[Deep Cover]

Last week I was putting conduit in the ceiling of an area being rocked. I purposely started in an area that had rock on the walls so I wouldn't be bothered. Low and behold, they weren't quite done. I got off my ladder, bent up a piece of pipe, turned around and my ladder was gone. I was gone for about 30 seconds. Similar things happened three other times...benders moved...tools moved...ladder moved.

At about lunch time, their supervisor showed up and I informed him that if it happened one more time, we'd have problems. He asked if I said anything to his workers. Confused I said, "No, I don't speak F'n Spanish".

After that, I have to say, they were quite considerate.

 

[480sparky]

On the flip side, there's the rockers who like to poke your NM out of a hole in the drywall.

Like when you leave a loop of NM in the wall so you can come back during trim and install the vanity light where it's supposed to go now the HO has decided how big a mirror/med cabinet they want.

98 times out of 100, the rockers poke a hole and pull the end of the NM out, and it's ALWAYS where it must be patched.

I've taken to putting in a sheet of paper on that type of install, with the instructions: "I'LL MAKE YOU A DEAL: I WON'T PRETEND TO BE A DRYWALLER IF YOU STOP PRETENDING TO BE AN ELECTRICIAN!......LEAVE WIRE IN WALL... DO NOT EXTEND END OF WIRE OUT OF DRYWALL!"






... in both English and Spanish.





.

 

[ponyboy]

I've also noticed they are the dirtiest of the trades. Not just the mud they splatter and dust they leave everywhere. After the rockers leave they leave behind all their trash. Banana peels, chicken bones, wrappers, cans and bottles, rock pieces, and anything else they didn't want to take with them. The last crew I worked around didn't have ladders or scaffolds. One guy was on the shoulders of another one hanging the rock on the ceiling. They were fast as hell though.

And it must be a cardinal rule that they all chain smoke all day. We've built some office structures inside the plant this year that needed drywall. The SECOND they show up to hang they were lighting up smokes like it was no big deal. I told them "hey guys you can't smoke in here" and they looked at me like I was crazy and almost made a big deal out of if. They were this close to losing a contract just because they wanted to smoke their cigs

 

[B4T]

I use a 24" level to find the high spot on the drywall.. it is the perfect size to get the job done without making unnecessary damage.. :thumbsup:

 

[thoenew]

We're doing a large house where the HO went a little overboard with recep, light switches, and can lights. (35 receptacles in one room alone)

She and her son went through and painted on the floor for every device and can lights. We still managed to find some cover ups.

 

[B4T]

Biggest problem with drywallers is most give cutting out the boxes to the new kid on the block...

They rather have the experienced guy hanging the drywall instead...

I mean... what can go wrong with a rookie and a Rotozip in a rush..

 

[Ty Wrapp]

This is what I use to find buried boxes...

 

[Rollie73]

As a younger man, I was known for a vicious temper and a very short fuse. I also did a lot of resi work at the time.

I had asked the drywall hangers numerous times to be more dilligent about not burying my boxes numerous times on other job sites.

On this particular site they had hit me on a bad day and I returned to a new construction house (to install the service) to find at least 10 boxes buried throughout the house. I very quietly walked into the living room while they were boarding a bedroom and buried an 8lb sledgehammer through the first wall, then proceeded to rip every piece of drywall down in that room.....even the ones that weren't hiding boxes. When one of the drywallers came at me I took a swing at him with my sledge....thankfully missing him and hitting a wall........ and tore that wall down as well. They ended up having to reboard the entire room as well as the wall adjoining kitchen wall.

I never again had an issue with those particular drywallers burying my boxes but the judge didn't find the whole incident very amusing. I, of course, had to pay for the damages, and ended up losing any profit from that job.

 

[Next72969]

This is what I use to find buried boxes...

exactly what i do, depending on the contractor and what number box im up to looking for on the job

 

[Next72969]

Ive said this before, but i find MOST of the time buried boxes are on outside walls or second floor ceilings. Insulators are as much of a problem if not a bigger one. On another note, a house i was trimming out earlier in the week had every smoke covered, a bathroom fan(WHO DOES THAT?), multiple outlets and switches. And to top it off the mud guy covered the chandelier lift up to the rope, covering the box:laughing:

 

[icdubois]

Getting ready to trim out a house, my jw and I went to check on progress. This is a custom home with the second floor as all game room, there were no covered boxes but every single box was nicked by the rotozip, including the fan boxes. The rockers were still there finishing up the first floor and my jw asked them nicely if they could be more careful next time. They looked at him like he was spitting on their mothers graves and started laughing in Spanish. In the van my jw and I Looked at each other and both said crap. From now on I'm sure every single box will be messed up in some way.

 

[cad99]

These are a few tricks I learned are reasoning doesn't work buried boxes size thirteen boot works great to find them after one or two they will dig them out themselves. One job the mudders actually mudded over the boxes the only way I knew they were there was cracks so I started going behind then digging the wet mud out and smearing it all over the walls.then when it turned into a pissing match fill there mic all the way up with mud and let her buck for ten minutes.as far as Spanish music the Bosch box with German death metal normally shuts it down pretty fast.

 

[Big John]

Funniest one I ever had was doing a farmhouse renovation. The rockers weren't bad guys so I was real surprised to walk in one day to finish trim and found a couple of upstairs rooms that were completely blank, not one single box.

I was dumbfounded, come to find out the foreman left his greenie on site with the instructions "Make sure there aren't any holes or cracks in these rooms." Well, he did a damn good job; taped and mudded every outlet.

 

[sparky402]

This is what I use to find buried boxes...

Never used one. Will it work to find wires behind drywall and possibly insulation

 

[Bkessler]

Back in the 90's one neighborhood I was doing the Mexican drywallers were so bad we grabbed a brick wrote "electrical brick" on it and used it to find the buried boxes from 6' away. Cleared that problem up. Although a straight edge will find 99% of them quickly and damage free.

 

[Next72969]

Never used one. Will it work to find wires behind drywall and possibly insulation

yes. Make sure powers off, identify wire going to missing receptacle or whatever from the previous point, clamp receiver on it and tone down the wall. Sometimes the sound can be faint but generally u can follow a wire anywhere.

 

[macmikeman]

Although I haven't tried it myself, I have heard how a 12 gauge shotgun also is a great way to demonstrate how to find buried electrical boxes in drywall. It impresses the drywall crew to no end.

 

[Single pole]

I have a builder who makes it his job to go around and marks every outlet as CS stated for electrical, stereo, tv, etc. As the rock is done he checks it and makes the drywallers dig it out.

Years ago I had a job where over 13 outlets were buried and I found every one with no damage to the structure-- included in that was 3 uc lights. I didn't even get a thank you.

Just had same thing happen to me on a job. I told the contractor there would be a fee in future for every box I uncovered.

 

[Hmacanada]

As a younger man, I was known for a vicious temper and a very short fuse. I also did a lot of resi work at the time. I had asked the drywall hangers numerous times to be more dilligent about not burying my boxes numerous times on other job sites. On this particular site they had hit me on a bad day and I returned to a new construction house (to install the service) to find at least 10 boxes buried throughout the house. I very quietly walked into the living room while they were boarding a bedroom and buried an 8lb sledgehammer through the first wall, then proceeded to rip every piece of drywall down in that room.....even the ones that weren't hiding boxes. When one of the drywallers came at me I took a swing at him with my sledge....thankfully missing him and hitting a wall........ and tore that wall down as well. They ended up having to reboard the entire room as well as the wall adjoining kitchen wall. I never again had an issue with those particular drywallers burying my boxes but the judge didn't find the whole incident very amusing. I, of course, had to pay for the damages, and ended up losing any profit from that job.

Anger management wasn't common back then eh?
Funny s#it !
Remind me not to pi#s you off

 

[MHElectric]

Although I haven't tried it myself, I have heard how a 12 gauge shotgun also is a great way to demonstrate how to find buried electrical boxes in drywall. It impresses the drywall crew to no end.

:laughing: