# Everyone still working?



## S.U.M (Apr 17, 2013)

Hey this past few weeks we are starting to lose days due to falling temps, windchill -18 some days and over night temp of -10, average daytime temp 1-3 anyone packed in yet. 
What's you plan for the winter, do you head south?
I take the time to bring the kids back to the homeland to see family, work on my trucks, fix trailers and equipment, make a plan for the forthcoming year, catch up on movies and tv shows, home chores that get overlooked during the long summer days..... And drink... A lot.

Let's hear em.


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## jaydee (Mar 20, 2014)

S.U.M said:


> anyone packed in yet.
> What's you plan for the winter, do you head south?
> 
> Let's hear em.


NOPE.. "we just head to work, " :thumbup:


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

Waiting! Around here hunting season is a big deal ! You subs need to get out of the woods and get back to work ! Your holding me up! :laughing:


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

I have 12 tons of stone being delivered friday and about 8 fireplaces to do this winter. Tent it in and heat it!


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## brickhook (May 8, 2012)

Working every day we can, I've got work backed up and right now I'm hoping we don't have a bad winter....


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

I just had my last scheduled job of the year become my first scheduled job of next year.  Still have some straggler jobs and some decent work to end the year anyway, so here's hopin'.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

Two houses loaded tomorrow . And another loaded Monday . With another I didn't yes or no to.. With bunches coming out the ground. 

Ain't that a ***** ! I spent the last two weeks with my thumb up my ass ..Now everyone Is ready at the same time . Feast or famine !!


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

Ahhh! Ain't that pretty?? Well.... At'least It Is to me anyway . :laughing:


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

blacktop said:


> Ahhh! Ain't that pretty?? Well.... At'least It Is to me anyway . :laughing:


I need those buckets!:laughing:


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

JBM said:


> I need those buckets!:laughing:


Your not the first Mason That's said that to me . :no:


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

You sur do got pretty buckets!


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

blacktop said:


> Ahhh! Ain't that pretty?? Well.... At'least It Is to me anyway . :laughing:


Hey that actually looks pretty good. Everything looks in the same plane. No studs jutting out 2" further than the others, no trusses at a crazy angel...some sober framers by the looks of things

In the winter i work twice as hard fpr 1/2 the money. If it's below -20C/0f I stay home unless there's an indoor job, but otherwise I put my head down and plow ahead. 

I might go help a friend of mine in Saskatoon for a couple weeks here and there. Toontown is Boomtown right now and as cold as it gets they just turn up the heat.


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## mikecarsy (Oct 2, 2013)

S.U.M said:


> Hey this past few weeks we are starting to lose days due to falling temps, windchill -18 some days and over night temp of -10, average daytime temp 1-3 anyone packed in yet.
> What's you plan for the winter, do you head south?
> I take the time to bring the kids back to the homeland to see family, work on my trucks, fix trailers and equipment, make a plan for the forthcoming year, catch up on movies and tv shows, home chores that get overlooked during the long summer days..... And drink... A lot.
> 
> Let's hear em.


You gotta get inside and build fire surrounds. Years ago I made oak fire surrounds, our busiest months of the year were January February and March.


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## S.U.M (Apr 17, 2013)

*Everyone Still Working?*



mikecarsy said:


> You gotta get inside and build fire surrounds. Years ago I made oak fire surrounds, our busiest months of the year were January February and March.



I have done a few firebox's and surrounds this year, I try to talk them into saving it for the cold months jan/February, but they always want them done for Xmas. Light it once then never again till the next year.

I have a house to reface, and a large warehouse job that takes forever to get approval for work/pricing, it's a big restoration job so it takes estimates 2-3 weeks to go through a crap load of board members, been there for a month then delayed for the past 2 weeks.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

dom-mas said:


> Hey that actually looks pretty good. Everything looks in the same plane. No studs jutting out 2" further than the others, no trusses at a crazy angel...some sober framers by the looks of things
> 
> In the winter i work twice as hard fpr 1/2 the money. If it's below -20C/0f I stay home unless there's an indoor job, but otherwise I put my head down and plow ahead.
> 
> I might go help a friend of mine in Saskatoon for a couple weeks here and there. Toontown is Boomtown right now and as cold as it gets they just turn up the heat.


The Hurricane hangers were my only *****.


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## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

Took final payment on a job today. It will be my last check for at least two months.

I don't even like to fight the frigid cold.

The firewood is stacked, the coal bin is full and my debts are low.

Time to stay home with the kid, sleep in on super cold days, plow snow and play legos with her.

I'll get back at it when things thaw out.


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## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

I have started selling wood work (gasp) locally and on Etsy too.

I hate to sell out and become a splinter picker, but my basement is set up as a nice little shop and it's heated down there.....makes for a much nicer day than slinging mud in a tent full of fumes.


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## CITY DECKS INC (Sep 4, 2012)

full speed ahead over here. :thumbsup:


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## jomama (Oct 25, 2008)

I think this might go way over a few poster's heads', but doing masonry in Canada at this time of year isn't the same as drywalling inside a 70 degree house, or building a deck, or working with materials that aren't adversely effected by freezing temps, etc....

It's not a matter of work ethic, it's one of feasibility. It's nearly impossible to be efficient with concrete and masonry work when the temps fall below freezing. In some cases, it needs to get done, so we trudge forward. But, we typically are fortunate to break even doing so.

That said, I have at least a month of work I feel obligated to finish this season yet, and most of it is outdoors...........


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

jomama said:


> I think this might go way over a few poster's heads', but doing masonry in Canada at this time of year isn't the same as drywalling inside a 70 degree house, or building a deck, or working with materials that aren't adversely effected by freezing temps, etc....
> 
> It's not a matter of work ethic, it's one of feasibility. It's nearly impossible to be efficient with concrete and masonry work when the temps fall below freezing. In some cases, it needs to get done, so we trudge forward. But, we typically are fortunate to break even doing so.
> 
> That said, I have at least a month of work I feel obligated to finish this season yet, and most of it is outdoors...........


We are cut from the same cloth bro. Right or wrong I need to work. And I will!


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## Tom M (Jan 3, 2007)

Those buckets come with TP? LOL


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## Tom M (Jan 3, 2007)

It's slowing up here. Home owners buckle down for the holidays and push off till spring. It's a builders market in general . They are knocking down single family homes in favor of 2 family rentals making it difficult to sell renovations. I hear people say wow that's a lot of money, I will never get that back. Some builder will just knock the house down and build new.


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## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

jomama said:


> I think this might go way over a few poster's heads', but doing masonry in Canada at this time of year isn't the same as drywalling inside a 70 degree house, or building a deck, or working with materials that aren't adversely effected by freezing temps, etc....
> 
> It's not a matter of work ethic, it's one of feasibility. It's nearly impossible to be efficient with concrete and masonry work when the temps fall below freezing. In some cases, it needs to get done, so we trudge forward. But, we typically are fortunate to break even doing so.
> 
> That said, I have at least a month of work I feel obligated to finish this season yet, and most of it is outdoors...........


Similar to my area.

I was in hell last year when the damn polar vortex hit me like a wave.

We were having a great time in the tent, I was watching the help make a killing hourly and watching my money burn up in propane.

I think I profited about $200 for over a months worth of work...it was great.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

sitdwnandhngon said:


> Similar to my area.
> 
> I was in hell last year when the damn polar vortex hit me like a wave.
> 
> ...


I charge for Kero.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

sitdwnandhngon said:


> Similar to my area.
> 
> I was in hell last year when the damn polar vortex hit me like a wave.
> 
> ...


i was only making about $2500 a month for Feb and march last year. Work a day for free hoarding to allow me 2 days of installing 1/2-2/3's what i normally would. At least the heat was paid for


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## bytor (Jan 23, 2010)

Still going strong here, about 2 hrs. North of Toronto.
Working on an island...breaking ice to get there yesterday morning.

We are usually at least as busy in the winter as we are in the summer. Tenting and heating are just taken for granted.

Currently roughing in a fireplace before the steel frame for the house is erected.

We ALWAYS use electric heat. Can't stand propane/kerosene or whatever... not to mention it can be a little dicey as far as insurance goes if the propane heater malfunctions while un-attended at night.
Electric heat just gets rolled in to the total electric bill for the job so there's never really an issue about the cost of winter heat for the masonry.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Where do you get your power from? I've used the 220v construction heaters a handful of times and it's really nice, but you need power and a sparky to hook up the line


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Do you have a link to what types of electric heaters you use or would use?


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## bytor (Jan 23, 2010)

dom-mas said:


> Where do you get your power from? I've used the 220v construction heaters a handful of times and it's really nice, but you need power and a sparky to hook up the line


at the start of these jobs, there is always an electrician around putting in a temporary panel or some such thing. We make sure to have a couple of 220 outlets with us and get them to wire them in along with all the other job-site power. We purchased a roll of heavily insulated/protected 220 cord some years back and made up a few 200' cords which we can then plug into the outlets and move the heaters around as needed.

We're lucky that we work with the same builders consistently, so our heating 'needs' are just taken for granted now.


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## bytor (Jan 23, 2010)

JBM said:


> Do you have a link to what types of electric heaters you use or would use?


This is pretty typical;

http://www.dimplex.com/en/commercia...rs/emc4240/enclosed_motor_construction_heater

They will usually run full bore for the first 12-16 hrs. or so...until the enclosure and materials are up to temp, then will cycle on and off periodically, depending how much flapping of the 'door' there is.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

I may be an Inside worker ...But I still fight It too!


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## Burns-Built (May 8, 2009)

blacktop said:


> I may be an Inside worker ...But I still fight It too!


why the tarp? finished concrete underneath? I wish we could get drywallers to cover the floor

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk


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## jomama (Oct 25, 2008)

blacktop said:


> I may be an Inside worker ...But I still fight It too!


Seriously? As a mason, I'd kill for work in those conditions. Take a look again at the picture Bytor posted, in the middle of nowhere, in Canada. It takes a few minutes to staple plastic over a door opening, it takes a day or two with a few employees to build a shelter like he did...........


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## jomama (Oct 25, 2008)

bytor said:


> This is pretty typical;
> 
> http://www.dimplex.com/en/commercia...rs/emc4240/enclosed_motor_construction_heater
> 
> They will usually run full bore for the first 12-16 hrs. or so...until the enclosure and materials are up to temp, then will cycle on and off periodically, depending how much flapping of the 'door' there is.


A friendly competitor of mine picked up a new "scratch & dent" LP HE power vent furnace last year for a large project. It was only a few hundred dollars, and it vents easily with PVC pipe. I was really impressed with it, and have no idea why I didn't think of doing the same years ago......


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## Captainsls (Nov 8, 2007)

That shelter is beautiful Bytor. 

Im simply excited that the client had exterior hot water plumbed on the job I just started. That's kinda a big deal for me haha.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

jomama said:


> Seriously? As a mason, I'd kill for work in those conditions. Take a look again at the picture Bytor posted, in the middle of nowhere, in Canada. It takes a few minutes to staple plastic over a door opening, it takes a day or two with a few employees to build a shelter like he did...........


The tape coat could freeze and peak ! That's Almost the same as your mortar joints freezing up and turning. Don't think were not in the same boat Brother !


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## Rock Headed (Nov 8, 2007)

My winters usually involve weeks of just chilling. 

Then I build my home show display for the spring. I challenge myself to do something new and try new things every year... I reinvent the wheel for the heck of it, some years.

I go months without work, every year. Sometimes I want for money...but back when it was gung ho all the time, it was mo' money and mo' problems. Too stressed. I say "funk that". Snow outside means I'm on island time....and it's all groovy. No, j/k I really do get obsessed over my home show display every year, it'll be a blizzard and I'll be outside, under a canopy, stacking something together. So yeah I'm still working all winter, but not chasing money. I chase money in the spring. Winter, I chase dreams.


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

Building our 1st tent of the year.


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## Jeremiah2911 (Jan 2, 2014)

Biz wise things are slowly down (and I'm actually happy about that). We had a very busy summer and fall, we need to catch out breath a bit and plan for the New Year. This is the time to fix our website, get into social media and basically put in the footwork for the summer. We are seriously contemplating being Spring-Summer-Fall company. My husband shared that he doesn't feel comfortable visiting customers' home after sundown aka 4:30pm here--and i get it. Personally, it took a toll as well, we didn't celebrate our anniversary because of work and we don't get out at all. Looking forward to camping again. :thumbup:


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

Liv'in large.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Not bad at all. Lots of room


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

6' frames are a good way to build a tent.


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## superseal (Feb 4, 2009)

I like your new image...you get a TV show or something :laughing:

Damn you clean up nice


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

Silly phone. I know I changed my profile pic, but all I see is and old pic of some work I did.


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

If it's the pic I think it is, its from about 25 years ago. Probably a wedding. One of the ten times I had a jacket and tie on.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Lol I'm on my phone and for some reason I thought it was Jackie chan. I need glasses ...


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