Quote:
|
Originally posted by photon+ Aug 17 2005, 10:42 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (photon @ Aug 17 2005, 10:42 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Right now they're almost done framing my house and that part has been very good so far.[/b]
|
Photon, just out of curiosity, when did they start the framing and at what stage are they? If they are done, how long did it take them?
I'm interested to find this stuff out because I'm a framer myself. I haven't been doing it for very long here in Calgary, so I can't drop a lot of info on you guys, but my boss has been framing here for around 11 years.
Ace, you mentioned Creekside. Who did you build with? We had been working for Trico Homes in Creekside and Evanston up until about a month ago. They are a very well run company, although there are some stories out there about some of the framers they have in the south being not so great. I would suggest they are one of the better companies to build through in Calgary.
<!--QuoteBegin-Bend it like Bourgeois@ Aug 17 2005, 11:20 AM
These days anyone with a toolbelt can be a tradesman so I dunno if you can avoid all the issues. You have to stay on top of them and they better be willing to see your smiling face on the jobsite and in the office on a regular basis[/quote]
Couple very good points here for anyone who wants to build to take into consideration. Definitely show up on the job site. And bring a hard hat!
We love to see the home owners, but it's between rare and never that we do. We're on our 22nd house since I started with this guy about a year ago, and we've seen the home owners of maybe 4 of them.
BB is 100% correct about his "anyone with a toolbelt" comment. First, it's incredibly hard to find reliable guys. My boss has gone through guys hand over fist since I started with him about a year ago. And it's not him, trust me. He's the best guy I've ever worked for, hands out bonuses on a regular basis, does a damn good job. People are just lazy. Anyway, the point is, it's hard for him to find a guy who shows up everyday. Without that, there is little motivation to teach them a lot until they show there committed to their job and will show up everyday. We make sure any errors by newbies get corrected, and quick, but the frustration level for any one trying to run their own business in a trade has to be incredibly high.
Secondly, even many of the guys who do run their own crews are not qualified. Take for instance the guys that are working next to us right now. We are working for Greenboro Homes and they include crane fees in what they pay for framing the house. They are working in an unsafe environment, refusing to call the crane, putting peoples lives at risk, and you can tell from watching them, the work they do is a little more than shotty and incredibly slow.
I'm confident that these types practices are common througout the industry. I can really only speak to the framing and foundation parts of it myself, I don't see the homes once we are done. But, I will admit that was my biggest concern when I started out. Will I get with a guy who can teach me the right way, so I don't learn bad habits without even knowing it? I was very fortunate to find what I consider to be one of the best framers you'll find in this city. Everything is done right, and if a mistake is made (and we are humans, they do happen) it gets fixed right away. If they give us a nice square foundation to work off of, everything will be perfect. If not, you do the absolute best you can to fix it. Sometimes, when it's not started right, there is only so much you can do. We were hand picked by a salesman at Trico to frame his house so I feel confident in who I work with and the job we do. I wouldn't necessarily say the same for a lot of others out there, though.