so.
coupla short weeks ago I get a call from a designer I been hoping to work with.
she’s in a bind.
her latest project the HO’s picked out their own tile guy.
he bids, everythings set … then he disappears.
so … she calls me.
she’s stuck … deadlines … and set budgets.
can I get close to both?
I look … both look slim. We discuss … I take 2/3rd’s of the project, as the final deadline looks too tight for comfort. Money looks decent …
so … line up another tile setter. We decide starting today … Sat … instead of Mon … will buy us the time we need to make it a semi-comfy fit.
he also lines up his work partner and his labor kid.
so this morning … we all meet at the site. Ready to hit it hard.
job foreman comes out …
Uh … not ready for tile!
they did some fancy gypcrete over the radiant.
gypcrete guys told the heating guys no need for heat.
so … it’s still wet.
and lumpy.
and I got 3 guys standing around early on a Sat Morning.
decide since they are actually there … let’s stock the job and finish that one lonely mud bad. And on Monday tile that one lonely shower.
then … I dunno.
maybe come back in a week when reality lets us actually got to work?
and for this … I stayed sober during the Pen’s Game!
at least I ended up making the Mother’s Day picnic?
and still gonna cash that start check.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Replies
That was one of the huge downfalls of stair and rail work.
The shop would schedule a job. The builder would pressure the shop to move it up on the schedule. The shop would pressure the install sub to bump it up on his schedule.
Then, the day you show up? It's not ready.
The worst was when I showed up at a job on a Saturday that I had no plans of working, only to find out I couldn't install the rails cause the house wasn't even hung yet. They had just loaded drywall the night before.
Jeff,
If I recall, Gypcrete has a specific cure time before it can be tiled and I 'do' believe you need an isolation membrane.
Better do some research.
I have the TCA guide here if you need me to look something up let me know.
Eric
[email protected]
this is special gypcrete ...
gypspan.
it's there ... 'cause according to someone ... it doesn't need isolated like regular gypcrete.
till I read their website ... "strongly suggests" I believe is the wording for an isolation membrane!
moisture testing this week ... hope maybe on Sat I'll be in there by my lonesome and be red guarding the whole place.
btw ... red guard had special instructions for the gypspan.
gotta prime it first.
cut the red guard with 4 parts water ... and trowel / skim coat first.
then roll on the full strength red guard as per the norm.
so ... after the tile guy I brough in gets one shower done by tomorrow ...
there's nothing left to do but blow on the floor.
glad I made all those arrangements to jump in quick!
oh well ... no good deed goes unpunished.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Sounds like you've got your head wrapped around it![email protected]
Hopefully the HO's pet tile guy, not the designer, takes the fall for the delay.
I hate those "hurry up and wait" jobs.
nahhh ...
I'm too smart for that.
it's always the last guy in / out no matter what happened before.
it'll be me if there's any finger pointing.
so far ... there is none.
I'm just hoping to be remembered as the guy who kept the train on the tracks and headed the right direction.
that'd be nice.
at the very least the good thing is the new(er) GC seems to be a common sense guy. He's not looking for scape goats ... just helpful answers.
wasn't planning to work another Sat .... but no hoping it's all dry enough for me to go in and coat everything by then just to get ready for a real start next Mon.
construction ... what can ya do?
I shoulda known better when all my tile help was ready and rearing to go on a Sat morning ... shoulda known there's be some roadblock. Life ain't never that easy!
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa