When ever your working with builders, designers or other trades it would behove you to write a delay clause in your contract. People do not realize canceling a day costs you money. I want at least tree days notice or you get a minimum charge, I think it is fair
National Tradesman Day
- Thread starter Floorist
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FloorMaven
Well-Known Member
Agreed, whether you implement and enforce that type of policy is up to the individual but it does send the message that you respect your own time; you have to if you expect it from others.
Here we frequently are expected to work evenings and weekends so all the "white people" meaning the other tradesmen won't be disrupted by our needs. Makes me feel like a cotton picker when the union guys I work with go along with that nonsense for only 20% over scale premium for night work. Screw that!
Inferiority complex?
I tell them to tell the other trades THEY have to work nights so I can do my thing during the days.
The old man I first worked with said it best. Nights are for drinking and f#@*ing. I don't work nights! And I'd sooner have my weekends off as well. Well............maybe for the right price.
Inferiority complex?
I tell them to tell the other trades THEY have to work nights so I can do my thing during the days.
The old man I first worked with said it best. Nights are for drinking and f#@*ing. I don't work nights! And I'd sooner have my weekends off as well. Well............maybe for the right price.
And when you tell them you are booked up for the next two weeks as you have juggled your work load to turn up on time to lay their job which now isn't going to happen due to no fault of yours
What I was trying to say
There is no way the other trades will work at night so why would they even think to ask the layers to work at night?
They stupid. they will work whenever we tell them
Where is the respect for the floor layers now?
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FloorMaven
Well-Known Member
Jon said:
That's a true statement isn't it?
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The other trades will work at night but not for so low a premium and not so easily bounced around on short notice in their scheduling. There's a price for everything, right? They also negotiate things into the STANDARD construction contract like having their gang box, equipment, trucks, supplies and such on site so they can not be frivolously required to spend unlimited hours delivering and shifting men and materials around in a circle jerk for the sake of unprofessional supervision and poor planning. If significant moving about must be done the GC has to furnish the labor or pay hourly rates to the subcontractor for their lack of planning.
I'll give you an example. I was doing a very large new K-8 school in Long Beach. When they began grading and paving for the parking lot/schoolyard they simply disallowed myself and any of my crew to park on site. I had to park literally a quarter mile away and either leave my personal tools on site risking theft or hump them in and out daily. Yet both the plumber's and electrician's company vehicle were allowed to find someplace SECURE and CONVENIENT inside the gates.
I found out it was written in their contract that if they were not allowed to park on site ALL WORK WOULD STOP on their contract with no penalty and a guaranteed extension of any strict deadline they had to meet. I found this out when I was dropping off my tools to work for the day and the plumber was getting a hassle from security. He told the super he'd leave and happily come back in a few weeks IF he could find room on the schedule.
Yup, I was a second class tradesman there by default of my shop to protect itself contractually. Believe me, I'm getting paid to drive a block or two away and to park, then make multiple trips to the job tripping over curbs, ditches, debris-----and HOMELESS, Night of the Living Dead, crackhead, street people.
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That's the thing. Our schedule means nothing to them. 20 years ago it did. I was always 6 weeks out. They either were ready when it was scheduled. or waited til we could work it back in, at a higher price. Now, there are hungry "installers" everywhere.
Did I hear someone mention food?
This is why nobody has "respect" for flooring guys. Nobody will stick together like the other trades and say these are or rules. I don't know if the layers had to be registered or similar like electrians and plumbers us layers would have more clout
FloorMaven
Well-Known Member
If you're independent there's no one else to stick to. You state your terms and if they don't agree or abide by them you simply find someone that will.
ive got a lot of problems but self esteem is not one of them---people will treat you every bit as poorly as you let them---but as far as the trades go the one trade most to blame for the disrepute of the flooring industry is the flooring installers ---a more petty pompous group of backbiting vermin you couldnt gather under any other banner---here in the real world the typical installer that i know has several outstanding arrest warrants--a van held together with duct tape--i personally knew one installer who had a serious crystal meth problem who honest to god started his van with a fork---this is our peer group---this is the average installer
Agreed. Most of the installers here are drunks. One has been an addict since the 80's. When I worked with a large group of installers at a big cash and carry, I was the only one who didn't get drunk every night. Most of them wore dirty, holely jeans and drove a dirty rustbucket.
FloorMaven
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't go so far as to say this is the norm but the trade does attract derelicts as it requires nothing to get started and strong knees and back and is probably all that's required to stay in it. Overall, the majority of installers are decent, hard working people.
I think if you let others do your bidding and don't put yourself in a position where you have the ability to say "no", people will naturally run roughshod over you.
FloorMaven
Well-Known Member
No disrespect...but it is the "cash and carry". Not quite the top of the food chain.
To keep away from IRS problems , they are cash and carry, but they kept us booked 6 weeks ahead, year round.
FloorMaven
Well-Known Member
Would you agree that on one end of the spectrum is the cash and carry where folks are looking to save as much money as possible and the other end being where the customer is willing to pay an agent such as a decorator, designer, architect or GC to do the work for them? Do you think the slim margins on the former would attract a type more willing to work for beer money than would the latter?
No doubt, the cash and carry pays less. But, no matter the economy, they stay busy. I just got tired of driving an average of 800 miles a week. And most were customer measure, and those can be a mess.
Hey hey hey............. I resemble that remark bucko!
...it's not the spiffiest rig on the road either. If I washed it weekly, the rust would shred my money makers.
If I was makin' steady money like the 90's, I'd be drivin' something more respectable. right now it's hard keepin the lights on............. it's a different era now.
