I'm amazed at some of the journeymen who act like they're so fast at running MC or pipe, then later I have to make up the boxes they mounted. I found a guy who put one screw in a box to hold it to a box bracket. Some use a self-tapper for a ground screw, and I thought they knew better. Many leave the MC connectors loose and don't put a grounding pigtail in the box as they go, and it's so much harder to correct when the mud ring is on. Another guy leaves the plastic sheath on the wire after the MC is attached to the connector. Another case where it's a lot harder to remove it cleanly after it's in the box. Laziness!
One journeyman bragged about how he ran more pipe than I did, then I got up in the ceiling to learn why. He had his pipe hanging on 12 to 14 foot centers, didn't mount the box, didn't have the pipe supported within 3 feet of the box, didn't ground the box, didn't clean up the end of his pipe after cutting and didn't tighten his connectors. No wonder he's so fast. Too bad it isn't up to code.
I can't stand running pipe without offsetting to the wall from the box, but I see lazy journeymen doing it sometimes. Those lazy ones tend to be the ones who can't bend very well, so they do as little of it as possible.
Rowdyrudy, I like what your dad said: "But I'll know it's there!" It's hard to leave garbage work behind, even in a ceiling. I'd hate to be looked at the same way I look at people who leave behind shoddy work that requires a lot more work to correct. What do people think they're accomplishing by doing things half-assed? Nowadays I track the guy down who left it behind, asking "Who did this work?" Then I ask them why they didn't tighten the ground screw, or the connector. It's nice to find out exactly who did what, then you know who to avoid, and you also learn who never to hire later. You also learn the telltale signs of their work, such as the guy I saw the other night who pinches the cover of MC with needlenose, then twists it back and forth to break it, then puts an anti-short on it. The end of that MC sheath looks like an open shark mouth. Unbelievable!
