Problems with other trades

[littlespark]

I guess I was off the tools too long and forgot how infuriating working with other trades can be.
Up til now I've been working on my own, little electrical jobs with just me and the client. Left to get on with it.
Last week I was in a house with joiners, plumbers and the plasterers and in the most they were ok guys.

Except whoever plasterboarded the ceilings and walls. I went in yesterday, no one else there, to find most of the lighting cables above the freshly plastered ceiling. And this was after i'd clipped them in position where the centre of the rooms were. Cue jumping up into the attic, walking over all the new insulation and hunting for the cables that were up to 3 feet away from where i'd left them.
Upstairs was easy compared to the 3 I had to find downstairs. Smallish hole made and carefully fishing around the void with a bent over piece of 4.0mm single.

Someone also boarded over the TV point, and all the holes already made for extractor fans and cooker hood.
And why cant the plasterer run a knife round the inside of a backbox while the plaster is still wet?

I'll stick to working on my own.

 

[Dillb]

They are just envious because we are the superior trade on site.

 

[Pete999]

I guess I was off the tools too long and forgot how infuriating working with other trades can be.
Up til now I've been working on my own, little electrical jobs with just me and the client. Left to get on with it.
Last week I was in a house with joiners, plumbers and the plasterers and in the most they were ok guys.

Except whoever plasterboarded the ceilings and walls. I went in yesterday, no one else there, to find most of the lighting cables above the freshly plastered ceiling. And this was after i'd clipped them in position where the centre of the rooms were. Cue jumping up into the attic, walking over all the new insulation and hunting for the cables that were up to 3 feet away from where i'd left them.
Upstairs was easy compared to the 3 I had to find downstairs. Smallish hole made and carefully fishing around the void with a bent over piece of 4.0mm single.

Someone also boarded over the TV point, and all the holes already made for extractor fans and cooker hood.
And why cant the plasterer run a knife round the inside of a backbox while the plaster is still wet?

I'll stick to working on my own.

Because plasterers get paid for plastering say a ceiling, thats all they are worried about, couldn't give a flying ---k about wires in and out cash in pocket, ignorant some of them.

 

[Midwest]

In fairness, the plasterers (well some) are perfectionists, and try to achieve a perfect uniform flat surface finish. Cables just get in the way.

In refurbs, I record where my lighting points are (e.g. down lights) and use a 1st fix back box protector.

 

[cliffed]

That happened to me recently,fitted all spots to ceiling,off scaffold,tested,no continuity,cable had been plaster boarded over,nightmare & time consuming.
Also screeder covered floor boxes ,& blocked conduits,again nightmare.

 

[littlespark]

All respect to plasterers. I cant make a smooth wall.
My gripe is more with whoever boarded the ceilings and moved my cables. Agency monkey, I believe.
If i'd been there when the plaster was wet, i'd have cleaned the boxes myself.
Just having a weekend moan

 

[Midwest]

Take a big hammer to his board to find your boxes & cables?

 

[Octopus]

Communication with them is the key .........

 

[Midwest]

Take a big hammer to his board to find your boxes & cables?

Communication with them is the key .........

Think my post would certainly get their attention. How it would all pan out, is anyone's guess.

 

[Octopus]

Cue jumping up into the attic, walking over all the new insulation and hunting for the cables that were up to 3 feet away from where i'd left them.

Did they rip out the cable clips too?

 

[Toneyz]

Think my post would certainly get their attention. How it would all pan out, is anyone's guess.

You would get charged for making good. There is always one trade/person on site who is not a team player and then you get those trades who are pre-madonnas.

 

[Pete999]

You would get charged for making good. There is always one trade/person on site who is not a team player and then you get those trades who are pre-madonnas.

If that's the case the plasterers should be charged for the Electricians time for overcome,what is blatant lazyness by the plasterers, lack of respect pn their part in my book, --- for tat, I worked on a student accomodation once, extra plasterers came on site, cables tacked in position ready for chopping in, rather that wait, they chopped the cables off at floor level, who got the blame? you've guessed it yours truly.

 

[Midwest]

You would get charged for making good. There is always one trade/person on site who is not a team player and then you get those trades who are pre-madonnas.

Really, thats a surprise

 

[Toneyz]

If that's the case the plasterers should be charged for the Electricians time for overcome,what is blatant lazyness by the plasterers, lack of respect pn their part in my book, --- for tat, I worked on a student accomodation once, extra plasterers came on site, cables tacked in position ready for chopping in, rather that wait, they chopped the cables off at floor level, who got the blame? you've guessed it yours truly.

Nothings changed Pete always the sparks fault.

 

[Midwest]

Nothings changed Pete always the sparks fault.

I'd go and screw in some extra drywall screws in some filled water pipes, see how they like that.

 

[littlespark]

Did they rip out the cable clips too?

Yep. Clips were still in place, cables yanked out.

 

[elsparko]

i had this on an extension i was on recently, the plasterer kept filling my channels i was using to route cables! there was no need for him to even be on site, there wasnt even windows in yet, i just kept taking out his patches and throwing them in the skip, he had filled a bunch of my other cutouts for backboxes too, idiots

 

[JAWS]

If it was a plasterer and not a Dryliner who boarded the ceiling I would be shocked but if they did board it they shouldn't of as they are absolutely hopeless

 

[sparkdog]

Problem is they only have one brain cell. Job this morning gas fitter's pipes in contact with cables, afternoon can only get at the cu neutral bar with a stubby screwdriver because the plumber's pipes are run across the front, it just goes on & on.

 

[Andy78]

You would get charged for making good. There is always one trade/person on site who is not a team player and then you get those trades who are pre-madonnas.

* Prima Donna, from the operatic term.

I've taken apart plenty of work done by plasterers that have deliberately sabotaged my work due to laziness or maliciousness on their part. I have always made sure that the customer understands why this has to be done and why the tradesman in question has not participated cooperatively in the job as a whole. I have always made sure that this exploratory work requires a repeat visit from said plasterer to make good, a lump hammer is best for this aspect of the situation, or in the case of ceilings, a claw hammer.
I have never been billed for making good due to the aforementioned exploratory work.

 

[littlespark]

Same job. different problem.
The heating system was being changed from a system boiler and tank to a combi. I have asked since day 1 what was needed at the boiler, which cables needed to stay and what could be removed.
Never got an answer, so I left everything.
The heating engineers turned up - (big national with the initials BG) - in 3 separate vans, 2 weeks later than they first said, and got to work.
After the plastering had been done.
I wasn't on site that day, got back to all cables pulled out, and surface trunking running a feed to the boiler.

They left the homeowners tank and bags of scrap copper on his lawn. It stayed there for 3 days. I texted the homeowner and mentioned it. He asks;- "Could you take it to the scrappies, and we'll go halfers?"
The guy is very proud of his lawn and thought the tank sitting would kill off the grass. I was only too happy to oblige

 

[Midwest]

They left the homeowners tank and bags of scrap copper on his lawn. It stayed there for 3 days. I texted the homeowner and mentioned it. He asks;- "Could you take it to the scrappies, and we'll go halfers?"
The guy is very proud of his lawn and thought the tank sitting would kill off the grass. I was only too happy to oblige

Hope you have a suitable waste carriers licence?

 

[Pete999]

I could be totaly wrong in my asumption, but here goes, I personally think that projects these days are far to disjointed, building/construction trades a brought into a project to do certain job, example, say to put down a timber floor be it floor boards or sheeting, that's all they are hired to do, so they get on with it, bish bash, good job done regardless of who or what other trade may have wanted to install under that particular floor, thats what they were paid to do, they haven't been involved in the project planning, probably don't even know what the project is, all they are interested in is laying that floor and off to the next job. I believe most of the "other trades" are genuine in what they do, of course there will always be the complete arrogant dipsticks, in all trades.
The main problem, I think is down to presure, get the job done or we will incur penalties, this proble lies, I think with "Project Mnagers" who just don't understand how projects are supposed to work, projects are supposed to run smoothly, and we all know they never do because of poor Project Management, no matter how large or small, I have worket with some complete idiot PMs, and on some occasions, when the PM has had to meet with someone considered to be important, and has gone AWOL, I have had to act as a psudeo PM just to ensure I could get my part of the work done. Sorry for the long winded rant,

 

[Intoelectrics]

As Pete says,
Especially on construction sites each trade is under pressure and screwed down on price to get their part of the job done a quick and cheap as possible. A consequence of this is that they end up with the attitude "its not my problem".
Its a common theme, electricians drilling holes where pipes need to go, plumbers running pipes where cables need to go, plasterers boarding over everything...

I went into one job once where the joiner had boxed in some pipes and cables leaving no access to an isolator switch and isolating ball valve. The boxing in was extremely uneven so the tiler was moaning about getting his tiling straight, the tiler tiled over a waste drain outlet, so the plumber was moaning about that...

All this because no one could be bothered to communicate or couldn't afford the time to wait.