out as you work down. Always work the wet edge, in a w configuration. I had a boss try to show someone how to roll - he started at the bottom, in the middle of the wall, and rolled in the shape of a "C" on the wall. We sat there speechless, and bust out laughing the minute he left!View Image bakersfieldremodel.com
<Always work the wet edge, in a w configuration. >I snicker at anyone who uses any letter of the alphabet to paint with, so i guess it's a matter of perspective. :)
Barry E-Remodeler
Too bad it took me a dozen years to learn to teach thoroughly...LOL
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Well...fer starters...IMO, eggshell on a #2 finish was asking for trouble from the git go. That aside...did you describe this project to your apprentice as you did to us?
Not to excuse his/her poor workmanship....but when you set things up in ones mind a certain way....ya can't be too surprised, when maybe ya got what ya asked for.
And why the apparent dismissal towards the art of painting?
No...it aint rocket science.....but neither is swinging a hammer.
Until we ALL recognize the skill required to be a skilled craftsman, how can we expect Joe Homeowner to take us seriously?
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
how can we expect Joe Homeowner to take us seriously?
Oh no! First we had Joe Sixpack, then Joe the Plumber, now its Joe Homeowner!!! (soon to be Foreclosure Joe, I suspect!)View Image bakersfieldremodel.com
<And why the apparent dismissal towards the art of painting?.....Until we ALL recognize the skill required to be a skilled craftsman, how can we expect Joe Homeowner to take us seriously?>yep
Barry E-Remodeler
"
Not to excuse his/her poor workmanship....but when you set things up in ones mind a certain way....ya can't be too surprised, when maybe ya got what ya asked for.
And why the apparent dismissal towards the art of painting?"
My judgement is for the defendant in this case . I took it the same way.
Tim
good to see you post again - I was worried -
D"there's enough for everyone"
Thanks
Now I'm looking at the client arriving late tonight (if the snowstorm doesn't cancer her flight from Florida), and at least 8 hours...
That would be bad. :)
I think(like others have said) painting is one of those things that looks easy to the layman, and to us seems more like common sense than anything else. Nobody taught me how to paint(and some say it shows), but I'm a quick learner from my mistakes...and I see my mistakes. I think it took quite a few gallons worth of crummy paintjobs before figured out what things I was doing wrong and adapted.
Some just don't have an eye that picks up roller marks, light spots, etc., so they just plod along streching the paint and not seeing the bigger picture.
Also, it may be an issue of cost perspective...a layman's priority may be that he stretch the paint and save $100 worth of paint, but we'd say "Screw the $100 in paint, the 8 hours to second coat the whole job is worth more than that!"
I wouldn't hang the helper just yet, he probably just needs training and a little help understanding your priorities.
And don't hang yourself either, I've made the same mistake in setting my expectations of others unrealistically high too...and I'm sure many more have as well.
Well, that's my $.02 anyway. YMMV.
My brother would hire college kids to paint fixer uppers.
He would tell them they were required to put on two coats and he said this method seemed to work okay
>>"I bought him seven gallons ....... he used three."
Could be worse. If you had hired my wife and her mother, it would have been the other way around -- and you still might need some touch up in a few places.
I worked for a painter when I was 18 yrs old
he would add water to the paint to try to stretch is out and make it go farther
Had a miserly aunt once who just couldn't bring herself to keep paint on the brush.
I'd stop over and had to keep telling her it was ok to put paint on the brush when painting. She'd try painting with a brush so dry you could hit and shake it with no paint flying off.
Just didn't have it in her. Like some guys you meet who couldn't hammer a nail straight if their life depended on it.
Created more work for herself than she knew.
94969.1 The Breaktime Index
Edited 12/15/2008 12:01 pm ET by rez
That's my dad. The brush is so dry it scratches. He always thins the paint too, to make it go farther. Funny thing is if he hears anybody is painting, he shows up to help. He doesn't paint, he tints.
He doesn't paint, he tints.
LOL. Maybe he's discovered a new, faster way to do faux finishing :-)
Painting and staining are two of my favorite things to do. If I'd have been in Canada, I'd have helped you out.
I know...nice thought...but it doesn't help the problem. :)
You could paint the baseboards while he does the crown, LOL
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Hey, I'd be happy to paint any of it. Except for overhead painting. I don't like that too much!
LOL
Reminds me of a job way long time ago. Guy was building a duplex, and I got to work with his son about 21YO - so you know where this is going.
There was a large apt and a smaller one. There was a deadline for getting ready to move in. I volunteered to work weekend as did kid.
He was always crabbing about not making enough money ( of course he rarely showed up five days a week...) and I didn't really like working with him, so I let him have the larger apt to paint while I took the little one. then I paid him no more mind.
Come monday AM, boss asked me at the shop why did I use seven gallons while kid only needed five - for a larger unit. I think he was hinting that maybe I took a couple few gallons home with me. I said geeBoss, dunno, let's go look at what he did. I know my empties are still sitting in the apt I worked on.
So we looked at mine first, he approved great job and I noticed him counting empties...
Then we unlocked the bigger unit - It was truly a see-through paint job - and the spatters all over explained also why he was able to finish in less time than I did!
He put the kid back on the end of a shovel for a week and I spoent a couple days painting out the bigger apt.
anyways, I learned once not to leave a helper unsupervised on painting, noit matter how simple a job. A kid who claimed to be good and able to cut in. I had some soffits to do off stepladders on a ranch. So we started together and went two directions around...
At lunch time I went to find him to eat, and discovered to my horror, that I was going to need to paint the entire wall under where he had been. You have never seen so many drizzles...
This same kid on the next job - used my AL I-beam level for a pry-bar and put a nice 3" curve into it...
There was no third job with him.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
But she's knocking the place down next summer and building a new one
I'm still trying to figure out why she wants to spend money on paint and carpet for a house that will be torn down in a few months.
Look here man -
She is a woman
She has enough money to tear a place down and rebuildso she is doubly in classes that defy understanding.
Don't fight it or you will lose your mind!;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Well, I'm sitting here exhausted and well over an hour past my 'bedtime'...but the job is done and the client is effusive over how I saved her butt so I guess it all worked out okay. All I gotta do tomorrow evening is re-hang a few doors and haul off the trash.
It ain't the Taj Mahal--but that was understood from the git-go. The cut-line between the ceiling and wall is a little wonky, and there are spots under some shelves where I didn't bother cutting in the corners (you gotta bend down and look up to see 'em). She is, after all, gonna put the whole thing in a dumpster in about 6 months.
But at least now it looks like it's been painted. This was a five-room job: Kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom, and entry foyer. Since the new carpet was down, I had to protect every room while working, so it took me eight hours to do the second coat, including clean up, replacing a gazillion switch plates, stripping about two miles of masking tape, and re-installing the friggin' track light I told my guy not to take down (but he did).
On the bright side, the carpet installers I subbed that part to were wizards. Showed up on time this morning (in spite of the worst weather you can imagine), stripped the old carpet and laid 800 SF of new in about four hours, clean as a whistle. They'll get my next carpet job....
Everything everybody said about painting being hard to do right is right on. Painting is not drop-dead easy; it's one of the reasons I hate taking painting jobs: HOs think it's a no brainer and get all bent outta shape when you charge for a painter as skilled labour.
I think it was the weird conditions that tripped me up. I would never have sent this guy in to paint that joint alone if it had been a regular job--I know he's not good enough. But somehow, it never occurred to me he'd just keep rolling while looking at what he had to know wasn't a sufficiently good job, even for a tear-down.
I've known this guy for a long time. He used to be a go-getter, a real sharp, focused guy at whatever he did. But the last eight years he's been put thru hell--all seven circles of it!--and his defense has been to disengage: won't take any responsibility; won't take any decisions; won't attempt to solve even the most minor conundrum.
Example: the night before he was supposed to start, I told him I'd call him to confirm when I saw how the gyprock repairs were going. At 9:15pm, I saw it wasn't gonna happen, so I called his rooming house to let him know so he could go to his regular job that day instead of calling in 'sick' (I was paying him double what they do).
He'd gone to bed. He has four phone numbers to reach me. Home, cell, pager, and toll-free (rings to my cell). But he didn't even try; when I didn't phone before he got sleepy, he just went to bed.
My fault, not his. I tried to use the wrong tool for the job....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I dont paint, that why I bought the airless, everything going get covered the same color, ceiling, doors, door knobs, electrical outlets. I hate to paint. But I use plenty of it, carpet, dog, the fish tank, egg shell beige.
Beige dogs are boring. I think red would be a better dog color.
You'd love this painter I saw once - he painted halfthe neighborhood an olympic Navahoe Red, including the neighbor's dog.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I don't believe helpers are worth what you "save" on them. Gotta pay them for doing it, and then you gotta pay yourself for re-doing it, so you "save" nothing. Only skilled guys are worth hiring.
I disagree emphatically. A good helper (like a good anything else!) is worth his weight in gold. He does all those grunt jobs that would otherwise slow down the high-priced guys, and if he's really good, he does them without being told, looking around and seeing what needs to be done and just doing it.
The problem is, any helper that good doesn't stay a helper long....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
>>The problem is, any helper that good doesn't stay a helper long...<<I've never come across a good helper...
a good helper requires a good teacher.
Barry E-Remodeler
I would rather just hire skilled people and get to work.
+1. Unfortunately, that's the way I usually end up feeling, just want to get the work done. When I think a bit about it, though, I feel guilty because I remember all the patience and kindness others have shown to me on my road of learning. I hope that realization causes me to give in kind.
<I would rather just hire skilled people and get to work.>and yet you say you've never had a good helperthe definition of insanity....
Barry E-Remodeler
Barry,If helpers work well for your situation, great. I like it better when everyone can pull their own weight. It might be different if I was doing a lot of roofing or something like that, but I'm doing pretty high-grade remodeling on historic houses and need people who know what they are doing.I've got two people in my company besides me, both of whom I can pretty much send off to a job and let them do their work, and only have to take an occasional phone call for clarification of something or go visit the site once or twice a week. That frees me up to to work on another job by myself, or we re-arrange the way we are allocated depending on the jobs at hand. That is worth six helpers in my book.I want people that can work unsupervised. I think it's a better value for the client and less headache for me. I just don't think the value is there with people who can't work on their own. Would a helper make my life easier? In some ways, but the "cost" in my time spent training and supervising just isn't worth it to me.I've worked on plenty of crews with helpers. I've also spent a lot of time re-doing the sub-standard work those helpers have done. Even things that you think out to be simple, like the painting that started this thread, require skill. Steve
I think the problem may be one of expectations.
I don't expect a helper to be able to do my job...altho I am supposed to be able to do his and my own, too; that's why I bill twice as much for me as for him.
When I'm thinking straight--not on this job, obviously--I expect a helper to help. Go get this tool from the truck. Help me carry those 14' sheets of 'rock up the stairs. Hold up the other end of this 16' fascia while I nail it off. Haul the bundles of shingles/flooring/insulation/whatever from where they are to where they need to be while I cut/nail/fit/install them. Clean up the scrap so I don't trip over it. Pull out that old insulation and bag it. Run the shop vac and load the dumpster. Help carry the tools out to the truck at the end of the day.
Ideally, the helper does all this without being told--he looks around, sees what needs to be done, and does it--but that's seldom the case. When it is, it's because he thinks about what's going on around him...and that means he won't stay a helper very long. He will need to be taught specific skills--'Okay, this is how you use the chopsaw; this is how to sweat a joint; this is how you cut a piece of gyprock; this is how you mix thinset...'--but if he thinks, he can learn anything.
If he just stands there waiting for orders, he'll never get beyond gofering or pushing an idiot stick around (and he'll never get beyond $12 an hour, either).
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
my helper is an ex marine 25 year old boy, he does nothing unless told, he needs a sargent at all times. I rather work by myself.
I hear ya. And in a case like that I agree. 90% of the time I work alone, too, mostly 'cuz I don't have time to dork around thinking up stuff to keep a lump like that busy.
The rest of the time, either I've got a good kid for a summer who's a pleasure to have around, or I just plain need the extra muscle.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
Well for next summer, Ian maybe looking for work as he was too slow to apply for his lifeguarding jobs at the summer pools.
And at $12/hour???? He's doing $8,50 doing dishes for Audrey right now.
P.S. I bought ski tickets for Tremblant already. Total of 4, to be used anytime this season.
Well, if the HO on this job isn't too pissed off about having to pay for a second coat of paint, I might still have a chance to get the contract to design and build their new house next summer. If that's the case, Ian has a job, and a place to stay, too.
Unless you guys want to ski with Ryan next week, I would wait till after New Year's to come up to Tremblant to ski. Xmas holidays are always nutz and we got rain last Monday which of course froze solid Tuesday. Somewhat recovered by today with another 5-15 cm of new snow on the north side; 3-7cm on the south. But lots of people already and I spent most of today doing accident calls rather than installing 'protection' pads on man-made hardware.
Last call of the day was a 'taxi' ride for a snowblader who twisted his knee slightly in Devil's River, just above the Boiling Kettle.
Guy weighed 240 pounds. Devil's right now is frozen slush moguls with some powder on top. The water-bars aren't filled in yet, either, so there's places where the trail runs uphill. Ooof. Earned my pay today on that one call....
Dang! I still didn't get that special CD made for Ian for his birthday/Christmas present. I'll see if I can burn it tomorrow, but even if I mail it Monday I doubt it's gonna make it down to you by Wednesday.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
So you'll risk not obtaining a large comission job next year to make the customer pay for work now that you've admitted here was your fault to have taken more time ?
In this economy that seems short sighted. We've all had to "eat "mistakes from time to time.
Walter
I'll be tuning in to read his reasoning on this as well.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
The remark I posted to Jet about her possibly being pissed off was made in jest, mostly. I'm not really expecting trouble, but if she's unhappy, I'll adjust the bill until she isn't. Sometimes, you get to the mental point with problematic job where all you wanna do is have it over with and not lose yer shorts in the process; I'm there on this one.
But just for the record: The client looked at the job after the first coat was done and agreed with me that a second coat was necessary. I made it plain I was not trying to spend more of her money than absolutely necessary to get her to where she wanted to be, but that given the fact she was planning on knocking the place down in six months, I needed her guidance in determining what standard of quality was appropriate.
That is not saleman's bull-droppings, BTW; I really needed her to call it. IMO most people (me included) would probably have opted to leave it the way it was when she bought it and just hang some ski posters over the holes in the gyprock. The existing paint wasn't really in bad shape. I guess she just didn't like white-on-white.
In any event, it was only after that meeting that I proceeded to put on a second coat of paint, and I billed her a big, fat 6 hours for it. Yes, had I done the first coat myself, it would have covered...but I charge double for me what I charge for my erstwhile 'helper'.
Actually, I've already adjusted her bill a fair amount; my helper's time sheets showed over 28 hours to half-paint the five rooms, and altho I paid him (Merry Christmas, pal, and don't spend it all in one place 'cuz it's yer last paycheck from me), I did not bill her for 10 of those hours. And everything else on the job (carpet, gyprock, electric) came in 10-15% under estimate. I think the total overage was less than 8%. My contract allows me to go 15% over estimate without even checking with the client (altho I almost never fail to do so).
In the end, she hasn't got much to complain of; she got an impossible rush-job done on time at the craziest time of year...and I think that was her main concern.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
too pissed off about having to pay for a second coat of paint
I hope something was lost in translation between Canukian and Mericun, cuz I don't understand why the client would be billed to fix the contractors error."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Ha, yeah, that was what I was thinking too. Something else is involved or lost in the translation.94969.1 The Breaktime Index
The time I want a helper the most is after I've spent all day carrying 1/2 the tools in my van into the job, usually up a few flights of stairs; and now its time to carry them all back out, after I'm tired from carrying 1/2 my tools around.
At that point, and against my better instincts, I usually just throw everything into my van, saying I'll straighten things up "tomorrow".
Then "tomorrow" I pretty much repeat the same process.
Over the weekend I actually do put things away, tho.
I used to work by myself and preferred it . Somtimes I still do if I feel good . Problem is I dont .
I get along with a helper pretty good. He does all the get that and this and does most of the lifting . I teach to even it up to make it worth him being there to him. I teach at least 30 minutes a day stopped time. Then answer questions all day if IM being asked. So far who Ive used works hard for me . Ive got a feeling they might not if they were just fetching . I dont know .
But I never ever leave a helper alone .
Tim
I've purposely downsized my business so I generally don't need a helper, but there are times where one could be usefull.
Especially as I get older, and weaker, and ... <G>
Exactly.
The way I figgure it your knowledge is worth one extra hand and youve got the knowledge and no hand . If you wanna think about that for a minute.
A few years back I felt good and didnt want the help. Felt good not having to put up with someones habits what ever they are . Always somthing ya know.
Ive ran a crew most of my working life and was ready for some piece and quiet . Its probably the best thing about me . Still I was so tired of it . If I was to pick the best thing I did it was push a crew. That also requires a lot of business time.
One hand is a lot different animal. I like the part time hand thats good but cant hold down a job full time . I want that guy. Few want him and I dont pay him very well. If he shows up I go to the job I needed him to do. If he doesnt I go to the job I was gonna do alone. Makes it easy I own the work. I probably couldnt do it working for the public. Ive got several days work for my hand when he shows up and right now he isnt . I dont depend on him , I use him actually to my benifit. I dont look for any work to keep him busy. I say thats it for now . Hes not going anywhere or he would be there working full time .
Tim
Hilarious! My sentiments exactly.
"My fault, not his. I tried to use the wrong tool for the job...."
Youre a good man.
Tim