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I’ve heard a little about different work schedules. Start at 6:30 AM. Start at 9 PM. Mondays off. Fridays off. I’m wondering what’s your work schedule and how did it and how does it work for you? Is there anything you’ve learned about schedules that were a little better or a little worse? I guess it’s kind of a personal thing but maybe there are some general insights. I read about one builder that takes Mondays off. Why Mondays and not Fridays? Because the work week is oriented more toward the end of the week with deliveries, etc.?
Me, used to work a nice schedule framing; 6:30-4:30 Monday to Thursday with a short break around 10, work till morning break on Fridays then blow off for the day. Now generally we start at 8:30, or 8 AM if no one is living at the job site, work until 4:30-5 ish. No breaks and we take around 45 minutes for lunch.
chrs, GO
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8 to 4:30 for me and my son's business, M to F although I'm trying to cut it back to only about 20 hours a week so I can get this house done and get my new business launched before around November 15th.
*I start anywhere between 8 and 9. I take an hour for lunch starting somewhere between noon and 1:00. At 3:00 I start looking for going home...but seem to always work to 4:30 no matter what, more often to 6:00, and sometimes later (yesterday til 7:30). Monday through Friday. I really avoid taking breaks as much as possible. Of course, none of the above is set in stone and I vary from it often.Ideally I would "work" six hours a day, five days a week, I figure that will happen a couple of times before I die! "Work" not including paperwork and selling.The loss of flexibility in scheduling is a significant con in the list of pros and cons on whether or not to hire help (if I tell the help to be there at 8:00, then I need to be there at 8:00 also!).Rich Beckman
*Rich, you can get over that by stopping by the job around 4 and going over teh next days job so you don't have to be there at 8. I also took digital photos of each job and their various aspects. Had my employee stop by my house at 8; I'd give him the photos with note written on them and he'd the go to the job or pick up materials 1st and then to the job.All of my projects estimating include a line item for obtaining material and when using an employee or sub, a line item for supervision which pays for when my employee stoped at my house in the AM.
*George,My sons leave for school at 7:30 and return home by 3:00.I try to limit my production work to fit in that time slot, including travel.Well over 50% of my work is done solo so I have a great deal of controll over my time. My usual work day is to leave the house shortly after my sons and be on the job by 8:00. I try to leave the job for the day around 1:00.That gives me plenty of time to give an estimate or 2 on the way home,and/or pick up material for the next days job and still be home when my sons return from school.It is very rare for me to do any estimates on the weekends or in the evenings.I do very little production work between thanksgiving and the end of march. I try to limit my personal labor to under 1000 hours a year---usually 700-800 hours. Due to weather and scheduling I usually only do production work 3-4 days a week.working solo is infinitely more efficient than working with a crew.When working solo I wouldn't dream of wasteing time on breaks or lunch.Get the job done for the day and rest at home.
*When building cabinets/furniture... (shop beside my house) start at nine, take more breaks than work and quit at five or three or if the fish are biting...anytimeWorking out... I start at nine and work straight through without any breaks and quit at three. I'd rather work at home.
*I have my employees start at 8am May through Sept., 8:30 am during April into May and Oct., and 9 am Nov. thru March. The staggered start times reflect two things...one, the colder temps prohibit painting until things warm up and the dew dries off, and then once we move inside for the winter, the customers seem to like 9am starts because it gives the time in the morning before we get there. During the summer, I'll often have employees that like starting at 7 to get in extra hours...which is fine with me so long as they are trusted, and it takes me a few months at least before I'm comfortable having someone "working" brfore my foreman gets there.As far as quiting time, it varies between 4:30 and 6 on average. Mostly depends on what's going on, what stage the job's in, and if guys want to get extra hours. I don't eat lunch, so I leave it up to the individuals to decide if and when they eat. The general rule is that if they bring their lunch, eat, catch a smoke and get back to work, they can stay on the clock. But if the leave the job to go to the store, or if they like to kick back and relax for awhile, then they are considered off the clock.As fo me personally, I have 2 schedules...either I'm working on the job, or I'm doing paperwork/estimates/etc. On days when I'm working on the job, I like to get there first, work straight through with a 10 min. break here and there, and get in 9-10 hours. On office days I'll stop by the job aroud 10 am, do shopping, get materials and stuff, and usually be done working by 2pm and maybe have an eve. appointment. Anymore, I'd say I average 50% on the job and 50% off...Probably more detail than you care to kow....but you DID ask! LOLQ
*Q, I like that fact that you treat your guys good, and hope that they appreciate working for you.BTW, are you related to "Q" on Start Trek?
*I usually start the day about 8 am or so, but don't get to the job site until 10 or so. Very flexible.Most of my elderly customers asked that I not show up so early, so I got used to getting there a little later, and working later. Really depends on the client.I work 5 days a week in most cases, 7 days a week in others. I really value my free time, so I try not to work long hours, or long weeks if they can be avoided. If I want a Thursday and Friday off for a long weekend, I usually work the Sat and Sunday previous to that so I get, and stay, caught up.If I am working outside, my hours are dictated by the daylight. Cleanup takes a while, so I have to quit working on the project early enough to get cleaned up before dark. If I am working inside, I work as late as I care to without interfering with the client's personal time and scheduling. Most don't mind if I work late.As far as breaks go, I take very few, and for very short time frames. I do make it a point to leave the site for lunch. A little time away from the site is good for the mind and spirit. My schedule varies according to how I feel, how hot it is, or how wet it is too. Man I love being a solo contractor. James DuHamel
*we work 7 - 330 M-F..with a coffee break and 1/2 hr for lunch, which usually becomes 45 min.then when the crew leaves i go back to the office and work until about 6...plus Sat. morningsany earlier and the lumber yards aren't open.. 3:30 still leaves time for personal things for the guys..and our work schedule is part of the contract.. so the customer knows what to expect..
*I now work M-F 7:30am- 4pm. 'cause that's what they tell me to do! When on my own, I usually started later, and stayed much later. On my own, I'd say 9 to 5-6 was average. On unoccupied/rental rehabs.....for a steady customer......I'd get there around 10am, and work till 7-8pm. And make time thru out the long day for daily erands. It would all depend on the customer....if they wanted 6am.....6am it was. Jeff
*Sonny,Some employees do appreciate working for me...I'm a pretty laid back person and even my best friends have trouble remembering ever seeing me lose my cool. But I find most employees rarely can see outside of their own little melodrama enough to know when they have it good. While I do carpentry work, I'm the one who does it...I've only ever hired painters, and painters have more losers per capita than most trades I think. Carpentry requires brains at a minimum...painting requires following instructions at a minimum.As for any relation to Q from Star Trek, only insofar as I am all knowing and all powerful. Other than that, we share a similar sense of humor....but that's about it. lolThanks,Q
*We start at 8 and work to 4:30 M-F. Morning coffee break and 30 min lunch. We have tried four day weeks in the summer on new houses but family obligations usually prohibit this. Maybe when my kids are all working the early shift. We allow our employees to take off whenever they need time but since this is unpaid time, they limit it themselves.Five long time employees seem satisfied.
*When I worked for myself I would do the average work week, 7:30 or eightish till 4,5, or 6. But on Fridays if possible would call it a week by 2, go shot some pool and get a few drinks, and pay my help for the full day. Made everyone happy. It always seemed like a good way to end the week on a mellow note, and start fresh on Monday.
*As little as possible.blue
*What's with all this M-F stuff? LOL Our crew regular work week is Tues through Friday 700 am to 500pm. Our work week is pointing towards Fri all sites are clean. We use Monday and Saturday to "catch up" , overflow, special jobs, etc. Mo and Sat are OT days. Any time over 10 hrs is OT. Our men seem to like it. Now my schedule is Mo through Sat. Start at 700. Mo, Tues and Wed are kind of slacker days. Thursday and Friday are heavy for me, and Sat is catch up again. But, I can take Sat off pretty easily to catch a football game! I guess I would do about 50-55 hours pretty consistantly.
*Hey Geo,M-F 7:00 til 3:30. Offical GACC time. We're closed on weekends and that means the cell phone and the pager too. I'll pick up my messages Monday morning.Morning and afternoon breaks at about 15 minutes each. A little more if I'm not there.Lunch at 12:00. Thirty minutes....a little more if I'm not there.Roll up at 3:15......a little earlier if I'm not there.Out by 3:30.......a little earl........well, you get the picture. Nobody really takes too much advantage of it.Time goes in Tuesday nights.My wife calculates payroll on Wednesday.She writes checks on Thursday. I sign them Thursday night and pass them out Friday morning.I like to get the checks to the men early if possible. You never know if they need to run to the bank at lunch or something to cover something.I never give checks to wives or other relatives unless the employee tells me to.If you need to leave on Friday to go out of town or something, let me know enough in advance and I'll have your check to you on Thursday.I pay the crews on Friday morning, but no one leaves early. They know it's just not done.Me?I work 24/7 (not really, but it feels like it) and try to squeeze in a little life inbetween. It goes with owning the business. I try to stay up to speed on everything, but sometimes you just have to put your feet up a stare at the telly. I'm actually spending more time with my wife these days. Some things are more important than work. The crews get paid every Friday. I get paid when the client pays me. More than 60 days and I'll give them a call. That doesn't happen too often.I'm only 47. I've got lot's of years to rest later. Maybe...I hope...we'll see.Ed.
*this thread and some mental meditation while brushing varnish today...or maybe it was the fumes...got me thinking is it possible for a start-up one-man remodeling business to stick to a set schedule. here's what I thought of at lunch time:work week is monday-saturday.day is 7 am to 4:30 pm...1 hr. of personal time. lunch, breaks, etc.one day of the week is 'office day'...meetings, estimates, ordering, materials, etc...it can be the same day every week or change per the schedule.four days of the week are 'production days'...6 hours of production per day, leaving two and one half hours of 'office' time, or 'swing time' or whatever you want to call it...meetings, materials, etc.two evenings per week are 'appointment evenings'. Two hours each night, so like 5-7 pm, or 6-8 pm, etc.four hours on Saturday, morning or afternoon, is 'swing time'...office time or production.so the math says: production: 24 hours/week office: 18.5 hoursappointments: 4 hours swing time: 4 hours ------ total: 50.5 hours/week give or take.for this example...the schedule is flexible but so that you can say..."YES, I can meet you after work this week...how about Tuesday OR Thursday", or you can say "NO, I'm not available for evening appointments on Tuesday...but I AM taking evening appointments Wednesday and Thursday this week."is this completely insane?chrs, GO
*George,No.Whatever makes you business work........Cheers,Ed.
*Sure that is posible...there are several painters on PWC that are successful who set specific appointment times and don't deviate. One guy won't do appointments after 4pm at all, and he has a number of employees and soesn't work on jobs. You might not phrase it that way to a customer...you'd tell them when you have an opening and see where they can fit in.The only thing I have trouble understanding about that schedule is how you can accomplish much and make much on 24 hrs. of production per week. Even with painting, that is not much time...even small and medium sized exteriors would drag out for a mmonth or more. Interiors, that's the equivalent of only a few bedrooms a week....many master bedrooms with trim and a bath, you'd have it torn up for over a week. And that's painting...remodeling takes much longer.So I guess my question is, how can you swing only 24 hours a week? What type projects do you envision doing if you were to go to that schedule? I imagine you'd just have to pass some stuff up...Of course, one good solution would be to hire an employee...I expect this winter to be a great time to pick up good people, unlike the past couple years. Hope so anyway...Q
*24 hrs production is about what i get outta myself... luckily i have 1 - 3 guys to actually get the work done...the other hours are about the same as mine too, but i need more production time so i have employees...
*That schedule is completely workable for me. It is not terribly different than what I do during peak seasons when I am running a crew.The rest of the time my hours are way under that.
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I've heard a little about different work schedules. Start at 6:30 AM. Start at 9 PM. Mondays off. Fridays off. I'm wondering what's your work schedule and how did it and how does it work for you? Is there anything you've learned about schedules that were a little better or a little worse? I guess it's kind of a personal thing but maybe there are some general insights. I read about one builder that takes Mondays off. Why Mondays and not Fridays? Because the work week is oriented more toward the end of the week with deliveries, etc.?
Me, used to work a nice schedule framing; 6:30-4:30 Monday to Thursday with a short break around 10, work till morning break on Fridays then blow off for the day. Now generally we start at 8:30, or 8 AM if no one is living at the job site, work until 4:30-5 ish. No breaks and we take around 45 minutes for lunch.
chrs, GO