From the editors of Tool Box Buzz, Home Construction Improvement and A Concord Carpenter
Volume 51
All the guys on our team have been in construction for years and we can attest to the fact that mistakes happen. The construction world isn't perfect and over time mistakes happen from small to large on most any job.
Whether you're a home owner or contractor, how you deal with those mistakes ultimately determines how successful the final product is!
Today we're going to point out a couple of mistakes we've seen how they were resolved. Why? Because it's a great reminder that "stuff" happens and we need to always be vigilant about fixing our mistakes. It's also important to share these past mistakes to help you try and avoid them.
todd fratzel
Blistered Concrete
Folks that's a picture of a brand new slab in a car dealership service bay that we built several years ago. Not the image you'd expect to see on a new construction project. Shortly after the slab was finished I noticed small bubbles of concrete on the slab surface that were popping off.
After closer inspection we quickly realized the slab had blistered because the concrete
sub-contractor mistakenly poured air en-trained concrete and then trowel finished it. The end result was a slab that's surface wasn't going to last so the sub-contractor stepped up to the plate and jack hammered it all out and started over.
While problems like this are a huge nightmare and very costly, tearing it up was the right thing to do and the owner was sure grateful. Curious about blistered concrete? Click on the Read More link below and read more about how and
why it happened.
"Stuff" happens right? Recently a guy from my crew used the wrong size sono-tube for a porch footing. He used a 10" diameter when he should have used a 12" diameter to meet the local code requirements. Instead of trying to hide the issue we did the right thing and pulled it out in order to install the correct size.
Now if we had a small excavator on site it would have taken 5 mins
and been over with. That wasn't the case so we got clever and rigged up a come-along and yanked it out of it's berth! Click the link and read all about we we got this bad boy out!
Battery powered mowers are here to stay and will likely take over the gas powered market in the near future. We recently tested a new battery powered mower from STIHL that we thought you'd like to learn more about. Read on to find out what we thought of this new mower and how battery powered mowers are stepping up their game.
Ever feel like tossing a project because of a very minor defect? Rob shows us how he fixed a small saw kerf on a paint grade project. Never assume all is lost! Check out how he fixed this small mistake on something that took time to build.
