ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Pride in Workmanship

I was an apprentice working with my dad. This was in about 1948. We were installing 1-1/4” EMT above a dropped ceiling. The EMT needed a kick. My dad bent it and handed it up to me. It wasn’t bent quite enough but I forced it onto the coupling. My dad said “Does it fit”? I said not quite but I made it. He said “Give it back to me”. I said why, no one’s going to see it. I have never forgotten his reply, “But I’ll know it’s there”!
Rowdy

Sounds like a good man. You sound like a better man for not forgetting. Man, I wish I knew 1/2 of what my dad did. Sure miss him!!

Rick

Rowdy,
This is one thing I have been trying to instill into the apprentices that I have trained.
A Tradesman is measured by thier workmanship or lack there of.
Just can't stand the sight of rough or un-tidy Installation work!.

I too can remember my dad, he was a tough guy and taught me the trade.

He once made me straighten out the tubing on a wall because his level showed where it was not straight, I said dad I only followed the block on the wall!

I say that they were "Seasoned Mechanics" and without them where would we be today.

Any young person starting out in our trade has it a bit easier now and they too will follow to help others learn this trade.

Joe

...

[This message has been edited by Joe Tedesco (edited 09-06-2003).]

My Dad was an inspector for the state DOT. I once saw him stop a major concrete pour on a bridge because neither the rebar or the concrete was in spec.

The contractor said "Nobody will ever know" His reply was " It ain't right and we'll know,and when this bridge cracks,everyone will know"

The pride and principles described in this thread seem to be the norm for the older generations.

Russell

[This message has been edited by ga.sparky56 (edited 09-05-2003).]

Joe, you're repeating yourself.

Hallelujah.......I knew I couldn't possibly be the *only* person who cared about quality and workmanship. I love the trade and do my very best on every installation. Sadly, most guys value speed over quality in their installations.

It makes me feel better knowing that others share the same view as myself.

Sandro,
You're quite right there, mate.
You guys should see how the *competitive* sparkies wire new houses over here.
I'd be ashamed to even be associated with with thier quick and cheap methods, most of these houses have about 2 or 3 pin-clips in the whole installation.

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!