# best, worst, funny #%$& ups



## Pete'sfeets (Mar 20, 2011)

First paint job I ever set up, was sixteen ,put the ladder up on to the porch, a friend and I began to scrape, looked out to see the sky get dark and minutes later got pummeled with a flash- fast moving thunderstorm , the ladder blew over , dented the neighbours evestrough, we got fired end of job.


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## cevinklark (Dec 27, 2011)

I was putting polyurethane on some cabinets in an apartment of mine.

When I started shaking the can, the lid popped off spilt all over my countertop, floor, dishwasher, and sink.

I panicked, didn't have anything to clean it up with except a few paper towels. So I took my clothes off down to my boxers and started wiping.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

cevinklark said:


> I was putting polyurethane on some cabinets in an apartment of mine.
> 
> When I started shaking the can, the lid popped off spilt all over my countertop, floor, dishwasher, and sink.
> 
> I panicked, didn't have anything to clean it up with except a few paper towels. So I took my clothes off down to my boxers and started wiping.


Long time ago, I decided to give my girlfriend the checker-board tile floor she'd always wanted in the kitchen. First tile floor I'd ever laid, so I mixed up a 5 gallon bucket of sloppy-thin grey thinset on the kitchen table. Turned to do something else, and the bucket went off the table, hit the floor, and kabloom, every square foot of the kitchen, including the ceiling, was splattered. The cupboard doors were off at the time. 2 years later, when we moved, we threw away anything that had thinset on it, because it meant we hadn't touched it in at least 2 years.


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## chewy (May 23, 2010)

I was working in a school and they sheathed the flat roof, like a 500mm rise over 8 metres in plywood then sheathed the interior with plywood, I was going around drilling holes through the rafters to run a particular outlet that couldn't be run any other way. So I'm drilling and drilling then I drill up and light shines down, seems like I'm in the atrium so I got back behind the rafter and drill through it on an angle and go into the entrance way to try and find my hole, cant find it. I'm getting a little puzzled. My mate looks at it and cant figure it out so he gets up on the roof and I've made 2 1 inch holes in the gutter that was run on the bottom sheathing alongside the rafters set into the roof where it meets the higher atrium part.  The builders weren't happy at all, if it hadn't been an overcast sky I would have known that was outside! haha.


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## Jackpine Savage (Dec 27, 2010)

olzo55 said:


> How many have let the owners pet out by accident?
> 
> Lost a cat for about an 1 1/2 hours. Had to get a dog back by throwing hot dogs to it until we could get close enough to grab it.
> 
> Contracts now call for animals to in a confined area or under homeowners supervision.


My cat story: Was finishing up a spec remodel, and the day before I went on a one week vacation, I reinstalled the grills on the heating system. Well I get back and the gal who cleans tells me the place stinks like something died in there. Long story short, I finally start disassembling duct work and find a decomposed cat! Still feel bad about that one.


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## Carpenter eyes (Jan 10, 2012)

cevinklark said:


> I was putting polyurethane on some cabinets in an apartment of mine.
> 
> When I started shaking the can, the lid popped off spilt all over my countertop, floor, dishwasher, and sink.
> 
> I panicked, didn't have anything to clean it up with except a few paper towels. So I took my clothes off down to my boxers and started wiping.


I did the same thing but with a 5 gallon bucket of paint. The small lid was on just enough to fool me.

I grabbed the sides amd gave it one good shake and covered myself and the floor.


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## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Tell him to go buy his own hoses then. He won't do it any more. Beat him with yours first just make sure he gets the point.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Greg from K/W said:


> Tell him to go buy his own hoses then. He won't do it any more. Beat him with yours first just make sure he gets the point.


LMFAO! I may just have to give that a try!


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## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

A&E Exteriors said:


> LMFAO! I may just have to give that a try!


Leave the nails in it while ya do it too.


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## Smithanator (Feb 18, 2013)

I had a bad morning a few years back pull up to job with trailer attached . My crew piles out of my truck. As I gave them a ride every day. I had app had to run and drop trailer. So told my dumdass lumber toter to unhook my trailer not thinking I had to tell him to chalk wheels first. As it was a steep hill. So sure enough I hear " your trailer" as it is going down the hill. And what do I do jump out of my truck with my truck in drive. Like I was going to be able to stop trailer Luckily trailer jack dug into ground and trailer stopped rolling. But then I heard "your truck. As it was heading up hill toward trees I ran and got to it in time. Couldn't stop laughing to be mad


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

Cat story, can't remember if I mentioned it here before:

I was on a job doing some trim and patching while a painter was there painting the trim as it was going in and re-staining a few odds and ends in a really nice home with great oak work throughout.
There was a cat on the job but it paid us no mind, kept to itself, and was an indoor/outdoor cat so we didn't really have to watch it, until....

Painter is on his knees using a whiz and pan to roll oil onto base trim in a looooong oak hallway. You can see where this is going, right? 
He didn't notice the cat until it had jumped in the pan. Cat freaks out, painter freaks out, cat bolts down the hallway. All hands on deck, everybody is turping the footprints as fast as they can. Painter somehow catches the cat before it makes its way onto carpet. He's got the cat wrestled under one arm, getting scratched to hell, as he's using his other hand to try to dry the cat's paws.
Once everything turned out ok it was hilarious.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

I worked for a bricklayer as a labourer and he and another mason had unofficially partnered up for the season, each had their own equipment and labourers but they shared the work.

Anyway, the other bricklayer fired his labe for being late for the millionth time. Hired a new guy who was experienced but had never driven a forklift. I was driving the lift most of the time but the forklift belonged to the other bricklayer so I was asked to teach the other guy how to operate it. Pretty basic but it was old and you couldn't just trust the parking brake, you had to leave it in gear as well when you shut it off.
Big commercial job probably 50 odd people or more on site on a given day. Me and my boss were going back to another job to finish stuff off, the other bricklayer and labe were staying til lunch when the bricklayer had to look at a job. The other labe was staying behind to be our representative at a safety meeting. We'd all be back around 2:00 when the safety meeting was done to get another few hours in.

Anyway, we roll back up at 2:00 and I see that the fork is parked on bit of a hill. As I;m getting out of the truck it looks like it's rolling back very slowly, I start to run towards it just as it starts to pick up some speed heading straight towards the site supers truck that is parked behind it about 100 ' away. I somehow manage to jump in and slam on the brakes just before it hits the truck and also just as the safety meeting is getting out. Everyone is looking around like wtf including the new labe who was just standing there with his mouth open.

Apparently one of the major comments at the safety meeting was about the forklift 
and how some of the trades weren't sure if it was safe since it was so old. (never stopped them from asking us to lift things for them however)

I need to learn how tell a shorter story


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## rjconstructs (Apr 26, 2009)

I have acquired several over the years, but I try to forget them. One time I had a 5 gallon bucket of paint fall out of my van and land on customers driveway, busting the lid off...geez...at least it was latex. A plumber I had moving a gas line in an attic actually cut a live gas line. He inadvertantly turned off the wrong gas meter...the neighbors, she was not happy either. Hearing your plumber say ugh-oh is not going to be good news.
I'll add more as I dredge them from my memory bank.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Uh oh forgot about the gas line. Was digging up an old stone wall to rebuild. A guy I had done a job for had a mini hoe and sent his son over to give us a hand as a favour. All of a sudden we hear a hissing but therer's no water gushing out. Hit a gas line. No I didn't get a locate. I didn't think the gas company would run their line staright through a 100 year old 2 foot thick stone retaining wall when there was a bare lawn 10' away either side. Crimped the line and called the gas company, on a weekend, so overtime and travel time etc...plus a fine from the safety agency.

The whole time the kid operating the machine was very nonchalant. Said later that he was always breaking stuff and that for him that was a pretty boring day, no sirens.

I always get locates now no matter where or how shallow


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

rjconstructs said:


> I have acquired several over the years, but I try to forget them. One time I had a 5 gallon bucket of paint fall out of my van and land on customers driveway, busting the lid off...geez...at least it was latex. A plumber I had moving a gas line in an attic actually cut a live gas line. He inadvertantly turned off the wrong gas meter...the neighbors, she was not happy either. Hearing your plumber say ugh-oh is not going to be good news.
> I'll add more as I dredge them from my memory bank.


I had a crew painting a wrought-iron fence as part of a remodel. One guy showed up high that day, and got higher from the fumes. He knocked over a can of paint in the owner's driveway, got it all over himself, got confused, and started trying to get into the house next door, putting black handprints all over the door and exterior walls. When that didn't work, he wandered into their back yard, tracking black paint. I wasn't on site. My phone rang, and the other employee on site opened with, "Bob, don't get mad."


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## GO Remodeling (Apr 5, 2005)

Had my pick up truck cap blow off on the ramp as I got on the highway.
Backed up and threw it in the bed. Luckily no one was behind me.


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## Carpenter eyes (Jan 10, 2012)

olzo55 said:


> Had my pick up truck cap blow off on the ramp as I got on the highway.
> Backed up and threw it in the bed. Luckily no one was behind me.


I owned an 88 chevy with a bedliner.

I bought the truck with the spair tire in the bed.

I took the spair and put it bacj into its rightful place.

Its about 130am. Im driving down the highway and all i see in the rearvirw mirror is a big black thing fly up in the air.

I get off at the next exit thinking i was seeing things. I look in the back and see no bed liner......

I drove up and down the highway 3 times and could not find the thing


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

This thread is great.

Anything that can go wrong....


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## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

I was in my garage one bright summer day. I hear this huge bang and metal clanking on the ground. (Read Road) So I go out and right in front of my driveway was this beat up 1970 or so pick up. The driver had a bed liner in the box with these u bolt like tie downs on each side. 

Well guess he came around the corner and hit the gas the entire load of scaffold he had tied to the box liner was on the ground behind his truck and the box liner was half out of the box. 

I never laughed so hard. The damn box liner wasn't attached to the truck at all and the rope broke in 4 places. I can't remember if I helped him reload and tie the load or went back to the garage and had another beer.


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## madrina (Feb 21, 2013)

Foxit said:


> I removed carpet for a hardwood job for a cat owner. After the carpet was up you could see urine stains around the edges of the room so recommended to replace 24 inches of subfloor. Cut out and cleaned up floor and on my way out kick my coffee over and spilled half of it but grabbed it and saved some of it and took it with to get material. When I got back thier aunt staying with them said the owners left to put the cat down because it peed where I was working.
> (If it was a dog I would have felt bad). After an hour he walked out back with a shovel and a brown bag.


Omg lol lolololo


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

This one makes my palms sweat just telling it after 0ver 30 yrs. Mid '70s,bought 2 tow behind 185 c.f.m. compressors at auction day before. Come back next day to retrive them,take my dump truck which just had installed new pintle hitch (rated for way more than i was towing). Pick up first compressor,smooth as silk. Go back to get second one,in right lane at light,first in line. Light turns green,let clutch out slowly ready to shift to second in middle of intersection,hear this cachunk,and wow feels like no load anymore. My eyes are straight ahead,grammer school just got out,intersection filled with crossing gauard and line of kids 3-4 abreast curb to curb. Laborer riding shotgun yells out ,wtf,the compressor is trying to pass us on the right !I look in right mirror,there it is,i immediately nail the gas,cut the wheel hard to right and let the beast of a compressor ram the side of my truck. It hit inbetween the cab and dump bed with so much force it lifted the right side of the truck about afoot off the pavement. Climb out of truck,look and see the busted lower jaw of hitch in intersection along with busted saftey chain. Believe it or not,first guy that stops,i swear it's true. Wow is that cool, Are you guys filming a movie?


Bottom line,not one child got a scratch,no property damage to anything but my running board. I will say this,it was several years before i stopped having scary dreams about that.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

fjn said:


> This one makes my palms sweat just telling it after 0ver 30 yrs. Mid '70s,bought 2 tow behind 185 c.f.m. compressors at auction day before. Come back next day to retrive them,take my dump truck which just had installed new pintle hitch (rated for way more than i was towing). Pick up first compressor,smooth as silk. Go back to get second one,in right lane at light,first in line. Light turns green,let clutch out slowly ready to shift to second in middle of intersection,hear this cachunk,and wow feels like no load anymore. My eyes are straight ahead,grammer school just got out,intersection filled with crossing gauard and line of kids 3-4 abreast curb to curb. Laborer riding shotgun yells out ,wtf,the compressor is trying to pass us on the right !I look in right mirror,there it is,i immediately nail the gas,cut the wheel hard to right and let the beast of a compressor ram the side of my truck. It hit inbetween the cab and dump bed with so much force it lifted the right side of the truck about afoot off the pavement. Climb out of truck,look and see the busted lower jaw of hitch in intersection along with busted saftey chain. Believe it or not,first guy that stops,i swear it's true. Wow is that cool, Are you guys filming a movie?
> 
> Bottom line,not one child got a scratch,no property damage to anything but my running board. I will say this,it was several years before i stopped having scary dreams about that.


 that is scared me just reading it


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## Carpenter eyes (Jan 10, 2012)

fjn said:


> This one makes my palms sweat just telling it after 0ver 30 yrs. Mid '70s,bought 2 tow behind 185 c.f.m. compressors at auction day before. Come back next day to retrive them,take my dump truck which just had installed new pintle hitch (rated for way more than i was towing). Pick up first compressor,smooth as silk. Go back to get second one,in right lane at light,first in line. Light turns green,let clutch out slowly ready to shift to second in middle of intersection,hear this cachunk,and wow feels like no load anymore. My eyes are straight ahead,grammer school just got out,intersection filled with crossing gauard and line of kids 3-4 abreast curb to curb. Laborer riding shotgun yells out ,wtf,the compressor is trying to pass us on the right !I look in right mirror,there it is,i immediately nail the gas,cut the wheel hard to right and let the beast of a compressor ram the side of my truck. It hit inbetween the cab and dump bed with so much force it lifted the right side of the truck about afoot off the pavement. Climb out of truck,look and see the busted lower jaw of hitch in intersection along with busted saftey chain. Believe it or not,first guy that stops,i swear it's true. Wow is that cool, Are you guys filming a movie?
> 
> Bottom line,not one child got a scratch,no property damage to anything but my running board. I will say this,it was several years before i stopped having scary dreams about that.


I laughed at the movie part. Glad no one got hirt


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## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

That's a great story for sure. :thumbsup: Nice maneuver keeping the kids save.


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## C2projects (Jan 9, 2013)

Last summer during a long weekend I had a couple buddy's come help me out with a deck. I had one guy digging out the area for the lower deck and then had the other cut all my joists for the upper deck. I showed him how to measure square and cut the joists and then watched him cut a few and it seemed like he had got the hang of it. After that I had him nail in hangers. At the end of the day we set the beams and put all the joists in. When I went back the next day I noticed that half the joists had like a 2.5/12 cut on them and pretty much all the hangers were either high or low by 1/2" 

My other friend who was digging stuck around for a couple of weeks so we bother started fixing the hangers. Once that was almost done I hopped up on the deck and started doing my blocking in between and set up to start decking. And he then says he needed to go to the bathroom and he would be right back. I didn't really think much of it but he had just removed a hanger from one end. And this particular joist we were removing and cutting another because it was one that wasn't cut very good. So I walked over to take a measurement and stepped on this joist. Well the joist went down, nearly taking out a window. Somehow I didn't follow the joist. 

Needless to say, I raged.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Carpenter eyes said:


> I laughed at the movie part. Glad no one got hirt






I did also (about an hr, later) Boy so,so glad of the outcome. All i could think of was stopping that compressor,i did not care if i turned my dump on its side. If something would have happened to one of those kids how would i live with myself if i did not do all i could to try to prevent it.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Greg from K/W said:


> That's a great story for sure. :thumbsup: Nice maneuver keeping the kids save.





Man it happened so incredibly fast,i saw all those kids in intersection and i just did it. If all the equipment turned to a pile of junk,so what. As the old saying goes,they make that stuff all day long.


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## chewy (May 23, 2010)

I remember we were laying lights down my bosses big driveway, we needed a kanga hammer with a clay spade and the genny, we decided to take a shortcut up this steep track in the gator, I was walking and 2 guys were in the gator with the genny on the back. They crested the rise and the front wheels lifted off and passenger jumped while guy driving tried to grab the genny, he couldn't get it and the genny bounced all the way down the hill. Lucky it was in a roll cage. I couldn't stop laughing all morning.


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## Foxit (Mar 2, 2013)

Came across this at a customers home. I was surprised! Never saw any thing like it before. I wonder if it made tasty burgers.


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## ranagent (Feb 11, 2010)

We had a plumber show up late one day, so he was in a hurry and stepped on his brakes pretty hard. He had 2" pvc inside of 4" fastened to the rack. The duck tape on the end of the 4" was old and gave way, the 2" slid a surprisingly long ways down the highway!


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## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

ranagent said:


> We had a plumber show up late one day,


Yeah right....


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## Carpenter eyes (Jan 10, 2012)

Foxit said:


> Came across this at a customers home. I was surprised! Never saw any thing like it before. I wonder if it made tasty burgers.


I think i want one of those in my house


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

olzo55 said:


> Had my pick up truck cap blow off on the ramp as I got on the highway.
> Backed up and threw it in the bed. Luckily no one was behind me.


I lost my ladder rack one time. One of my employees was Behind me when it happened. We had a good laugh after.


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## aib1015 (Mar 4, 2013)

The boss of a company I used to work for told me to go tear up a concrete porch so we could replace it. He gave me a work order, I grabbed a jack hammer and a dump truck and off I went. Knocked on the door, no one was home so I got to work. Around 3:00 It was busted up, in the truck and I was finishing the stairs. The home owner finally showed up and the look on her face as she screamed what the hell are you doing was priceless. Apparently she was given an estimate but never said to go head with the job, didn't even have the permits. I was just doing what I was told and someone else ended pouring her a new porch.


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## Spike7 (May 18, 2012)

*another cat story*

contactor who used to give me work had a painter on the job . a high end home.
painter was cutting the ceiling . not tooo smart , he had the gallon of paint with him on top of the ladder.
he went to move the ladder , and the gallon fell , all over an expensive center-piece carpet.
he saw the clients cat walking in the room 
he grabbed the cat , and threw it right in the spilled paint
he started yelling and cussing.
" oh , my god!! , god dammit!!"
the client ran in and ask whats wrong.
he said " your damn cat knocked over my paint!! " 
pretty quick thinking.
he didn`t get blamed.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

Spike7 said:


> contactor who used to give me work had a painter on the job . a high end home.
> painter was cutting the ceiling . not tooo smart , he had the gallon of paint with him on top of the ladder.
> he went to move the ladder , and the gallon fell , all over an expensive center-piece carpet.
> he saw the clients cat walking in the room
> ...


Quick thinking but a douche move either way.


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## GO Remodeling (Apr 5, 2005)

ranagent said:


> We had a plumber show up late one day, so he was in a hurry and stepped on his brakes pretty hard. He had 2" pvc inside of 4" fastened to the rack. The duck tape on the end of the 4" was old and gave way, the 2" slid a surprisingly long ways down the highway!


I had a load of 2x4's slide off my the front truck rack at a stop sign. Funny to think of it now.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

Not construction, but on the theme of losing stuff on the highway. Helped a friend move many years ago. We got the truck to the new house. A couple minutes later the friend and his wife showed up with their SUV, with their mattress still on the roof but not the box spring. We took the mattress off, and I jumped in the SUV with him to circle around to get the box spring. We drove back an exit or two on the freeway, and got back on. About half-way back, we came upon a CHP officer trying to pull the box spring out from under the front end of his cruiser. We kept on driving.


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## Gbrogden (Feb 2, 2013)

Had a coworker try to walk across joists that weren't nailed off yet. This was a drive-under carport/addition that was 12 feet up on piers. I found him sitting in the driveway trying to come to his senses.


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## GO Remodeling (Apr 5, 2005)

Home owners coming in unexpectedly and standing on the wet tile .


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## sbcontracting (Apr 22, 2010)

1. Was in a rush on a deck and did not get locates - didnt need them until we actually realized that the existing footings were non-existent, and by then too late... :whistling

Got a stern lecture from the telco for cutting a 300 pair cable. Funny thing was, I called in a locate when I cut the cable... dunno, thought it might help. But I get CLEARANCE to dig from said telco, after my guys had already cut through the cable!!! So I wouldn't have been liable for it had I done a locate. 4k in damages.

... My guys who cut through the cable ... "We thought it was a big f**in tree root" ... a 3" big tree root with all these little colorful fibres? Uh...:clap::thumbup:

Good news was it was a no-hassle issue for the HO... so much so that she asked me back the next summer to do more work for her, and referred me to her son for another deck.

2. It seemed like a good idea at the time... with a safety harness

Did a detached workshop with a bathroom. Plumbers ran plumbing back into the house. I forgot to seal the hole (About 6" above basement floor) ... Needed to be that high because it was going into a sewage ejector pit. So I had to dig down 6' to the pipe in wet muddy clay and seal the hole a little better ... Here's me doing the patch job....


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## GO Remodeling (Apr 5, 2005)

Dodged a bullet while hand digging post holes for a deck.

Hit a chunk of wood in the hole. Took my 5ft metal braker bar and kept slamming it until the wood broke. Underneath was the electric line!


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## Athomas7114 (Mar 24, 2013)

Years ago, still very inexperienced, I was replacing a hot water tank for a guy. 
I finish plumbing it in and open up the valve to fill it. As the water is gushing into the tank, I'm standing there talking to the homeowner and he's asking me how long I've done this kind of work, etc etc. I'm in mid-sentence, tooting my own horn, telling him how I came to be such an expert in my field... when a huge torrent of water hits me right in the chest, soaks me head to toe!! I scramble to shut off the water, realizing I forgot to install the pressure relief valve in the side of the tank!!
Learned real quick not to toot my own horn so much.


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## pibe (Jan 21, 2013)

Athomas7114 said:


> Years ago, still very inexperienced, I was replacing a hot water tank for a guy.
> I finish plumbing it in and open up the valve to fill it. As the water is gushing into the tank, I'm standing there talking to the homeowner and he's asking me how long I've done this kind of work, etc etc. I'm in mid-sentence, tooting my own horn, telling him how I came to be such an expert in my field... when a huge torrent of water hits me right in the chest, soaks me head to toe!! I scramble to shut off the water, realizing I forgot to install the pressure relief valve in the side of the tank!!
> Learned real quick not to toot my own horn so much.


:laughing: That sounds so perfect it could be right out of a movie :laughing:


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Been in this game along time,here are two situations i will never forget,one i witnessed the other was told to me buy a guy that never spinned yarns,was very low key and matter of fact.


Late 70s very early 80s,was building a strip mall on edged of town. One hundred and fifty feet away,next to RR tracks excavators had pits dug on both sides of major road to shove utilities underneath. They had driven sheet piles on 3 sides of hole,only open side was direction of dig. Pretty old, large and experienced excavating firm. Were digging hole with large Insley excavator,operator had the owners son go in hole with rod to check grade. The boy was off from college for summer and was helping family business.No owner of company was present but son. Boy goes in hole to check grade,bucket of machine was extended in hole,just as boy got grade measured,sand bank machine was on gives way. Machine lurches forward,hits boy in neck,shoves him against sheet pile wall,cuts his head off as clean as guillitine. That company never did recover from that,was a few short years and they closed shop. A year or so ago i posted this story on other CT thread.



Next story was told to me by a carpenter who moved out my way from Ct. He said he was working on high-rise in Hartford. They were on 17th fl.concrete decks were getting placed,14th fl. glass was already installed. A concrete finisher was near edge of building moving a sheet of plywood,wind grabs him and sheet and out of the building they go ! Wind blows them back in on 15th fl. ! It happened so quick it was like a majic carpet ride. Guys on 15th fl. cannot believe what they just saw as the guy and plywood come tumbling in. One more floor down and it would have been all she wrote.


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## GO Remodeling (Apr 5, 2005)

Wow.


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## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

Holy crap. You hear of things like that through the rumour mill like old urban legends. Hardly ever from first hand knowledge. Those are the type of things that ruin guys for life. For sure.

The operator of that machine would have been charged in Ontario for sure right up to the owners of the company. site super and crew leaders. 

How many shades of brown were the guys shorts that flew out the window?


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## mike gunderson (May 23, 2010)

I was building an office space in a car dealership at night. Seven foot high walls, open ceiling. I started texturing and realized I didn't mask off the ceiling, i decided i would just be real careful. Yea right. Got all done and i had three black mercedes speckled white, thank God none were convertibles. I was there alone and didn't really want to wash the whole car or wipe them down so i picked every speck off the cars. No problem really but I was nervous for awhile.


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## Carpenter eyes (Jan 10, 2012)

mike gunderson said:


> I was building an office space in a car dealership at night. Seven foot high walls, open ceiling. I started texturing and realized I didn't mask off the ceiling, i decided i would just be real careful. Yea right. Got all done and i had three black mercedes speckled white, thank God none were convertibles. I was there alone and didn't really want to wash the whole car or wipe them down so i picked every speck off the cars. No problem really but I was nervous for awhile.


And thats why i dont like spray texture


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Not really a bad one but kind of funny. I was repointing some old brick in a wealthy neighbourhood and was cutting out the joints with a grinder. Windy day, Contractor comes around 15 minutes after I start and is telling me I need to come down because I just got dust all over the neighbours porch. I wasn't super concerned I said I'd do a good sweep up when I was done. He asks how I'm going to do that without scratching it? HUH? What is the porch made of? No not a porch a porsche! Oh sh!t.

I get down and go look at it and for whatever reason it's covered, everything else around is clean but it's covered. Just then the neighbour shows up. I'm expecting a big blast from her and I start apologizing and tell her I'll pay for a car wash wherever she wants and with a big smile I tell her that as an added bonus if she leaves me the keys I know a really good car wash in Montreal (about 2 hrs away) and I'd be glad to drive it there myself for the royal treatment. She just laughed and said she heard it was going to rain tomorrow, don't worry about it.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Greg from K/W said:


> Holy crap. You hear of things like that through the rumour mill like old urban legends. Hardly ever from first hand knowledge. Those are the type of things that ruin guys for life. For sure.
> 
> The operator of that machine would have been charged in Ontario for sure right up to the owners of the company. site super and crew leaders.
> 
> How many shades of brown were the guys shorts that flew out the window?




Yes,i agree now O.S.H.A. would be all over them in a heartbeat. But at that time i do not know if they were even formed. If they were they had not gained the traction they have today. The real sad thing was the owner of the company was the college boys' father. That death devestated those folks (as one can imagine) to the point that it was not but a few years and they called in the auctioneer and close shop. They were an old and very large firm.


As far as the guy on the majic carpet,or should i say majic plywood ride, Morry, (the guy who told me ) never said anything about the guys'shorts:laughing: He did say when that guy got near the edge again he was as cautious as all get out ! Can you blame him ?


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## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

No not at all wow. They are very lucky to be alive for sure. I think I would keep my feet on Terra firma for a good long while after that.


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

olzo55 said:


> Home owners coming in unexpectedly and standing on the wet tile .


Then asking, "Is it OK to walk on this?" 

One time I was having a bad start of a day and I needed some strapping cut X" long, so in the interest of speed, I just held my tape up to the strapping and with my snips, cut at inch mark I needed, thereby cutting the strapping and my tape measure. Good thing I always have two. I used that, then went and got another section of strapping, X" long, now hurrying even more, I held the tape measure behind the strapping and cut the length I needed again....and again, also cut through the tape with my snips. Out of tape measures for the day.

One time, crew guy climbed a pole to run some wire. Pole had dirt piled around it, so he geared up, climbed up, belted in, ran the wire, then came back down and we went to the next one. Later, we came back and someone with a dozer took a part of the dirt pile by the pole. We watched as the pole tipped over and fell--it wasn't in the ground, it was just stuck there and dirt was put around it.

Another time, I was taking down an antenna with someone else. We were on a very tall pole, I'd say 60'. I was the better climber, so my belt was on bottom. We were both belted in and the antenna was in the shape of a upside down "h", the boom being the middle of the upside down 'h' with two antennas going up. The antennas were about 20' each, poles going up.

Bosses on the ground were figuring out how to take it down, boss on the other side of the pole was figuring out how to take it down, and no one listening to me. Boss on the other side of the pole decided he can loosen up a bolt, which he does and whole antenna now starts to slowly fall towards me. The whole world stopped and all the bosses' debating/direction giving went silent as everyone watched the antennas slowly fall on each side of me, like a pendulum on both sides of me, eventually coming to a rest.

Unfortunately, the boom of those antennas were now resting on my belt, so I couldn't take my belt off and had to keep pressure on my legs and keep leaning back to support the weight of the antennas. Now the real debate began.  I had to stay up there, holding it up while they figured out a plan to raise it up off of me so I could get down, then lower the antennas down.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

dom-mas said:


> Not really a bad one but kind of funny. I was repointing some old brick in a wealthy neighbourhood and was cutting out the joints with a grinder. Windy day, Contractor comes around 15 minutes after I start and is telling me I need to come down because I just got dust all over the neighbours porch. I wasn't super concerned I said I'd do a good sweep up when I was done. He asks how I'm going to do that without scratching it? HUH? What is the porch made of? No not a porch a porsche! Oh sh!t.
> 
> I get down and go look at it and for whatever reason it's covered, everything else around is clean but it's covered. Just then the neighbour shows up. I'm expecting a big blast from her and I start apologizing and tell her I'll pay for a car wash wherever she wants and with a big smile I tell her that as an added bonus if she leaves me the keys I know a really good car wash in Montreal (about 2 hrs away) and I'd be glad to drive it there myself for the royal treatment. She just laughed and said she heard it was going to rain tomorrow, don't worry about it.


Similar situation, was tearing off a roof and a few granules fell in the garage through a vent hole onto a late 90's firebird (with a v-6 mind you), and oh my god you'd have thought it was an original Shelby Cobra with 500 miles on it. I told her I'd take care of it and she said you'd better not fingers touch it our you'll scratch it all to hell....quick blast with the leaf blower when she wasn't looking did the trick. 

She was a nasty wench and I wasn't about to let her scratch it and accuse me. I did get booted off of that job. We got about 4oz of water in the house that came in where the deck met the facia and rolled back on the inside of the soffit down the exterior framing and over the slider and you'd have thought her bedroom ceiling fell on her at 3:00 in he morning. I pulled 2 hand fulls of wet cellulose insulation out that was wet because I sopped up the water that was still in the soffit and she wanted her whole attic sucked out and replaced...there was obviously no water on the drywall but she didn't care.

Told my guy with me that we are going to shingle what was tarped. Next thing you know she said we were going to ruin her shingles, I said you do realize they are designed to be rained on for 30 years right, they keep the rain and snow out of your house. She replied well i know for a fact they can't be wet before they are installed or it will ruin them and told me to leave. I said no, Lol. (Mind you I called my contractor and told him what was happening and that I wasn't leaving until I finished what we had open and he said fine)

Well she left and came back 8 sq later with her musclebound boyfriend who had intentions of coming up on the roof (rancher) and giving me what for, but I saw the "no way am I going up there look"......seen it a million times. 

When I was done 15 minutes after he showed up, with him yelling at me to leave and glaring at me from he ground I saw them at the firebird. Thought the old boy was gonna charge at me when I came in the garage but I shook my head at him and took half a stance, calling his bluff.

After I left I called my contractor, and had just told my guy she's a man hater.....Dave ...contractor...says I just think she hates men, I didn't even want that job but she signed anyway. 

I replied "well damn Dave thanks for the warning that's need to know chit"

Bummer is that job was gravy, 2 layer 5 sq section came off in 1big burrito roll in 15 minutes and needed the first course of decking replace all the way around.

Good times I tell you


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## GO Remodeling (Apr 5, 2005)

working for a retired electrician. He worked at Sears Tower (Willis). He told me he did some cabling on the roof. There isn't any fence, short wall or anything to stop you from the edge. Wow! You can get busted for a broken cord by OSHA but there isn't any protection on that roof.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

olzo55 said:


> working for a retired electrician. He worked at Sears Tower (Willis). He told me he did some cabling on the roof. There isn't any fence, short wall or anything to stop you from the edge. Wow! You can get busted for a broken cord by OSHA but there isn't any protection on that roof.


Wow. I'd be moving very slowly up there. I visited it in the late 70s. What I remember is that it felt impossible to be that high and not be in an airplane.


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