You know damn well what I mean.

Just thought I'd get input from the Internet. Saw this trench and excavation. Personally it doesn't like 1:1, but curious for more experienced opinions. Hard to tell from a picture, but I thought by that excavator the road exposed looked like 6'. Excavation seems more (someone on site said about 10') that makes 5 down to 3 over aka, not 1:1.

Curious other people's views.

(I mentioned it to a safety person who then measured a ladder to say the ladder was 1:1... Can't see from these photos, but a previous day the ladder did not appear to be half buried in the slope so... Not sure what that tells me)

We’re currently renovating an 1890 house in Toronto and have reached the landscaping stage. We’re planning to clad the concrete front steps and landing in natural black granite, with the landing stone installed on a mortar bed.

The tricky part is the strip directly in front of the doors that’s covered in Blueskin in the photos. That section is wood-framed with plywood sheathing and forms the roof over part of the basement below. It’s part of the house’s existing construction, and the concrete landing meets it just ahead of the entrances.

We installed the Blueskin early in construction, and it has held up well. We haven’t had any water entering the basement through this area over the past year.

Before covering everything with stone, we want to figure out the best long-term waterproofing approach, particularly given Toronto’s winters.

Height is another constraint: there’s only about 3 inches between the existing landing surface and the door sill, so there’s limited room for the waterproofing, mortar, and granite.

Looking for input from anyone who has dealt with a similar setup:

• What waterproofing system and layer buildup would you use over the plywood beneath the mortar and granite, given the limited height?
• Would you remove the existing Blueskin and start fresh, or could it be incorporated into a suitable system?
• How would you detail the transition between the wood section and concrete, including any movement between them?
• How would you handle flashing at the brick walls and door thresholds, along with drainage beneath the stone?

We know it’s an awkward existing detail, so we’re open to adjusting the installation approach before the stone goes down. Any experience with similar projects, recommended systems, or detail drawings would be appreciated.

I've been asked by the customer to do some protective work on this beam. The I-beam is rusting on the top, as shown in the picture.

How would you go about cleaning this up and slowing down future rust.

So far I've started scraping it and a wire brush on a drill. It's not all as bad as it is in the picture.

Thanks.

Work for a small company of maybe 12 ppl. We travel site to site daily so we're rarely at the same place, but our boss gives us an exact pin/location and time to meet at the night before so everyone has a chance to spend the 15 seconds it takes to check Google Maps and see how long it takes to get there on time.

I directly work with one guy who's about 10-15 minutes late every day, and if we ever need support/extra workers, they tend to show up 30min to an hour late. Worst part is my boss won't do anything about, and as a supervisor, it straight kneecaps our ability to start or end on time. Even better, then they bitch if we don't get out at our regular time.

I've brought it up to my boss (he's the owner) multiple times, but his excuse is hard to find any help, let alone good help, so I think he's afraid to start docking pay/sending people home.

Anyone have a strategy for dealing with this? Do I just start showing up even later than they do and cut into my personal time as well? Do I just suck it up and deal with being the only on time person?

I'm not saying it's impossible for me to get fired, but I've yet to see any repercussion (been like this for at least a year)...and there's no way my boss could take over my job without losing a lot of money or his sanity. We've been trying to find another person to double my job bc demand is sky high for the past 3 years but haven't found a single candidate that's worth it.

Any advice welcome, including calling me a lil bitch if I'm being one.

I work for a national corporate Fire Protection company in the bay area, California. they bought out the previous conpany and I was hired on after the buyout.

They are paying 10+ year incredibly hard working and FAST journeymen $40~ dollars less than union wages. Journeyman wages in my area are $79/hour. My foreman is 63 years old, limping around for 45$ an hour. The journeymen make between 33 and 38.

After apprentices in this company graduate, they have a choice. Take the "foreman package" and keep the wage that you're at, roughly 45 dollars an hour give or take how much they like you.

Or don't become a foreman, and your wage is cut 10-15 dollars. They actually reduce your pay, on the spot, from 45 dollars to 35 dollars. Oh, and not all foreman get a truck or other perks that come with seniority and responsibility. You have to "earn your stripes".

This is why unions matter. The CAFSA program, our non union state mandated schooling dictates we are paid a certain % of journeyman wages. But because its a privately owned company, they dictate journeyman wages. So to comply with the school, the journeyman wage is actually foreman wage. Hence cutting wages after graduation.

The CAFSA program also punishes apprentices and companies by not allowing us to be "poached". Simply put, we are not allowed to apply to other jobs, and companies are not allowed to hire working apprentices. This would work if the pay disparity between one company to another for apprentices was minimal. My classmates make significantly more money than I do. So because this company is now owned by a massive billion dollar corp, they take any apprentice out of work and lock them down. Dont like it? Quit. Well, quitting not only causes the apprentice to lose "action points" but the porgram is inept at finding an out of work apprentice a job.

My area has 3 national fire protection companies buying all the little guys. Some have integrity and keep wages respectable. Some, like this one completely fuck the fitters so that the top of the company and shareholders can rake in large six figure salaries and five to six figure bonuses while the state mandated school refuses to do anything for apprentices because "we cant dictate what they pay you"

It's completely broken. Trust me, before you say anything, I'm getting the fuck out of this shit hole company but I will tell everyone on the way that allowing state and federal governments to gut unions has allowed for a 63 year old overweight man to limp around all day for 40 dollars less than the average wage with no hope of retiring.

Update/Edit: got home today to a piece of mail regarding a class action lawsuit of the branch before Pye Barker bought them out. Apparently for unpaid wages among other things. They're settling out of court to the tune of $650,000 dollars, to which I get a small part amounting to a few days of work. I'm very interested to see if they will carry on with their current business practices. I assume they will continue in their ways, however, every single person in the company got this same piece of mail. I'm no lawyer, but i'm sure people are thinking "Wait, can I do this too?"

Not sure how to proceed from here. Bid a job last year and was awarded the contract by the GC. Fast forward to now and we just got started on the project. I've already found massive misses from my estimator and the more I delve into it, the more I find. Not really sure what to do. If we do the job I'm going to come out of pocket to finish to the tune of tens of thousands and it's only a 200k contract. Should have been 300k or over. If I just walk I'm pretty sure I'm Going to get sued for the difference by the GC. They had to have known my number was way too low. Any ideas on what to do here? For context I am a painting contractor and we missed a bunch of fly ash on the exterior and Azek trim on the job.

Looking for a very bright laser measuring tool. Something handheld maybe even pocket worthy.
I do a lot of measurements in day light and my laser can’t get a reading consistently.
Hopefully someone has a great recommendation on a bright laser measuring tool.

I recently had an interview for what seemed like a great job in construction. 60 hours a week at $25/hr. The guy I interviewed with seemed to like me, and I straight up asked him if my basic construction experience would be good enough, because obviously that seems way too good to be true. To my surprise he said I was good on experience and from what he described it would be a very easy job. We shook hands and I felt like I left on a good note.

I still didn't get the job. Maybe he lied about my experience being good enough, but I think it's time for me to work on my interview skills. I see people on Fiver saying they can help with interviews, but I see no reason to assume they know what they are talking about. Is there a credible source I can go to for help with construction interviews?

Why is it the loudest music is the shittiest music. I have bone conductive headphones and the drywallers music in the other room is louder than my music.

Like the title says I’m looking for some real life examples verbal or pictures are fine. I’m gonna be starting this deck rebuild soon and im a little nervous about the shoring situation. I am tearing down this old deck everything except the roof is going, including the roof support beam. I have a solid plan in My head to safely support the roof while I rebuild the deck, but my experience is limited to replacing carry beams in basements or replacing rotted sils. Having to support a roof 16 feet up is a very different thing. How would you guys handle this ?

Hi, I’m a current UK college student going for site management. And I was just wondering if any people who’ve had the job had any info especially on if the career is actually worth perusing or is it better to just go for a trade, thanks!

Looking for tips/methods to repair deflection in subfloor.

Im concerned with this method. New construction Alside windows. 1 1/4 in 12ga cap nails. No caulk of any kind. My search says this is not following Alside, nor ANY companies guides, nor AMAA. Im concerned flashing tape won't adhere over the bumps properly.

Any input? I've already messaged my lead salesperson, pending reply because its 2AM.

Siding team comes Thursday to flash and do the rest.

Thank you.

I’m trying to get water damage to my house repaired. A company tore out all the cabinets in the kitchen, etc. Now the company’s sister company wants me to pay all the cost up-front on the contract to rebuild. Is this usual? Sorry if this is the wrong Reddit.

Has anyone taken this exam before? Any advice?

Newly built home with OSB subfloor and I-Joists below. Looking for tips to fix floor squeaks and pops from below. Any luck with blocking for this?

Also- looking for tips on how to brace I-joists where deflection present.

Any help is appreciated!

I've spent most of his life staring at spreadsheets, and I want to learn residential construction. Not looking for a career change or a paying job. I just want to learn how to do something useful with my hands, preferably from people who actually know what they're doing.

I'll work for free, as I simply want the experience. I'm not under any illusion that I'd be that useful starting out, but I'll show up, shut up, listen, and learn. I would love to work on Saturdays, but I run my own small practice and will have some random times throughout the year I can work during the week.

I've accumulated a decent collection of tools over the years, including hammers, drills, a 6-1/2" circular saw, and a big corded worm drive Skilsaw. Why I bought half this shit when I don't really need it is anybody's guess. But I'd like to change that.

My question is what is the best way to go about finding an opportunity like this?

Is it worth reaching out to local Habitat for Humanity? Contacting small general contractors or remodeling crews? Just walking up to a job site and starting a conversation?

I'm not asking anyone here for a job. I'm just looking for some practical advice from people in the trades about whether this is even a reasonable way to learn.

Would a contractor or framing crew have any interest whatsoever in someone like me showing up occasionally to work for free, or will I just be in the way?

I'm genuinely interested in learning, so any advice is helpful.

.....Unfortuatley, I think im done being a Super. Tired of babysitting on site and being pigeonholed into working over 10 hrs a day, different locations, Long ass commutes etc. Im thinking about trying to get into scheduling. (No, I ill not try being a PM. They are always stressed to the gills and slaving away)

Has anyone from a super position or field, go the scheduler route? I want a stable location, stable commute, somewhat set hours and not "running" jobs.

Let me hear your stories or general advice about possible burnout or alternative paths.

Husband is approaching 70 and keeps gouging his forearms. Any recommendations from the pros on whether these are worth the investment. Also are ther other options that could be used in the summer! He would never wear cow hide in 100 degree heat.