not part of my job description?

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Worst site damage I have ever done was knocking out plaster and lathe in a closed empty room - cut with grinder then knock it out - said room had the cold air return in it, heat was on, and filter dislodged. Got done cleaned up the room I was in and walked out.... Whole house in fine dust pumping out of every vent! Took pro cleaners almost a week to get it all.

Worst on topic damage was a $5,000 antique arm chair that I moved out of the way after handling rolls of MC. The finger prints on the period apolstery cost a bundle for the boss, but the knick that happened when I hit an other antique table with the chair scratching both and knocking said table over and denting it went on the insurance - I have no idea how much the negotiated cost of that was. But the policy that followed was NEVER touch anything!
 
iaov said:
When doing old work fishing wires I always use a piece of coat hanger for my first drilling. It is amazing what you can drill through with it and if you miss you have a very tiny, easily concealed hole.It is one of my most valuable tools. I can't tell you how many times I was certain I was drilling in the right spot but used the coat hanger first only to find out I was an inch or two off.:smile:
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6' flexible bit - never again! Drilled into house next door - barely missed priceless painting.....
 
iaov said:
When doing old work fishing wires I always use a piece of coat hanger for my first drilling. It is amazing what you can drill through with it and if you miss you have a very tiny, easily concealed hole.It is one of my most valuable tools. I can't tell you how many times I was certain I was drilling in the right spot but used the coat hanger first only to find out I was an inch or two off.:smile:
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I use the same technique, bit I wouldn't have helped here. We were drilling from the stud cavity in the second floor into the stud cavity in the wall below it. Helper just didn't straighten out the flex bit at the bottom of the 2nd floor cavity, it just ended up right behind the drywall at an angle, so it came out into the kitchen ceiling.
 
As long as we're talking about drilling accidents, I might as well confess mine. Drilled up through the floor of a cloak closet in a state representative's office accidentally. When I realized that I probably drilled through the floor, I ripped that drill back out of the hole as hard as I could. Well, at least I tried. I ran the drill a bit again, while trying to get it back out of the hole, but it was still caught pretty good on something. When I went upstairs to look, I realized that I had caught the tail of a lady's long coat, and had it all wrapped up in the bit and seriously mangled. That coat had aparently been left there years back, and nobody was sure who it belonged to anyhow, so lucky for me. The office was leased, so the 3/4" hole in the corner of the cloak closet was no problem whatsoever for anyone. Lucky all the way around.
 
BryanMD said:
Was backing into a space at a strip mall to go to the RedWing store and didn't fully appreciate how far the double vestibule at the Dunkin's next door extended out into the sidewalk. (JohnJ: up on Rt 40 near the Goodyear shop.)
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I know. :wink: That's where I buy my boots. :cool:
 
Just a couple of months ago I was adding a GFCI in a basement bathroom of a home this lady had just purchased. I was doing a blind drill up through a builtin medicine cabinet. After scoping out the area I was positive there was no plumbing there and of course I hit a piece of old copper water line. Water everywhere.

Took me about another 6 hours to remove the cabinet, repair the pipe which couldn't of been in a worse spot and put things back together. Did I mention that I hate plumbing? The thing I appreciate most about electricity is it doesn't leak!

Real nice and understanding lady but I didn't make much on this job. Going back there in the spring to do more work so all is not lost.

Jeff
 
Best one I have had was installing round floor recp. in antq. heart pine flooring, the hole saw hit a nail and jumped out making some nice scratches. Lucky for me the HO was not home, two houses down was a new construction house I was doing, the flooring guys were their doing the hardwood and i got my hands on some fine sandpaper and some polyuretahane, never know there was a screw up. Now it is standard stock with me when doing floor recps.
But the best out for anyone I have seen was a friend who was a contractor. He had built this home for a man from up north. This home was built over the phone and the owner had never seen it. On the day the owner was to arrive to see his new retirement home some one dropped something on the new hardwood floor scratching it up, no time to fix before owner arrived, contractor sweating bullets. Owner arrived and opened the car door to let his BIG lab out of car, dog goes running in to house hitting new, slick hardwood floor, dog is now scratching and clawing for traction right over where something was dropped. Owner looks at contractor and said dumb a** dog, get the guys to fix it and bill me the extra. Can you spell relief boys and girls:D
 
iaov said:
When doing old work fishing wires I always use a piece of coat hanger for my first drilling. It is amazing what you can drill through with it and if you miss you have a very tiny, easily concealed hole.It is one of my most valuable tools. I can't tell you how many times I was certain I was drilling in the right spot but used the coat hanger first only to find out I was an inch or two off.:smile:
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I agree and its alot cheaper than constantly snapping machine made thin drill bits. Ive done some prettly nice work with a coat hanger not to mention they helped me get into my car when i forget my keys in it
 
In my own house I've drilled up through the upstairs floors (old growth pine floors) by mistake. In this case, I was putting in a ceiling fan in the family room below, so the hole was in the middle of the bedroom. Fortunately it was under the bed and fortunately I did not drill through the waterbed! Yes, I was using one of those long flex bits!
 
The most damage I ever did was I blew up a 75 KVA 480 Delta to 120/208 wye transformer. We won't get in to what I did. Lets just say I knew better.
$8,000 in damage. I hid from our VP for a week. When I finally couldn't dodge him anymore He looked at me and said what ya say hotshot!.
I told him to go ahead and take his best shot at me cause he wouldn't get another chance. He just smiled and said, I just did. I cant beat you up anymore than you've already beat yourself up.
 
customer service

customer service

:wink: For thoughs of you that believe in customer service good job. Im a service tech. and when I walk into an elderly woman or mans house,It is my responcability to keep them as customers, even if it is moving furnature, or grabbing the news paper out of the driveway before you run it over. Becoming a good tech. is to become friends with your customer. This is how we are paid keeping customers and going over and beond the call of dudy.
 
You only had to move furniture? Once on a service call, the homeowner after hearing of the one-hour minimum charge to re-set a breaker asked me to clean her porch for the remaining time, and she was persuasive so I did it!:smile:
 
qcroanoke said:
I told him to go ahead and take his best shot at me cause he wouldn't get another chance. He just smiled and said, I just did. I cant beat you up anymore than you've already beat yourself up.
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That reminds me of the episode of M*A*S*H where everyone pretended to fall prey to one of B.J.'s pranks, and Hawkeye went crazy avoiding "getting got".

"The best joke was the one that never came."

Hawkeye had to stand on a mess-hall table, drop trou, and dance and sing "Baby, you're the tops!" B.J.'s visiting friend thought Hawkeye was totally nuts.
 
How did this thread last so long in the Electrical Calculations/Engineering section? If you mods don't move it over to the dumb dumb, I er, mean the electrical contracting and estimating section, then me and my hordes of undereducated theory wise contractor types are going to form a raiding party and I mean it.....:grin:
 
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