[Nosparxsse]

The handyman, The electrician's worst nightmare. Have any of u been to a job, where the homeowner meets u at the curb. 6:56am Not even outta the van yet, I would like to have that last sip of my caffinated drink, and finish my news article i'm reading! He's already starting to tell me about his great wiring job (which he couldn't hire me for in the 1st place). But he has ran outta time and just can't finish it. And "hey that price u gave me that includes all the light bulbs right!!!":laughing: You walk in and it looks like a spider has run a web of romex. he said he had run a few wires but "wow! (how much is 12/2 copper per foot right now?? ) No clue where any of it goes. The dumby says"you'll be done here by noon right??:thumbup: yeah sure idiot. These are people I just want to strangle. "Hey u can run this here and that there and I put this here so this will do this".........Bla bla will u please leave so I can Try to fix your stupid mess. I deal with a lot of dumb handy homeowners and like to vent it on others...sorry. But if u are laughing, .......you've been there!!!:laughing: :laughing:

 

[MDShunk]

Yup. It's T&M. Frustrating, for sure. If you don't let it get under your skin, and keep a good attitude about it, you can make it nice and still get paid. With jobs like this, communication is the key. I find myself needing to explain all along the way exactly what is wrong, why I need to re-do it, and what it will take to accomplish that. Build value along the way, is what I'm trying to say. It helps with getting paid at the end for a job that the handy-hack thought he had "almost done".

 

[oldman]

The dumby says"you'll be done here by noon right??

while I definitely appreciate and sympathize with your vent...I do believe that in the rules of life somewhere, it does state "thou shall not call anyone a dummy, if thou can't spelleth dummy correctly":whistling2:

 

[chrisb271]

spelling mistake or not i'm still laughing because i've been there ! Hell yeah !!!

In the U.K we have a slight upgrade from the DIY (Destroy It Yourself ) Handyman,they are called the KITCHEN FITTER !!! Man these guys can really make a fast buck ! These are the original bodge it and scarper specialists.

They go round to fit a new kitchen and do some alterations to the wiring in the kitchen then some smuck has to pick up the pieces when it all goes wrong,thats usually a guy like me :laughing::laughing:

 

[JohnJ0906]

DIY = Destroy It Yourself



:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

 

[brian john]

Electricians are a special breed, we (for the most part) feel no one but an electrician should do electric work. But we are expert DIYer's at everything else, having built 3 houses I can attest to this.

In addition as part of service work I have had to remove and reinstall siding, do minimal brick work, concrete work, tile, drywall work, carpentry ect, but let another trade touch a wire and we go off the deep end.

Additionally this post header should read HANDYMAN HOME OWNER, dealt with both and have seen decent work and NIGHTMARES beyond description.

 

[Speedy Petey]

......, where the homeowner meets u at the curb. 6:56am Not even outta the van yet, I would like to have that last sip of my caffinated drink, and finish my news article i'm reading!

I don't know why but this is one of my biggest pet peeves.
I know some will say "Finish your coffee before you get there.", but many times this isn't possible.
Or if I am on the phone with someone; please don't walk up to the van and stand there staring at me.
Hell, I've stayed in the van to listen to a really good song, or comedian, before I get out to go in the house.

 

[chenley]

Ran into this today and thought of this post.

I'm not really sure on how to remove the cover of this panel without removing the wall first . Sorry for the image quality, cellphone pic and forget to set the resolution higher.

 

[MDShunk]

Geeze... that falls into the "what were they thinking?" category. The left side cover screws are literally under the interescting wall. Bummer.

 

[chenley]

Talked to my boss about it today. Said the house was from the late 50's early 60's. Told me that their were not even building inspectors at that time here. So I'm guessing once the electrician finished his wiring, job the carpentry crew just ended up putting that last section off wall in. Sad part is there are no obstructions on either side of the wall it just happened to be put there. Bad plan reading if there were any. Least they could've done was not put the screws in the left side of the panel so it would at least slide. Oh well, it's a rental the HO and the renter aren't going to pay to fix it.

 

[Gummi Bear]

I get calls from wives of guys like that, a few times a year. Hubby starts a project, she gets worried, and calls me to finish it.

I have a special rate for anyone claiming to be an 'engineer' :laughing:

 

[Nosparxsse]

Electricians are a special breed, we (for the most part) feel no one but an electrician should do electric work. But we are expert DIYer's at everything else

In addition as part of service work I have had to remove and reinstall siding, do minimal brick work, concrete work, tile, drywall work, carpentry ect, but let another trade touch a wire and we go off the deep end.
QUOTE]
Well, let me tell u why this puts ME off the deep end.........How long do we have to be educayted(theres some spelling for the teacher to correct):laughing: and how much testing do we have to do to obtain our lisences????? :blink: A hell of a lot more than a Mud man!!!!!! I can throw up some mud whenever I fix Mr. Handyman's:001_huh: flying splice in his wall!!!!!

 

[Nosparxsse]

Yeah, also , I have been doing this long enough to know the more that you kiss their that the better off u are. :thumbup:

 

[BELCO]

I had a neighbor who wired his own house and ask me to look at it before he sheetrocked. The first thing I asked him was "what are you gonna hook all these wire to?" He had bought and installed a 100amp 24 ckt panel.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

 

[bobelectric]

I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy. Remember the Titanic....

 

[dronai]

Ha, I have one of those jobs next week ! commercial art galleries. Feeders are about 6" underground. Inspector caught this when inspecting the plumbing sewer line.

The guy told me, he can make up the panels, but he'd rather have me do it.

 

[Big John]

...I have a special rate for anyone claiming to be an 'engineer' :laughing:

:laughing: When I was doing service work I didn't even have a rate, I just outright refused because work was thick and I hated those jobs. Took a couple of them and lost a lot more in aggravation than the money made up for.

Electricians are a special breed, we (for the most part) feel no one but an electrician should do electric work. But we are expert DIYer's at everything else...

I feel about electrical work the same way I feel about any other trade: If what you're doing has the potential to injure or kill someone, you'd better be darn sure you're doing it right.

I would knock someone for DIY structural framing (and I have) the same way I would for intensive DIY electrical work.

-John

 

[MDShunk]

:laughing: When I was doing service work I didn't even have a rate, I just outright refused because work was thick and I hated those jobs. Took a couple of them and lost a lot more in aggravation than the money made up for. I feel about electrical work the same way I feel about any other trade: If what you're doing has the potential to injure or kill someone, you'd better be darn sure you're doing it right.

I would knock someone for DIY structural framing (and I have) the same way I would for intensive DIY electrical work.

-John

Certainly. Like building a deck, for instance.

Nobody's ever been watercuted by the plumber or died of shock from a poor sheetrock job.

 

[Shockdoc]

Homeowners that push a pencil for a living are the worst of that crowd I had to deal with one their handy work where they stripped 3 inches of sheath off the cable, wired receptacle and pulled excess cable out of the box , then stapled. I had to smash the device to get the freaking screw unloosen so i could pigtail them.