The demise of the building trade (in NSW anyway), was when they brought in the Home Warranty Insurance, I knew lots of very skilled and competent tradesmen, who simply gave it away and went fishing, went part time or started mowing lawns or whatever as it was simply too hard and expensive to get the insurance. They have since relaxed the red tape around the HW insurance but too late for many.
complaining about building tradies Pffffffft
id like to give a standing ovation to the worst not mentioned the DENTIST.
Should be a thread about the customers and non paying builders. Just had all my trade accounts frozen because of the above not paying. No complaints or reason just c&@#s.
Only yesterday - Pool guy came to replace a load of hoses and backwash hose. I tell him he's forgotten the elbow and the pipe will split if it's vertical and jammed into the leaf box. One hour later, it splits. Called him back and he's still not returned.
When you say "tradie" don't forget that is apprenticed and qualified trades only or they are a handyman / trades assistant level untrained.
For many jobs you think are a tradie, NOT ACTUALLY.
Oddly, I have Cert2 in warehousing and packing logistics but it is an accreditation(i dun va' um!) not a qualification.
And i've had a Forklift LF, it's almost as good as qualification in an HR(High Risk) field, but simply isn't.
Had plumbers around to replace taps and pipes in the shower. They had to cut a large section of shower wall out. Of course there was a fibro backer. Filled the bathroom and hallway with asbestos dust. I will never forgive them and I will never trust a tradesperson again.
You do realise that under Australian law, that plumber, recognising asbestos must leave your job, wait for you to get a team out in Hazmat suits to partly demolish your wall, not cut, cutting asbestos is illegal now. And then all you need, is to rebuild the wall, and have it waterproofed. Then you can call the plumber back.
That must be an interesting task. Identifying asbestos in fibro would be pretty much impossible I would say. How do you know when the fibro was installed, and even if it was recent-ish, was it before asbestos was no longer used in fibro?
Want a test of your sample first? That's not cheap either.
Hopefully people do what I have done a lot in the past and assume it does contain asbestos, but what if it doesn't?
I have reclad my 1940s bathroom in villaboard, i.e. no asbestos, but if someone were to look at the house they would assume it does have asbestos as the external walls no doubt do.
i think a lot of trades treat fibro warily, but not necessarily avoiding it.
If the government here were serious about getting it removed properly, they wouldn't be charging a premium to dispose of it at landfills and subsidising it instead.
Hmm, on a re-read of my post I see that it wasn't fair to Shifu so I've since deleted it.
My local tip takes asbestos free on weekends.
There's a few telltale signs of asbestos, including the finish, the sound, the trim used, the sizing, among others.
When you're around enough of it you can generally tell without the need for testing.
This look like a pretty cheap in the scheme of work- good knowledge to gain. My Neighbour's business but haven't used so cant vouch other than a very fair and open bloke- www.clearsafe.com.au/nata.html
Below is an email i received from one of my many happy clients yesterday.
There are those of out there who go above and beyond to make a good name for ourselves.
Patricia Bryant
Feb 20, 2020, 6:15 PM (9 hours ago)
to me
Hi John
I have been trying to review your work here but can't find you on google. do you have a website or a google profile? I'd like to give you a 5 star rating
Maybe your business is on Facebook??
Many thanks, I love my laundry
Kind regards, Pat Bryant
I've had 1 tradie out of countless do a good job, but I usually do most of the work myself, and I would say I duck up about 20%.
Job: Install a roller door motor... I was going to do it myself but I need it in a hurry.
Dude rocked up 2 mins late.
Did the job in 45mins.
Gave me a free remote for another garage.
Has worked no issues since.
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Recent SNAFU.
Job: Install some blinds 5m up in a void.
Sales lady, 1hr late. I still accepted her quote though.
10 days later 2 dudes rock up 1.5hrs late. Didn't have a tall enough ladder.
4 days later 1hr late. They had the ladder, but now they're telling me they need scaffolding. I tell them to get real and demonstrate how I could do it myself. They continue, but now the blind's rail is too long.
3 days later (late again), they have the ladder + correct length blinds, install the rail but now the slats are too short, they think the measurements got swapped around.
7 days later I think they turned up on time, and completed the job.
It was a $600 blind install that took about month.
==============================================
I have another story about some gates, wrong color, wrong size, wrong opening side, wrong post... didn't end too well but I just didn't want the duckers round my house anymore. The gates work but one is still the wrong color.
===============================================
I recently resurfaced my driveway.
It started out real good, but ended up totally ducking it up... I guess you could say it consistently looks crap now, the concrete is still cracking off and the sealer is still bonded to my car's paint... who would have thought cement mixing, bonding and sealing was such a science.
I had a house built.....paid well and on time, never took anything for granted, never took the cheapest quote, was pleasant, polite, helpful.... never again....
Most tradies are lazy and show no pride. I will say there were a couple of exceptions.
Overall I agree with the original poster. Very sad indeed.
Disclaimer: I am a tradesman myself but not the building trade. My work is my calling card and nothing goes out the door unless it exceeds customer expectations.
Maybe the quality of tradesmen is a result of consumers going for the cheapest quote. Continually doing this for years and years would result in quality workers becoming extinct. The marvellous internet has allowed us to get more quotes for jobs and thus the cheapest price (aka best price) from some company we've never heard of and are really only a front for some subby who has had his margins screw well below the means of doing a quality job.
So instead of pointing the finger at the tradies, have a good look at yourself and see what part you have played in the demise of quality workmanship.
I figure that someone who does an outstanding job could charge a premium, and have customers lining up. I've a mildly obsessive - compulsive personality and can't stop myself from doing things "just right", so I sometimes think if I'd become a tradie I'd have endless work because of the quality. Is this right, or do the vast majority of customers really only care about price?
my SIL is landscaper gardener/designer, often I tell him, 'just do the bloody job and get onto the next one'. He did a retaining wall about 9 months ago 1.5m high 10m long saw it a month ago and arranged to rebuild cause HE wasnt happy. Now he has clients waiting and wondering when their job will be done. With his wife doing paperwork invoices and finalising quotes I got her to increase his hourly labour rate by 40% and still people are happy.
Id say he does a quality job.
I figure that someone who does an outstanding job could charge a premium, and have customers lining up. I've a mildly obsessive - compulsive personality and can't stop myself from doing things "just right", so I sometimes think if I'd become a tradie I'd have endless work because of the quality. Is this right, or do the vast majority of customers really only care about price?
I've been a self-employed shipwright for 35+yrs specialising in the design & manufacture of custom composites, also regularly work with timber+S/Steel. Sorry to disappoint Harrow but my field of experience within the day to day market place, the vast majority only care about price. Price is often the first & only aspect of a job people wish to discuss, money is their high priest. But regardless of the price clients generally assume the best quality & fastest turn around are a given. In my book, high quality, cheap prices & a quick job are simply not compatible, there will always be a trade-off..
As Crusoe points to, there is rarely the opportunity or room to discuss any level of quality on day to day jobs anymore. I put this down to a disconnect between cost & value within our society. We buy most anything at astoundingly 'cheap' prices thanks to mass production & the free market. However because most people aren't physically involved in making stuff you can touch anymore, there is little understanding of the actual value of a product or service.
^^^ What ?
Not hard to work out hoop- jokers complaining about asbestos in his house and cant be bothered to deal with his asset in a responsible manner when it cost not much to find out...
J.
I figure that someone who does an outstanding job could charge a premium, and have customers lining up. I've a mildly obsessive - compulsive personality and can't stop myself from doing things "just right", so I sometimes think if I'd become a tradie I'd have endless work because of the quality. Is this right, or do the vast majority of customers really only care about price?
They really only care about price but expect a good job - go figure !?