Andy
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| 04 Nov 2008 12:07 PM |
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Ever wonder what happens to countertops after you install them. Here are two plumbers that apparently think the counter is a work surface. These are the jobs we have to go back and remove scratches that we supposedly left behind. |
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FabNet Administrator
andy@thefabricatornetwork.com
Countertop Company - www.OliveMill.com |
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The SS Tech Guy
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| 04 Nov 2008 02:51 PM |
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Okay, I admit this looks bad, but not ALL plumbers are like this. I got my Journeyman Plumbing license in 1982 in Lancaster county, PA and I did NOT do stuff like this or let any of my crew do this. We provided carpet remenants for the bottom of all our tool boxes so we would not cause problems.
I guess maybe we were the exception. Just remenber, if you say "all plumbers" then do not be upset when you get grouped into "all contractors are crooks"! |
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| Bill W.
bwolle@msn.com |
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Norm Walters
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| 04 Nov 2008 03:01 PM |
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Andy, I always try to use the same subs on all my jobs. This way they get to know each other, and have more respect for the last trades work. Alot of contractors will take multiple bids for each job, then just take the lowest bid, I don't play in that pool.
The picture you show is more often seen where the homeowner is their own contractor, and uses multiple subs that have never worked together. |
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Norm
www.normwaltersconstruction.com |
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politefab
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| 04 Nov 2008 03:06 PM |
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i deal with the same thing i have left a house driven around the block and come back to take pictures of all big heavy metal tool boxes sitting on the top i have pictures of electricians walking across tops where i had to go back and repair broken seams and so on. that pic is not so bad i have a pictur of someone leaving a range hood an a blue bahia top i just installed. for those of you who dont know that stuff retails at about $300 a square foot |
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Karl Crooks
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| 04 Nov 2008 03:28 PM |
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Posted By politefab on 04 Nov 2008 03:06 PM
i deal with the same thing ........ big heavy metal tool boxes sitting on the top ........... electricians walking across tops ........... someone leaving a range hood ........... Back in my cast poly days this stuff was happening every day, such a pain. We dont deal with this so much any more, but I feel for you guys ! |
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| RESTORE ~ RENEW ~ REJOICE !
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politefab
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| 04 Nov 2008 03:49 PM |
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it makes you angry to see some one treat your work like crap |
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Kelsey Crisp
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| 04 Nov 2008 05:19 PM |
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Most of the time I use the same plumber... but when I do not know who is going to follow me up... I ALWAYS leave cardboard on both sides of the sink. On the cardboard I write: Dear (name filled in) family, This top can be repolished at a starting price of $250.00 if damage ever occurs. I always tell the homeowner why I am doing this.... I have taken 2 plumbers to court and won... assholes. Yes it takes time... lots of it to go to court... but now I have a reputation.. when they find out i do the top..... I see carpet padding along with their tools.... By the way... I will place cardboard down along the cabinets and any tool boxes or any tools get set on something, mainly scrap carpet. Nothing I take to a job site ever touches a customers property, by that I mean there is always a protective barrier, be it paper, cardboard, carpet, bubblewrap, ect. It does not matter if only the subfloor is down or concrete.... we do every job the same.... I know this sounds like crazy...  |
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| Yep.... I said the Dow will go to 6000 |
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David G.
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| 04 Nov 2008 08:40 PM |
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My brother Dan perfected the one arm sweep.
On this last job I just did it was a 5 sheet himacs Kohala. I put little signs on every top. I wrote a note. " Everyone!! these are not work surfaces. If you scratch them we will hunt you down and kill you....
with a very expensive bill to re polish." pic of a skull and cross bones. All the others said "not here either" I came in on the last day to give the custmer a bill, she paid, then I pointed out that her electrician might not know how to read. he had screws and tools all over, since the tops were just paid for I let her deal with it  and she did. I figure if we let it be known to the others to stay off why cover them. I think it provides a false sense of protection. |
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DON"T LET WILDLIFE RUN RAMPANT! (Walter Hickel)
david1062"at"gmail.com |
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politefab
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| 04 Nov 2008 08:45 PM |
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a thin layer of plastic or cardboard does not help when you put a 5 lb too box on it |
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Curt H
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| 06 Nov 2008 11:04 AM |
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I Just fixed a scratch yesterday on a bathroom vanity, the contractor said I could pick up the check when I fixed the scratch. I debated what to do, but I ended up
driving the 40 miles and sanding out the scratch. ( 10 minutes). The contractor is
a new customer and was very grateful. I guess I just bit the bullet in hopes of future sales.
Curt
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| It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.
Abraham Lincoln |
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markm
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| 06 Nov 2008 06:40 PM |
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I've been there. Just figure a little more in the next job for him. |
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Mark Mihalik
Counterparts LLC |
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The SS Tech Guy
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| 07 Nov 2008 06:34 AM |
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This has been a problem forever. I think the best choice is as someone else mentioned, try to educate the subs and contractor/owner that you have delivered finished tops, emphasis on finished. If any damage occurs, it will cost to repair.
If you put some kind of protection on the tops, are you not saying "they are protected, go ahead and put your stuff on them"? If you do not protect them, someone will put stuff on them anyway. A no win situation.
Talk to the subs, contractor and owner and tell them. |
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| Bill W.
bwolle@msn.com |
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Johnny C
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| 07 Nov 2008 09:41 AM |
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In the begining I use to place 1/8" luan on the finished tops. Then I had to repair a top that an electrician had drilled into while drilling a hole in an electrical box. He drilled through the box and through the luan and into the top.
Seems that you can't protect the idiots from themselves.
Now I leave the tops clean and explain the consequences of a repair call.
Johnny C |
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William
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| 07 Nov 2008 11:01 AM |
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Jonny C. I had a carpenter  use a finished top for a saw horse and cut the whole corner off with his skill saw along with running the blade thru the new cabinets. He forgot to check the depth of the blade  |
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| William @ TNC |
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Tom M
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| 07 Nov 2008 01:00 PM |
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Ouch, William, that's not a good thing to see in a call-back.
There's a special kind of feeling having to repair a brand-new top that were subjected to the care of the stupid. |
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| "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare |
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The SS Tech Guy
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| 08 Nov 2008 07:50 AM |
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One of the funniest ones I had was years ago. I got a call from a woman in MD that had refinished an antique table over the weekend on her 3 week new solid surface island top. Needless to say, the stripper soaked through the newspaper she had put on the countertop to protect it. The top had white chemical attack spots all over it. She knew it was her fault and did not want it repaired for free, just fixed BEFORE her husband got home from a business trip so that he would not know and "won't kill me if he doesn't know". I made an appointment for the next day (2 days before her husband was to return home). When I got there and knocked on the door, guess who answered? Yup, the husband. I stood there with a blank look on my face as I did not know what to tell him. He told me it was okay, she had told him the story and no, she was not dead (yet). We looked at the top and were able to sand most of the marks out. |
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| Bill W.
bwolle@msn.com |
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Kowboy
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| 08 Nov 2008 04:46 PM |
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Bill:
Who is the lovely lady in your avatar, pray tell?
Joe |
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| Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself.
- William Shakespeare |
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Tom M
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| 08 Nov 2008 11:06 PM |
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Dude, that's his daughter. Check out the belt sander post a few days ago. |
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| "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare |
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The SS Tech Guy
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| 09 Nov 2008 08:30 AM |
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Joe, careful.  That is my 15 year old daughter. She obviously takes after her mother.  |
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| Bill W.
bwolle@msn.com |
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Tom M
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| 09 Nov 2008 08:06 PM |
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Ya think?
heh, j/k Bill.
Okay, not really. |
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| "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare |
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