"Old" Painters
Koontz - I am ratting out my partner in this post. I can't help it-it's just a cute, sad testament to the differences in my trade that I've seen over several years.
So we're working on an exterior paint job. Kind of an interlude job for us. I scoffed at my partner when he told me he wanted to bid this job. "We don't bid paint jobs", I reminded him. We don't bid paint jobs ever since my closest friend called me one day to ask if it was okay to have some guys paint the outside of her house---they were going to charge her $500.00 plus materials and they'd done the neighbor's house and it looked great, according to her. I told her to go for it if she thought they'd done good work and I resolved to not waste my time trying to bid jobs that someone else would do for less than I charge per day, cause I sure as hell couldn't paint a house in a day! (Turns out these guys can! And it shows! BUT-when you're my best friend and you've bought your first house and you have no money-well, more power to you for trying to do the maintenance).
So, I laugh at my partner and he says, "This guy wants the house brushed and rolled Peg, and he can't find anyone to agree to do it that way". No shit-you can't do a house in a day if you're expected to brush and roll it. The surprise is that someone didn't say they would, then spray the place anyway...
But, I told Keith, "okay", bid it. So we did. And we're on the job. Brushing and rolling, (funny aside, at least to me-the first "on my own" job when Keith hired me-before we became partners-was me brushing and rolling his Meditteranean, stucco house---two stories---took me all bloody summer!)
So on this house, there are several exterior doors that are exhibiting the effects of much use and no maintenance. The rails are pulling apart, the panels are cracked and the doors are basically coming apart.
I come down a walk-way the other day to find Keith glueing-up the rails on the door and putting them back together. I didn't say anything.
The next day, Keith is checking his doors and he's filling-in the cracks with a combination of glue and exterior patch. He's checking his joints that he glued and he's sanding things down. I still say nothing.
The third day-Keith is double checking these friggin' doors and wondering if they are in shape to paint yet. Okay, that day at lunch I causually mentioned that he was out of his mind! "Keith", said I, "I know you can't resist fixing the things you see that need fixing, but let's paint the doors-we really aren't getting paid to rebuild them and the owners' should actually replace them at this stage...don't you think?"
We did paint the doors-they look far better than anyone should expect and thanks to Keith, they'll last another 10 years when they wouldn't have. The interesting thing is that it didn't occur to Keith to leave them as is. Just sand them, paint 'em and call it good. They needed repair, so he did it.
Keith started in general construction but he became a journeyman painter, and though a painters' union rep would have a fit if he found his painters doing carpentry-Keith knew they the doors needed help and so he helped them. His attitude about a house is similar to mine about animals-I don't need another dog or cat, but this one needs me, so to hell with reality, I'll do what I should.
I don't think these kind of guys are around alot in the trades anymore. I appreciate that I work with one, even though it's not always good for the business. If I had to hire someone for my house, I'd feel lucky to find a guy like this.
So we're working on an exterior paint job. Kind of an interlude job for us. I scoffed at my partner when he told me he wanted to bid this job. "We don't bid paint jobs", I reminded him. We don't bid paint jobs ever since my closest friend called me one day to ask if it was okay to have some guys paint the outside of her house---they were going to charge her $500.00 plus materials and they'd done the neighbor's house and it looked great, according to her. I told her to go for it if she thought they'd done good work and I resolved to not waste my time trying to bid jobs that someone else would do for less than I charge per day, cause I sure as hell couldn't paint a house in a day! (Turns out these guys can! And it shows! BUT-when you're my best friend and you've bought your first house and you have no money-well, more power to you for trying to do the maintenance).
So, I laugh at my partner and he says, "This guy wants the house brushed and rolled Peg, and he can't find anyone to agree to do it that way". No shit-you can't do a house in a day if you're expected to brush and roll it. The surprise is that someone didn't say they would, then spray the place anyway...
But, I told Keith, "okay", bid it. So we did. And we're on the job. Brushing and rolling, (funny aside, at least to me-the first "on my own" job when Keith hired me-before we became partners-was me brushing and rolling his Meditteranean, stucco house---two stories---took me all bloody summer!)
So on this house, there are several exterior doors that are exhibiting the effects of much use and no maintenance. The rails are pulling apart, the panels are cracked and the doors are basically coming apart.
I come down a walk-way the other day to find Keith glueing-up the rails on the door and putting them back together. I didn't say anything.
The next day, Keith is checking his doors and he's filling-in the cracks with a combination of glue and exterior patch. He's checking his joints that he glued and he's sanding things down. I still say nothing.
The third day-Keith is double checking these friggin' doors and wondering if they are in shape to paint yet. Okay, that day at lunch I causually mentioned that he was out of his mind! "Keith", said I, "I know you can't resist fixing the things you see that need fixing, but let's paint the doors-we really aren't getting paid to rebuild them and the owners' should actually replace them at this stage...don't you think?"
We did paint the doors-they look far better than anyone should expect and thanks to Keith, they'll last another 10 years when they wouldn't have. The interesting thing is that it didn't occur to Keith to leave them as is. Just sand them, paint 'em and call it good. They needed repair, so he did it.
Keith started in general construction but he became a journeyman painter, and though a painters' union rep would have a fit if he found his painters doing carpentry-Keith knew they the doors needed help and so he helped them. His attitude about a house is similar to mine about animals-I don't need another dog or cat, but this one needs me, so to hell with reality, I'll do what I should.
I don't think these kind of guys are around alot in the trades anymore. I appreciate that I work with one, even though it's not always good for the business. If I had to hire someone for my house, I'd feel lucky to find a guy like this.
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