Here's why drywallers should be licensed

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Ponchik

Senior Member
Location
CA
Occupation
Electronologist
That's fine if you can get there before the flooring goes down. A lot of times I never see the place again until called for trim. I sometimes take pictures if it is more than code minimum devices. It would be good to use the paint and also take pictures right after you finish the rough.

I meant the subfloor. I always hope the jobs I do have the subfloor in before the walls go up. :D:D

I also do take pictures before the sheetrock.
 

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
Last year our state ASG sent a memo out to all licensed trades, asking if maintenance , home improvement ,or other 'construction oriented' workers should be required to have certs.

Apparently their office is being flooded with litigation, re: recent boom

What would requiring such benchmarks achieve?

Well for starters, they'd have something to loose.

2nd, we wouldn't be flooded with out of state help everytime the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow lands in our state (repetitive,many examples)

3rd, because complaints can be registered against licensure, the consumer has at least some means to vet them



~RJ~
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
3rd, because complaints can be registered against licensure, the consumer has at least some means to vet them

My point in saying they should be licensed is that:

a) The above complaint mechanism;
b) They have to prove basic competency;
c) and In some jurisdictions they are required to be bonded which allows the HO some recourse.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Luckily for me, I have experienced this problem so many times before that I take pictures of the entire house before the drywall goes up so I can find hidden boxes. It's a nightmare without pictures or x-ray vision. The poor quality of drywall crews is mind boggling.

As an aside, how do you people find hidden boxes when you have no pictures or foreknowledge available? In the past I have noticed places where there should be a box (logically/per code) and then put my eye right next to the wall to see the bulge in the drywall where the box seems to be, but I still end up making extra holes until I find it. I've looked at Walabot and Flir tools. Anybody have a really good method/tool?
 

MAC702

Senior Member
Location
Clark County, NV
My Greenlee Circuit Seeker has found a couple. Once it did it through stucco, but other times it couldn't. That one time it did was when it paid for itself.
 

ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
I mark the floor with bright orange paint. It is easier to see where my boxes are/were after sheetrock.

About 10 years after we built our house I began to notice a faint pink smudge on the vinyl flooring in our kitchen. Over the next couple of years it became more pronounced to the point where I could tell it was in the shape of the number six. No floor cleaner and no amount of scrubbing would remove it. When we finally ripped the vinyl out to replace it we discovered that someone had spraypainted a hot pink number six on the slab when the house was being built, and over the years the paint migrated up through the flooring.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
About 10 years after we built our house I began to notice a faint pink smudge on the vinyl flooring in our kitchen. Over the next couple of years it became more pronounced to the point where I could tell it was in the shape of the number six. No floor cleaner and no amount of scrubbing would remove it. When we finally ripped the vinyl out to replace it we discovered that someone had spraypainted a hot pink number six on the slab when the house was being built, and over the years the paint migrated up through the flooring.

They win!
 

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
As an aside, how do you people find hidden boxes when you have no pictures or foreknowledge available? In the past I have noticed places where there should be a box (logically/per code) and then put my eye right next to the wall to see the bulge in the drywall where the box seems to be, but I still end up making extra holes until I find it. I've looked at Walabot and Flir tools. Anybody have a really good method/tool?

About 10 years after we built our house I began to notice a faint pink smudge on the vinyl flooring in our kitchen. Over the next couple of years it became more pronounced to the point where I could tell it was in the shape of the number six. No floor cleaner and no amount of scrubbing would remove it. When we finally ripped the vinyl out to replace it we discovered that someone had spraypainted a hot pink number six on the slab when the house was being built, and over the years the paint migrated up through the flooring.

I've a history with D'wallers that isn't good.
What i do is exactly what ggun's complaint is , spray paint . And they'll STILL cover it over.:rant:

I've gotten fairly good at finding /cutting around a buried box, but all the closer dwall screws will pop

Further, i've actually witnessed Dwallers taking off protective plates ,claiming they'll buldge

the list goes on /on /on

quite frankly, i'm a better Dwaller that what i see in my locality

~RJ~
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
I always like when I notice the buried receptacle or switch. I asked an electrician one time how you turned the lights on in a room and I got the "really dude?" look, that was until he started looking around the room.

I just figure that at the least you should have a receptacle every 12' and a switch in every room and if you're setting finish and you don't notice that, it's as much on you as the drywaller.
 

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
How many jobs can you recall intricate details of 3-4 months after the 'crew' that set up camp finally calls you back John?:ashamed:

But in your defense, those of us that rope every resi job up same same don't need much of a memory
:p
Seriously, many of us that have done our time, done our homework, cracked the books in this mans trade have simply had the radish with the 'star wars bar scene' contingent of hacks we daily have to interface with
:slaphead:
giphy-facebook_s.jpg

~RJ~
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
As an aside, how do you people find hidden boxes when you have no pictures or foreknowledge available? In the past I have noticed places where there should be a box (logically/per code) and then put my eye right next to the wall to see the bulge in the drywall where the box seems to be, but I still end up making extra holes until I find it. I've looked at Walabot and Flir tools. Anybody have a really good method/tool?

I use either a 4' level or 2' if I don't have the 4' handy. Go to where there "should" be a receptacle or switch. Take the level and place it on the wall at the suspected location. You will find a high spot and the level will rock on it instead of laying flat. Then take a drywall knife and cut into the high spot, cut up/down, left/right until you find the inside edges of the box. When you find the inside edge of the box, move the knife over to find the outside edge and cut out around it.
When the cut around the box is made you will usually get some "nail pops" when you push the drywall back against the studs.

Then call the drywallers to repair the nail pops!;)
 

Mystic Pools

Senior Member
Location
Park Ridge, NJ
Occupation
Swimming Pool Contractor
Drywaller covered an 2" LB in a mechanical where our power for the pool equipment emanated. It was new (cheaper) crew at this development.

As far a licensing, NJ is pushing for specific pool contractors licensing-service or construction. It's a joke and nothing but a money maker for the state.
Connecticut and Long Island only at this point require that specific license.


Individuals take a short course and then voila, your licensed. No journeyman process like electricians or plumbers. I'm a bit ashamed my industry is like this.
There has been mutterings of doing a journeyman program for some time. There is an educational outfit offering terrific (expensive) courses for doing pool/spa work properly, but they offer no licensing to satisfy any of the states.


I may be "grandfathered" as I have been in business for 32 years-however, I am not counting on not having to take a course-but the state will gladly take my money.

There's no substitute for experience.


ALL NJ contractors presently must have a home improvement contractors license.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
How many jobs can you recall intricate details of 3-4 months after the 'crew' that set up camp finally calls you back John?:ashamed:

But in your defense, those of us that rope every resi job up same same don't need much of a memory
:p
Seriously, many of us that have done our time, done our homework, cracked the books in this mans trade have simply had the radish with the 'star wars bar scene' contingent of hacks we daily have to interface with
:slaphead:
View attachment 21418

~RJ~
Don't have to remember with residential, you have required spacing and things that you have to put in, like I said a receptacle every 12' if you see a spot 24' long, you probably have something buried, where I don't know exactly, but you should realize it's missing.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Don't have to remember with residential, you have required spacing and things that you have to put in, like I said a receptacle every 12' if you see a spot 24' long, you probably have something buried, where I don't know exactly, but you should realize it's missing.

Uh no. In old buildings, the spacing is definitely not every 12'.

Even in brand new construction, the boxes are probably closer and not necessarily evenly spaced unless it's a huge room. And what about hallways that only require a single box somewhere? Where is somewhere?
 

Jons

Member
Marking fixture and device locations before drywall to be hung

Marking fixture and device locations before drywall to be hung

I mark the floor with bright orange paint. It is easier to see where my boxes are/were after sheetrock.

Just did this on a place I'm building as well as write the # of gangs and center height of each box. Also dropped plumb lines down from all ceiling fixtures to mark centers centers. Was a bit of a PITA but will save me mucho time if anything gets covered. I haven't any free time to go on a treasure hunt due to the fact the drywall guys are moving 90 mph on my job. I buy the Krylon fluorescent orange paint at WallyMart to do this. Minimal investment in time and material to avoid headaches later.
 

jumper

Senior Member
I always like when I notice the buried receptacle or switch. I asked an electrician one time how you turned the lights on in a room and I got the "really dude?" look, that was until he started looking around the room.

I just figure that at the least you should have a receptacle every 12' and a switch in every room and if you're setting finish and you don't notice that, it's as much on you as the drywaller.

Plus the wiring isn’t going to work when energizing so they gotta fix even if gets by you.

Ain’t no one paying for stuff that doesn’t work.
 

Adamjamma

Senior Member
there used to be a device that you could hook to the wires and then use another device to track the signal... it worked because the signal it was recieving was only at most a foot away from the one thing... I used it in eighties to track metal conduit, knob and tube, and other wires hidden in walls... it came in a kit from Radio Shack, in two boards... and worked kind of like a metal detector radio reciever...

But the wires had to be off to hook up to.

Pretty sure there has to be something similar now in the stores, maybe in the IT world, to allow you to trace a circuit at a certain distance then get a finer trace for exact wires...
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
Pretty sure there has to be something similar now in the stores, maybe in the IT world, to allow you to trace a circuit at a certain distance then get a finer trace for exact wires...

There is, it's called a TDR, or time domain reflectometer.

I have also used a telecom toner and wand to find buried junction boxes.

The last 'high end' residential job I did, the wall detail was changed after we set our boxes to include 5/8 in thick wainscoting a top double drywall. we had so many buried boxes that I swore if I ever did another job like that, I would use the adjustable boxes and zip them out 2" so they would be impossible to cover up.
 
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