I’m a master plumber employed by a smaller plumbing company. Recently, an apprentice and I had to replace some cracked cast iron drainage behind finished walls. I opened the wall on the first floor, from floor to ceiling, stud to stud (one bay) to expose a vertical run of 4” cast iron. My apprentice opened up two finished walls in the basement to expose a horizontal run of the same drain line. Per my instructions, he cut horizontal strips about two feet wide to expose the pipe. He used a straightedge and made neat cuts.
My boss looked at the job and was upset at the way the basement walls were cut. He said he thought it was “unprofessional.” He said the drywall goes on with screws, so it can come apart the same way. I was frankly caught off-guard, so I didn’t ask him to elaborate, but he seems off-base to me, so I’m trying to get some other opinions.
First of all, yes, drywall is usually screwed, but the screws are covered with joint compound and not exposed, so I don’t understand his contention one can simply “unscrew” it.
Second, he mentioned something about the homeowner having to buy drywall to fix the wall. I’m not sure if my boss thought we should have removed whole sheets, floor-to-ceiling, but even then, there would be inside and outside corners to contend with. If he was upset that the helper couldn’t save the pieces he cut out, well, if I cut out a section of drywall, I try to save the whole piece, but sometimes it gets damaged beyond saving while trying to remove it. Anyways, I don’t see the big deal since drywall is cheap.
I’ve been plumbing 15 years and never heard this criticism before. I don’t think we did anything to warrant my boss’ reaction. Your thoughts?
Replies
I think your boss sucks!
kplumb,
Your boss is an idiot. This is the easiest way and what the rocker and finisher would prefer. The only thing I would have done different is I would have done it myself because I don't let plumbers have sharp tools. :)
KK
In the plant where I used to work I recall the wall repair guys would show up with a panel cart with several of sheets of drywall on it. After making the repairs they would often find themselves with a full 12-foot sheet of drywall left. On numerous occasions I saw them cut the unused sheet rougly in half (scrapping it), in order to make it more manageable as they threaded the cart back through the hallways.
Drywall is cheap. Sometimes one can use a bit of cleverness to limit the damage to drywall, but if it's a given that the wall is going to need mudding and painting anyway, there is little point in going out of ones way to limit the damage.
Rockers or Plumbers?
If you guys didn't cut the studs in 1/2 and hack away 90% of 3 or 4 floor josits your boss should consider himself lucky. Ha! Just joking...
Are you rockers or plumbers? I think you did the right thing. Let the rockers or whoever is doing the wall repairs make he final call on how they want make thier repairs. You made the job look nice and clean as opposed to swinging away with sledge hammers.
Unprofessional
Sounds like your boss thinks he's running a Union job. My friend was doing a union job putting up drywall for the back offices in a retail mall. The supervisor pulled out a tape measure and told the workers that they had put the screws 8" apart and according to union contract/rules should be 6" apart. My friend said they would add screws so that there would only be 4" between screws....even better? Supervisor said no....remove the screws and drywall and start from scratch and put the screws 6" apart.
I'm guessing that the boss felt he had to find something to criticize about the apprentice's work.
way out of line....
The boss is wrong here. This is so wacky I would silently question his overall ability.
only 2 opinions matter here.
This is something you and your boss need to work out between yourselves. Forum responders have very little idea of what actually transpires on your job site(s) and will do virtually nothing to improve the situation. All the questtions you have of your boss are best addressed by him.
I think your boss is just a stone's throw from crazy. However since you work for the guy, and if you want to keep on working for him, figure out a way to appease him. If he wants you to spend a lot of time unscrewing some drywall, then so-be-it. But ask him how you should proceed in the future. And be sure to ask what to do if the drywall is nailed, not screwed. And ask him for guidence on removing base trim and what to do at the wall ceiling intersection.