On a Construction Site Expect the Unexpected: Potty Story

Collage: You Would Never Guess - Smell, Inconvenience and Expense
2011 @ wobuilt.com
Credit: MS Office ClipArt MC900030301

On a construction site
you have to expect the unexpected
and sometimes the bizarre.

Normally we don’t tell "potty stories".

OK, it is the slow season and I guess we are getting the winter blaahs. And I am suffering from writer’s block. I cannot think of anything interesting to write about the subject I love best, design and build of home additions and extensions.

So, here is a "you can only shake you head" story. On one occasion on one of our sites we disconnected an existing toilet and stored it away from the drain but still in the washroom for later re-installation. It was very obvious that there was no water or drain connection. Or so we thought. Some time later we noticed this awful smell emanating from the direction of said toilet. Further investigation found that someone left an offering to the "dunny" deities in the non-working toilet, "forgot" to tell us about it and left us to deal with the "sh*t". Why this person couldn’t use the working toilet on another floor is a mystery.

Now the issue with this situation is that you are dealing with biological hazardous waste and you have to get experts involved, the ones who come in with the suits, the masks and you hope..... an unmarked vehicle. Quite often these experts also deal with crime scene clean up and may advertise this on their vehicles. Nothing will excite the neighbourhood more than seeing a vehicle with "crime scene clean-up" written on the side.

Anyway, we did not envy them their work. It took several hours of gagging by the experts to dispose, clean, disinfect, sanitize and air freshen the site. I guess this was the best $500+++ spend for a long time. But if I ever find out who the culprit was I will…!!!!

On a construction site you have to expect the unexpected and sometimes the bizarre. No amount of supervision, foresight, rules, processes, signs, sign-offs and people acceptance of those can prevent all the human foolishness. It can only help to minimize them. Hence any incident which becomes humorous in hindsight is still bad, but bearable.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

links:
Wo-Built Inc: Design + Build Construction Company: Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
by Janice Bell

eHow.com: Biological Hazards on Construction Sites
By Geoffrey St. Marie, eHow Contributor
updated: November 18, 2010

labour.gov.on.ca: Ontario Ministry of Labour: Construction
Here you will find a wealth of construction safety information — and links to more resources.
Revised: September 2010

labour.gov.on.ca: Ontario Ministry of Labour: Health and Safety
Safe At Work Ontario is the Ministry of Labour strategy to protect workers’ health and safety on the job.

Tales from the Renovation Track: Why Customers Should Never Be Their Own General Contractors

Collage: It Pays to Have a Good General Contractor
Credits: MS Office ClipArt - mp900399496

Here is the latest installment of Janice Bell’s now famous Tales from the Renovation Track – the series of articles One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator. Now the understanding of why customers should never be their own general contractors.

Part 13 - Why Customers Should Never Be Their Own General Contractors

If you are considering a sizable reno to your existing home or office sometime in the future, I would advise you right now that you should not attempt to be your own general contractor. Why, you may ask? Because there is so much more you should know about renovations and construction than meets the eye. I can tell you first hand, that it is imperative that you do not attempt this if you have little or no construction experience. And, it is particularly true if you have to be at a full time job during said renovations and can only be on the site part of the time.

Your first mistake is not being accessible on site at all times. You might think that because you are available via your cell phone that this is a bit trifling, but a cell phone is simply not good enough. There are always a multitude of decisions to be made on a daily basis as problems may arise at any time, and you can be sure that they will. If you are not familiar with building jargon, you will certainly not understand verbally what the problems are to begin with. You need to be present to make those on-the-fly decisions or you will run the risk of delaying the trades and costing yourself more money and time delays. Sometimes though, the decisions are purely whatever option the customer prefers.

The second mistake, and this is a huge one, is timely coordination between the trades. I will give you an example of a customer/general contractor that I had experience with this year. The flooring guys were ordered in before the drywall on the walls was up. Here was this brand new beautiful oak hardwood floor, but Oh! I can't describe what a pain it was to ensure that the floor did not get marked up while I was drywalling, painting and placing baseboards. This whole process slowed me down considerably and also became a safety hazard as the floor was protected with sheets of 1/8 inch masonite whose edges provided ample opportunity for tripping. And if you get any drywall dust in between the cracks of any type of flooring, it becomes a major job to vacuum it out of there. And yes, you can put plastic down, but then it becomes slippery to walk on, and as a result becomes a safety hazard.

Ill timed coordination is costly too! The same customer ordered me to tear down the ceiling whereupon, once the joists were exposed, it became apparent that squirrels had eaten clean through the bridging between the joists. I was then told to replace all of the bridging. At the same time the in-floor heating contractors came in as a surprise to me and tore out all the bridging I had just put in! After they left, I had to reinstall it, thus costing this customer more in time and money.

A third mistake is trying to hurry things along a little too much. The same customer had ordered another tradesperson in to jack up the floor of the house. Now, this was a considerable amount, perhaps 2 inches or so. Normally, this is usually done no more than 1/8 inch per day at the fastest rate, but this customer was in such a big hurry that he ordered the fellow to jack it up all at once. Now, this request cracked all the lathe and plaster on the walls above the portion being jacked to the point where some of the lathe itself broke in two. After fixing this, I was told that I was too slow because the customer had gone on a website and found out that most drywall was done in three coats. I had to explain that this was not new drywall, but old plaster of which the lathe had to be repaired first and required more than three coats in some areas.

Trying to help doesn't make things easier either. The same customer, again, came in late one night and decided he was going to get the job done faster by sanding the dried mud of new drywall. I had put the third coat on already, and it just needed feathering at the edges. Not knowing there is a slight bow out over drywall joints, the customer proceeded to sand it flat, and re-exposed the paper tape which I then had to put two more coats on to fix. Again, more work, more time and more money.

Finally, naive customers are not aware of all the little details that go into finishing a job. The most common mistakes they make are not allowing enough offset from a sink backsplash to the faucets, so that your hands cannot get around them. Another common mistake is placing electrical boxes too close to doorways and then choosing wide casement which then has to have an ugly cutout to fit around them.

And one final thing to remember is that if you are the general contractor and something major goes wrong, you do not have the liability insurance to cover the repairs.

It pays to have a good general contractor!

Happy Renovations.

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2010 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades
Part 10: Very Painterly
Part 11a: Tricks of the Trade: Recaulking bathtubs / Placing peel and stick tiles
Part 11b: Tricks of the Trade: Wheelbarrows / Cutting a plastic pipe
Part 11c: Tricks of the Trade: Drywall mud / Admixtures
Part 12: When Common Sense Should Prevail
Part 13: Why Customers Should Never Be Their Own General Contractors
tinyurl: janicereno

Tales from the Renovation Track: When Common Sense Should Prevail

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We are continuing our publication of a series of articles from our contributor Janice Bell – her experiences the renovation field. Almost a year ago we started to publish her Tales from the Renovation Track, and today we are posting a new installment of her series.

Part 12 - When Common Sense Should Prevail

There are times in the construction/renovation field that common sense should decide which direction to take.

#1 - For example, a gal I know is a manager in her family's fencing business. They weld and coat wrought iron railings, chain link fencing etc. She was at the sales desk one day when a customer inquired about perimeter fencing using a 4 foot high chain link fence.

After my friend wrote down the lineal feet required for a quote, the customer then asked about the strips one can purchase to wind through the chain links. "Well, we carry that product too!", my friend replied, "But it is an expensive accessory to purchase and I would recommend that you forego it in this case."

But as Murphy's Law would have it, this customer was quite insistent. My friend listened and listened some more and maintained her suggestion. The conversation was becoming quite strained.

"Why are you so set on the purchase of these strips for this four foot high fence?" my friend asked.

"Well, we want them for privacy from the neighbours", came the answer.

Without batting an eye, my friend replied, "Well, what happens if your neighbour stands up?"

#2 - Another time, I was called in to replace water-stained ceiling tiles. My customer told me she wanted the ceiling removed and all of the tiles replaced and re-trimmed. Because she was a repeat customer, and trusted me, she asked me to lock up as she was on her way out. I was there to measure and draw up a purchase list, when I got the idea to try this sealing primer I had out in the van. The first coat soaked up into the tile and the ugly stain was still there, albeit a bit lighter. I dry brushed out the edges of the wet paint, as it was a slightly different shade of white from the tiles.

This primer dries quite fast, so away I went with a second coat applied much more liberally. But the stain was still visible even though it was a mere shadow of its former self. It took longer for the second coat to dry, but when it finally did I coated it once more. Shazamm! It worked!

When my customer returned from lunch, I calmly informed her that I had fixed her ceiling while she was gone. She looked up and could scarcely believe her eyes. I told her how I had painted out the stains, and that even though I had in effect worked my way out of a job, it saved her a lot of money and mess. She was so impressed: I managed to get a lot of future jobs from her out of that one!

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2010 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades
Part 10: Very Painterly
Part 11a: Tricks of the Trade: Recaulking bathtubs / Placing peel and stick tiles
Part 11b: Tricks of the Trade: Wheelbarrows / Cutting a plastic pipe
Part 11c: Tricks of the Trade: Drywall mud / Admixtures
Part 12: When Common Sense Should Prevail

Tales from the Renovation Track: Tricks of the Trade That Make Home Repairs/Renos Much Easier and Complete

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Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0285894

There are even more tricks of the trade that help a homeowner to improve DYI renovations.

Part 11c - Tidbits of Wisdom

During my work day I often run across a whole plethora of renovations completed by homeowners - some of which are done well or adequately. At the same time there are certain tricks of the trades that can make some of the repairs/renos much easier and complete.

Here are some of these tips:

5. Drywall mud. In the larger sizes, drywall mud comes in plastic buckets with lids or in a plastic bag in a cardboard box. It’s better to purchase the bucket because it is more reusable. When you use a bit of the drywall mud out of the plastic bag from the cardboard box and then reseal it for use for the next time round, the bits of mud dry at the top of the bag and then fall into the wet mud at the bottom of the bag when you open it. When you go to trowel this on, what you get are frustrating grooves where the dried mud drags through the wet stuff.

I had the chance to talk with a drywall contractor about this, and he told me he gets the plastic pails. When he has enough of them he will buy the mud in plastic bags and then put the mud into the cleaned pails. How he does this is by getting a grout sponge, wetting it and cleaning all the mud off the top of the newly opened bag. He then puts three wet spongefulls of water into the bag after the top is cleaned, rolls the bag of mud around and then drops it into a clean, reused drywall plastic pail. When you use the pails with the plastic lids make sure you scoop around the inside perimeter of the pail and remove any mud before storing so this mud won't dry and contaminate the wet stuff. Then for storage purposes, one can pour a skim coat of water on top of the wet mud, of, say 1/8 of an inch deep so the mud at the top won't dry out before you use it again. You should always put a little water in the mud at the start of using a fresh batch, as it smooths out better. Or, if using stored mud, just mix in the skim coat of water and you're in I am parging a wall business!

6. Admixtures. You can use white glue as an additive for concrete or drywall mud. I use it in concrete when I am doing smaller repairs as it assists the concrete to adhere to the old stuff. Or if, you can mix the white glue into the concrete, or conversely paint it on the wall first before applying the concrete.

I will put it in drywall mud particularly in repairs on cracked corners, where the building is moving continually, for instance in a trailer with drywall that heaves slightly in the springtime. Just use it in the mud used to put the tape on and use it carefully because it doesn't sand very well, so don't leave globs around to deal with later. As a matter of fact if you detest trying to get a smooth butt joint on drywall when dealing with the joints on the ends of the drywall that are not tapered you can take white glue only, spread it on the back of the paper tape and glue it down to the drywall without using any mud. This gives you less of a feathering out process to do and you don't get the bubbles forming from improperly applying the paper tape with mud.

A second admixture that a homeowner can add to concrete is dish detergent. Adding a small amount, like say a tablespoon to a batch of concrete creates an inexpensive air entrainment admixture. Air entrainment is adding microscopic air bubbles to concrete which creates voids in the concrete when it dries. In wintertime, when water freezes, it expands in volume and can crack concrete, but the microscopic bubbles leave spaces in the concrete where the water can expand into and prevents the concrete from cracking.

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades
Part 10: Very Painterly
Part 11a: Tricks of the Trade: Recaulking bathtubs / Placing peel and stick tiles
Part 11b: Tricks of the Trade: Wheelbarrows / Cutting a plastic pipe
Part 11c: Tricks of the Trade: Drywall mud / Admixtures

links:
wikihow.com: How to Tape and Mud Drywall
wikipedia.org: Drywall

Tales from the Renovation Track: Tricks of the Trade That Make Home Repairs/Renos Much Easier and Complete

Collage: tools, construction, wheelbarrows, women

Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0382973

More tricks of the trade that help a homeowner to improve DYI renovations.

Part 11b - Tidbits of Wisdom

During my work day I often run across a whole plethora of renovations completed by homeowners - some of which are done well or adequately. At the same time there are certain tricks of the trades that can make some of the repairs/renos much easier and complete.

Here are some of these tips:

3. Wheelbarrows. I once worked on a large concrete pour, that, because of the site specifics all of the concrete had to be delivered via wheelbarrow to the formwork. The men and I (the sole woman) went over to where all the wheelbarrows were kept and one by one got our wheelbarrows. I noticed at the time that the men were in a bit of a haste to get their wheelbarrows which puzzled me. I was the last one to get mine and I noticed that all the guys had left this one particularly smaller wheelbarrow. I was amused thinking that they had left the smaller one for me as I was a woman.

However, this was simply not the case. They were in a rush to pick out a wheelbarrow because certain wheelbarrow configurations are more superior to use than others. The wheelbarrow I ended up with was by far the worst configuration. Look at the front of the bucket of the wheelbarrow, and compare it to the placement of the front wheel. The more of the bucket that goes over the wheel the better, because then the wheel itself is carrying more weight. The best ones have the bucket extending past the front of the front wheel. The one I ended up with, had the front curled lip of the bucket edge, over the back part of the wheel, behind the wheel's axle which meant that your arms carried more of the weight, rather than the wheel.

If your wheelbarrow regularly carries 300 pounds or more, your arms will tell you the difference. Having the bucket placed ahead of the front wheel, also lets you direct your contents better, without pouring them onto the wheel itself when you tip it up.

4. Cutting a plastic pipe. Have you ever had to cut a large plastic round pipe to length, and it turned out crooked because you couldn't draw a straight line around it to follow with your saw? I figured out a good way to do this.

I measure from the 90 degree factory edge with three different marks or more around the circumference of the pipe. I then take my tape measure and place it printed side down onto the pipe because in the printed side down position the tape can curl around the pipe to connect the first two points. Then I use the tape as an edge for my pencil to draw my line between the first two points, rotating the pipe, placing my tape measure tape down again and using the edge to draw another line connecting the next two points, etc. etc. This works very well.

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades
Part 10: Very Painterly
Part 11a: Tricks of the Trade: Recaulking bathtubs / Placing peel and stick tiles
Part 11b: Tricks of the Trade: Wheelbarrows / Cutting a plastic pipe

links:
lifestyle.yahoo.com: The right wheelbarrow
Easy2.com: Working with Plastic Piping Tutorial

Tales from the Renovation Track: Tricks of the Trade That Make Home Repairs/Renos Much Easier and Complete

Collage:caulking, home improvements, repairs, tools, women

Credits: MS Office ClipArt - J0426549

We continue our publishing of Janice Bell’s articles One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator. Now - tricks of the trade that help a homeowner to improve DYI renovations.

Part 11a - Tidbits of Wisdom

During my work day I often run across a whole plethora of renovations completed by homeowners - some of which are done well or adequately. At the same time there are certain tricks of the trades that can make some of the repairs/renos much easier and complete.

Here are some of these tips:

1. Recaulking bathtubs. This is a very common task that plenty of homeowners take on. One trick to get a better result is to first fill the tub at least three quarters of the way with water. Why you should ask? Compare the tub to a plastic grocery bag. If you put a rock in it, the sides of the bag draw together and the bottom goes down from the weight of the rock pulled by the force of gravity. It’s the same thing with the tub with water in it. The sides pull in and the bottom sinks a bit. This forces the sides of the tub away from the wall, which maximizes the size of the gap to be caulked. When you fill the maximized gap, leave the water in overnight if possible until the caulk is set. When the tub is drained out, the gap closes a bit and this tightly seals the caulk in. Then when you use the tub, you don't strain the gap. Not filling the tub first always stretches the caulk when you use the bathtub, and causes premature failure.

2. Placing peel and stick tiles. This is a relatively easy chore for most people to accomplish. However, many don't realize that there is a primer that should first be used to seal the floor, especially if one is placing the tiles on plywood. Plywood floors are porous and not altogether perfectly smooth. This minimizes the amount of adhesive contact between the tile and the flooring, causing failure. I put on 3 coats, especially on plywood, which renders it as close to impervious as you can get.

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades
Part 10: Very Painterly
Part 11a: Tricks of the Trade: Recaulking bathtubs / Placing peel and stick tiles

links:
ehow.com: How To Do Just About Everything: How to Recaulk a Bathtub
repair-place.com: Ask The Guru any Do It Yourself or Construction question!: Peel and Stick Tiles

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 10

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Credits: MS Office ClipArt - IN00412

Part 10 - Very Painterly

On one of my recent jobs I had the task of replacing the siding on the front wall of a commercial space.

It seemed a straightforward job at first, but as renovations go, the Construction Demon reared its ugly head early and threw a batch of carpenter ants into the mixture, necessitating the removal and replacement of the 4 front windows, and of the well rotted OSB. And of course most of the tunneled studs, along with the interior electrical components, door bell, outside lights, eaves troughs, insulation, vapour barrier and drywall and trim had to be removed as well. Did I mention I had to do the siding too? Goodness!!

The electrician came by to unhook everything, and out of the one wall plug box flowed the black and lifeless bodies of an exceedingly large number of dead carpenter ants. This happened right in plain view of the customer. Her shoes were close enough to the carnage that a couple of the small black bodies rolled to rest by her toe.

"I guess you’ll be needing a vacuum cleaner?" the customer remarked to the electrician. Well I just about laughed out loud when he shot back "NO! ... but YOU might!"

Well the rest of the reconstruction was luckily unremarkable until it came to the point where the siding had to be painted then installed.

Now let me tell you, you need intestinal fortitude to do construction for a living because you always have to be brave enough to try new things. And be prepared to fail as well during the learning process. Such was my relationship with spray painting at this point.

I was at the phase where I was bound and determined to get my spray painting down pat, and I decided that this would be the perfect job, as there were 3 coats to go on. There was a lot of siding waiting for an extreme makeover.

The customer had chosen a maroonish barn red, so I purchased the paint and got down to work. I obtained a whack of 2x4's for dunnage, and laid all the siding out on top of it in the gravel parking lot out back.

I added some Floetrol to the latex exterior paint because it gives the paint a better consistency to be sprayed. As I poofed the first few boards, I noticed with a kind of sick feeling that the color was a bit off. But since this was the first top coat after the primer, I decided I might just as well give one good coat to all the siding because then the color would be consistent throughout the siding. I would also consider it somewhat like a colored primer. So away I went.

That job finished, I then started the clean up. I tried to unhook the spray gun from the air line, but they just wouldn't separate. I pulled on it like a robin on a worm, but it stayed together. Buoyed out of sheer frustration, I gave it one final hard yank and suddenly the paint came spraying out of the severed connection and wallpapered me like a gunshot victim, all over my grey and white striped coveralls, or should I say coloralls.

Pink!! It ended up drying pink instead of maroon. That horrible so not siding pink! The arriving customer's eyes grew very wide indeed as the shock of the visual experience registered. And pink was on my colouralls! Remember ... discharge the airline first .......discharge the airline first……

Back to the paint store where the staff gazed at my coveralls with thinly disguised hilarity and pity. The more courageous one approached me and asked me what happened. I just told her the truth, that I had busted an artery, sewn it back up with rebar tie wire and was back working. Once the tsunami of laughter calmed it was discovered that the color had been incorrectly mixed. With my arms full of new maroon barn paint, it was off to do more spray painting.

Ah! That color was more like it. The spraying went fabulously well, and I spent more time cleaning the spray equipment then I spent painting.

All of a sudden, a crack of thunder roared its presence over my head. I looked up and saw the swelling influx of angry grey clouds collecting overhead. I was still not too worried for having grown up in this area, I was used to rains taking a while to manifest, and I thought by then, a skin would have formed over the paint and protected it.

Crack - a quick boom of thunder, a flash of lightening and down she came, not a mere 8 minutes later. I very quickly put my spray equipment inside and ran like the devil to the dryness of the customer's porch.

The scene before me is forever etched in my mind, as I watched white dots start to appear all over the siding, like colorless measles. They grew bigger as the siding got whiter and whiter down to the primer. The thin rivers of maroon paint flowed away and then disappeared into the thirsty gravel.

I just laughed ... nervously. There was simply nothing I could do but wait and start over.

I sprayed it again after it dried. Good! Finally! Yippee!!

I installed all of the siding, but the very next day I noticed begrudgingly that the brownish knots of the pine had started to appear through the paint. I had used the recommended primer, but it didn't work. And don't let those weekend shift hardware workers tell you that white shellac seals knots either because it just doesn't!!

After some experimentation, I found a primer that actually worked, and spot primed this new white primer over the maroon siding on the front wall of this main street business. Like a white-on-maroon impressionist painting, those dotted patches of primer advertised my misfortune in a big way. The other local painters would drive by with knowing pity and "had it happen" looks carved into their passing smiles. The patches were finally painted over, and no one but the whole town knew better. This trying renovation was finally over.

After that, the local Chinese restaurant down the street started serving misfortune cookies!

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades
Part 10: Very Painterly

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 9

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Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0434449

Part 9 - Dressing for the Trades

You know, a gal can find out all sorts of things about the construction business; which tools to use, how to use them, which construction methods to use etc. This information is available quite widely on the web, books, magazines and DIY TV shows.

But nowhere, does someone interested in getting into the trades as a career, do people tell you how to dress for work. Honestly. And it took quite a bit of experimentation for me to discover exactly how to do that.

No matter what the weather, you are going to be wet all day long, either from rain, melting snow or sweat. The important thing is to keep warm while you are wet. And here is exactly how I do it.

Let’s start with work boots. There are tall ones and there are ankle ones. I find the ankle length ones good for summer and lighter construction work, but when I am pouring concrete, I want the taller boots, as concrete is quite abrasive and you want your protruding ankle bones to be protected. I also like to purchase the more expensive boots that are entirely rebuildable.

Now, good boots take some time to break in and feel comfortable. I always cringe when I see someone on a construction site with brand new booties, knowing full well that their feet are going to hurt like the dickens later on. Once you are in a trade, it is advisable to have 3 pairs of boots, so you can break new ones in slowly, and you can allow any leather ones to air dry instead of force drying, which shortens the life of the leather. And speaking of leather, please, please clean and grease you boots regularly. It keeps the leather soft and supple, and repels fluids. And carry extra laces with you to the site.

There are specialty trade boots. For example, welder’s boots have a special exterior "tongue" on them which prevents the molten slag from burning the laces. It drops to the floor and helps prevent the slag from lodging in a crevice of the boot and burning your feet.

Iron workers have "Red Wings" - a type of boot distinct by its maroon colour. It has more eyelets than most boots and a white sole on them that is softer than regular workboot soles, which helps to grip the iron better. These are the pair I use the most for a few reasons. One, they were the fastest ones to break in, and two, the white soles mark floors less than black soles do. Three, they are devoid of any heels and because the soles are softer, they slip less on ice and wet ceramic floors.

There are all kinds of workboots out there. You need to pick the ones that best suit your trade. Pick ones that aren't too heavy and a little larger, because your feet will swell during the day. Ones that have breathable fabric on their tongues are also very prone to leaking moisture in.

I also own steel-toed running shoes, steel-toed rubber boots and steel-toed snow boots, as well as Baffins, a steel-toed rubber boot that has a liner like a snowmobile boot.

Gloves - there are so many types to list, I'm not even going to try. I have long fingers, but if I buy gloves long enough, the fingers are too wide as they are made for a man's hand and the extra material is a hassle. If I look for women's gloves, they aren't usually large enough.

The most important information I have to share about how to dress in construction is the following:

1. Wear polypropylene socks, and long johns. These wick away water from your body and keep it dry from rain and sweat.
2. Wear a cotton T shirt over top of the polypropylene to soak up the water that the poly repels.
   
3. On top of that, wear a good old Stanfield's grey wool sweater. It keeps you warm even if you are soaked. If wool makes you itch, wash this many times before wearing and it helps to keep the itchiness away. Some people could wear wool longjohns (not me) and keep them from being itchy by turning them inside out and burning off all the little hairs with a tiger torch first.
4. Lastly, wear a good rubber rain suit, not those cheesy yellow plastic ones. Rubber is much hardier, and if you catch it on something like rebar and it rips, you can just take some rubber cement and patch them with inner tubing.

Coveralls, jeans etc. are all a matter of personal preference. However, I have found that some coveralls shrink and keep shrinking when you throw them in the dryer. And I get dirty enough every day that my work clothes need to be washed everyday. So if you pay big bucks for coveralls, let them air dry or be prepared to lose weight.

Dress for success!

See Marissa McTasney's "Tomboy Trades Ltd." Brooklin, Ontario
Elizabeth Johnston's "Toronto's Working Women Workwear"
and www.CharmandHammer.com for women's fall arrest harnesses (it's about time)

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades

links:
thestar.com: These boots are made for workin'
With more women entering the skilled trades, Whitby mom saw her niche: a line of totally cute female-friendly work wear
By Lisa Wright
ToolGirl: Mag Ruffman's Official Web Log: Workboots for Women in Red, Green, Blue and Pink
dailycommercialnews.com: Construction fashions for women
Elizabeth Johnston models of the her innovative work clothes designed specifically for women who work in the construction trades
By Patricia Williams
charm and hammer: Safety Gear for Hard Working Women™

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 8

Collage: construction, medicine cabinets, women

Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0301238 + j0401589

Part 8 - Just Where Do I Stop?

A while ago, a customer asked me to visit and discuss some renovations to her bathroom. Her toilet tank was cracked, and that led her to ultimately decide to redo her entire bathroom. The plumber was called in to take out the bathtub, shower and sink and disconnect all drains and supply lines and cap them off.

I will tell you, that tub was a cast iron behemoth, and not a nice one at that, with 4 raised legs on it. No - not these! It was just a regular tub with one finished edge and the other 3 sides were to be finished by the walls surrounding the tub. They call it a widow maker. The unfortunate plumber and I hoisted that thing up onto an appliance dolly. While both of us grunted and groaned it down the porch stairs, the bathtub bounced dangerously back and forth as we banged it down the stairs, one step at a time. Whew!

That accomplished, I was now able to focus my attention on the tearing down of the lathe and plaster on the walls. I am like almost everyone on the planet, I love demolition. It’s simply the best! You can take out all of your worldly frustrations on that old nasty 2 by 4, smash the price of gas into a million pieces of plaster and toss that jerk on the road who cut you off, right into the dumpster!

When the copious amounts of dust had settled, my eyes landed on the horror story before me. A few of the studs in one corner where the tub had been situated were full of dry rot and only about one quarter of each one had any structural integrity left in it. The remainder crumbled like brown ash in my hands. To make matters worse, this house was two stories and was balloon framed, not platform framed. Balloon framing is where the wall studs are continuous from the top of the building to the bottom, meaning that those same studs are tied to the upper story as well. In the early 1900's, they had longer studs from the larger trees of the old growth forests.

I then had to rig up a beam to carry all the weight, and cut off the bottom of the studs to replace them, and then sister up another one beside each one to make sure the repair stayed together. Being the curious cat that I am, I couldn't figure out why only a few studs had dry rot in them. Not seeing anything too unusual in the bathroom itself, I decided to venture outside and check the exterior of the wall for causes. Yup, there it was in plain site. A huge crack, about 6 or 7 feet long existed in the brick wall, allowing water to seep in inside the stud walls and rot the framing. This is doubly accelerated when you add in the freeze/thaw cycle of our northern climate. In winter, the crack allows water in, which freezes and expands in volume, and then opens the crack more which allows even more water in ... you get the picture.

I called my buddy Steve, the brick mason to repair the crack. He was just finishing up and wiping the mortar off his tools, when he told me that the brick was just going to crack open again in the near future. "Oh, why, oh why do these things happen to me!" I exclaimed. He then told me to look up. I looked up at the eavestrough which was in complete disrepair, and sure enough the water was flowing down right onto the brick walls, settling in any little space and then doing the freeze/thaw cycle thing again.

I informed my poor customer, and then retrieved 2 sections of scaffolding and got up there to replace and repair the eavestrough.

Finally, I thought, the worst is over, but things do come in threes as they say. If I ever find out who "they" are, I'm going to tell them to quit talking. It was late on a Friday afternoon when my customer had ventured over to view my progress. I told her I was going to remove the sizable built-in medicine cabinet, then pack up and quit for the day. I was quite surprised when she told me she didn't think that this was such a good idea.

Now, at times customers can be fusspots, and I assumed at this particular moment that she was exhibiting said trait. I told her there was no worry, for after all, as I smugly laughed, medicine cabinets were just not structural elements and things would be fine over the weekend.

"No", she replied, "I just have a feeling about this. Don't take it out until Monday".

Well jeepers I thought to myself. I am just going to have to prove this one to her. I started to pull out some of the nails holding the plywood medicine cabinet when I noticed the whole wall moved a tad. Holy cow, wouldn't you know it ... the medicine cabinet was big enough that it occupied quite a space in the wall, and really and truly needed a proper header like a window opening. There was no header of course. On top of that, "they" whomever built it, had screwed the drywall on the other side of the wall into the back of the medicine cabinet making the cabinet an integral part of the wall. Period.

I must say though, I have seen just about everything. But imagine that, a medicine cabinet that is a structural element! The worst part of it is that every time I think she has forgotten about that stupid medicine cabinet and my smug attitude, she brings it up again like some fond memory. I guess she has a right to, after going from a cracked toilet tank, to brick repointing, to eavestroughing and a structural medicine cabinet.

Now you know why they say in the renovations business, "And where do you want me to stop?"

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 7

Collage: construction, carpenters, hammers, nails, women, chopsticks
Credit: MS Office ClipArt - j0338018.wmf + j0228945.wmf

Part 7 - Door Hell

I must get more calls to repair doors that stick than for almost anything else. Nine times out of ten, this common situation is caused by loose screws in the hinges, either in the door or in the doorjamb.

I have a few different methods of repair that I would like to share with you, because everyone seems to have to deal with this problem sooner or later. Basically, the screws back out of the hinges or pull out from the wood altogether from the motion of the door either opening, closing or banging shut.

At first, I tried to take square shafted wooden matches, cut the flammable end off, glue as many as I could into the holes in the wood, flush cut the protruding pieces off when it was dry and then drive the screw back into the new wood in the hole. This works okay, but square does not work all that well in a round hole. Also, it is hazardous to throw match heads into the garbage. I decided to substitute the match heads for wood tooth picks, but they splintered when I flush cut them, and it took a lot of toothpicks sometimes to fill the hole. On top of that they were messy with all that glue on those tiny little pieces of wood.

Now as luck would have it, a Japanese gal hired me to do some dump runs for her as she was moving back to Japan from Canada and was sorting, packing and discarding possessions. She asked me if I wanted a pile of chopsticks, some plastic, some wood, some plain and some very decorative. I took them off her hands (just trying to be helpful), but I knew chopsticks and I did not exactly have a good relationship. I tell you, if I had to eat with chopsticks for real, I would be in the anorexic category, or conversely be accused of playing with my food. For all of my manual dexterity, the secret of feeding oneself with those devices purely escapes me.

Well, I was thinking about what the heck I was going to do with all of these chopsticks, when I had quite the inspiration. The next door with loosened screws became my guinea pig. I took a wood drill bit and compared it to the hole in question and chose one about the same diameter of the hole. Then I compared that drill bit diameter with all of the wooden chopsticks until I found one that was slightly smaller than the drill bit diameter. It has to be smaller and not the same size in order to make room for the glue.

I cleaned the hole out with the drill bit, slathered up the end of the chopstick with good carpenter glue and stuck it into the hole. I then immediately cut it flush. In my possession of tools, I own a flush cut saw, which only has teeth that cut on one side of the saw blade. The purpose for this is so the surface you are cutting against does not get ruined.

I fixed every hole like this in turn, then went back to the first hole, even though the glue had not set yet and started to drive all of the screws back in. Oh yes, I did pre-drill a "pilot" hole in the middle of each chopstick first. The pilot hole I drilled was about half as small in diameter as the screw. I do this to prevent the chopstick wood from splitting. In an ideal world, one would have waited until morning for the glue to set, but no one wants to have their exterior doors off all night long, so I had to make that compromise. This repair works like a charm. You could use doweling as well, but the chopsticks were cheaper at the time.

In some cases, a faster repair is to just use longer screws.

There are also, small pieces of metal you can purchase at Home Depot which one is supposed to stick in the screw holes and then drive the screw back in. I have tried these, but am not overly impressed with these.

If you have a door installed in a brick wall, you can still fix these as well, although a different approach is needed. I have tried many different ways to get screws to stay in brick. It is easier with the newer brick as it is harder, but the older brick is softer. I have tried everything to get the screws to stay in the brick ... tapcon screws, plastic plugged screws and metal plugged screws. I have even tried to glue the wood to the brick first, but the glue was stronger than the brick and pulled the face of the brick off.

Then my wonderful buddy Steve, a bricklayer came to the rescue and told me exactly what to do. He showed me that if I used the copper out of ordinary house wire, 14/2 for example, stripped the insulation off and put at least 2 pieces of the entire length of the hole in the brick, the screws would stay put. And by gosh, he was right! I am renovating my own double brick cavity wall house from the 1870's, so I was tickled pink to learn this! This method works well because the copper is malleable enough to let the screw threads cut into it. I tried rebar tie wire as a substitute because it was less time consuming as no insulation had to be removed first such as the electrical wire. But this type of wire was too hard, and the brick just crushed around the edges of the hole and the screw popped out. So copper it is!

Now if only I could figure out a use for all of those leftover plastic chopsticks!

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 6

Collage: construction, plumbing, women
Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0301238.wmf

Part 6 - Messy Is Costly

The elderly lady ushered me into her enclosed porch and explained that she wished to hire me for, amongst other duties, to replace the moulding between the top of the walls and the ceiling. I looked in horror at the numerous shelves lining the porch walls, as my gaze rode across at least a thousand ceramic knick-knacks, sneering at me from their resting places, their dusty little heads and flowerettes just daring me to break them.

In another instance, a customer had hired me to replace the hanging plaster in the bedroom closet, and an electrician was hired to install a light fixture in there. On our way into the bedroom, the electrician and I could not help but notice that were clothes left higglety-pigglety on the floor. Amongst the piles was a sample packet of some strange reddish colored fluid. I was just about to announce its presence to the electrician in front of me, but much too late, his foot came down on one end of the packet and shot its contents out all over the the brand new white carpet.

Another customer had retained my services to renovate her spacious bathroom. I proceeded to move one of three hutches in there away from the wall to paint, when all of a sudden, the hutch lurched downward on one of its front corners and catapulted its top contents into the air. All I remember was a medley of perfume bottles and other assorted breakables peppering the air in front of me, and like a circus performer I quickly snatched and cradled most of these in my arms while my hip saved the hutch from toppling over.

Except for one. In the slowest of motions, the corner of my eye viewed a flying ceramic Holstein cow, catapulting in a trajectory path just out of my reach. It met the floor with a crash and the body of the cow went in one direction, and its severed leg flew in another.

Which brings me to the point, I am trying to make. I have often listened as customers gripe about the mess left by past renovators. I always give the choice about the final cleanup to the customer. Unless they are ill, elderly, disabled or blind if they can sweep or vacuum up afterwards they can save themselves money. Some contractors do not explain this but assume the final cleanup will be done by the customer.

But in all fairness, I must admit, that the customer can save themselves even more money and grief by preparing the site of the renovations beforehand, removing all the items that can hinder the renovator, or are precious, or breakable or personal in nature. I have heard numerous plumbers gripe about having to repair a leaky kitchen sink, only to have to wade through a plethora of cleaning products underneath first.

The hutch in the bathroom that did a nose dive on me was just balanced on an unattached leg at the front, which fell over when I tried to move it. The customer was well aware of the precarious leg of the hutch, but did not inform me, and I had no way of knowing the booby trap that awaited me. As it turns out, the damaged Holstein cow mimicked the hutch, and had been perched precariously on its previously amputated leg.

The ugly red stain on the new white bedroom carpet washed out okay and the elderly lady with the porch full of ceramics decided that other items on her honey-do list were more important so decided against replacing the molding.

So now, every time I go to a new jobsite the final cleaning and removing of items is discussed so that everyone is happy. I can now go back to renovating without nightmares of three legged Holsteins.

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 5

Collage: construction, farms, buildings

Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0434591.wmf + j0338018.wmf

Part 5 - Rural Renos

There are beautiful green rolling hills here, dotted with farms, cows and shredded-wheat hay rolls. And as sure as the sale barn is on Tuesday afternoons, farms out here need renos just like everyplace else. Especially old farm houses, where the electric plugs cough out cold air from the outside and are sometimes strong enough to extinguish matches.

Now renovating on a farm has its advantages and its disadvantages. I love to be invited in for dinner, or catch up on the local gossip, or go home with an arm full of fresh produce. But some things taint the experience too, in ways one would not normally have to put up with.

Ring ring! The phone called me and a familiar voice from an old friend asked me out to install a new screen door on her farm house.

My van lumbered up her bumpy driveway, avoiding the usual crowd of assorted creatures, some free range, some just AWOL. There was a playful crowd of barn cats, a handful of dogs playing tag, some chickens, geese and oh my god, what is THAT?

"IT" was a rather huge pig! That's right, I said pig. It was big, blackish hairy, coming up to my hips in height, but it seemed calm enough, so after a quick consult with my friend, I unpacked my tools and got to work. And of course, this was not going to be the quick job I had anticipated. The jamb was out of square, and the old concrete composing the threshold was not long for this earth.

I removed the old concrete and set about realigning the door jamb. I needed to cut some 2x4 stock as a king stud to beef up the jamb. I set up my 12 inch sliding compound miter saw and stand and reached out to grab my tape measure which I had put down on an outside metal patio chair.

Ewwww! There was something greasy and slimy on it, and the smell indicated the unmistakable calling card of goose poo. Yuck! I went into the house to the sink in a rather hurried fashion and ran water until the poo was erased from everything but memory. The bloody stuff stained my hand too! No kidding! I went back outside where the pig had grabbed one of my tools and tried to make off with it, but I was in better shape and snatched it back before it was out of sight. Then an old dog wouldn't move out of the way, like a stone donkey he sat there, right in the way. After grunting and pushing I finally coaxed him out of the way before almost being run over by another dog being chased by the pig. Thank god that job is over!

These past few weeks, I have been working on renovating parts of an old cottage for someone, where Rufus the cat also lives. Now Rufus is a tom, with a rather large head and small feet. I guess nothing grows well in the shade. Anyways, Rufus announced his apparent displeasure with my work, when I discovered he had peed in the plastic tool box that housed my drill. Then he took off for 9 days, and I profusely apologized to the owners, who, although worried, did not blame me. Rufus came back 9 days later, thinner and with numerous scratches but alive just the same.

Another fine afternoon found me grouting a ceramic tile floor in a bathroom. I heard a strange sound coming from my right and I looked up in time to see that the owner's pet parrot had walked into the bathroom, and amused himself by biting chunks out of my defenseless grout sponge.

I love all the little creatures of the world, especially cats, but a renovation site is no place for them to be. A plumber I know agreed to work on a house. The owner called and told him not to let the cat out. He walked up to the front door, opened it and just about got hit by the blur of an opportunistic cat exploding out of the house to freedom. And you know what? He didn't get paid for the job to this day because of that. Don't ask me what happened to the cat, it's a sore point with the plumber.

I love all the little creatures of the world especially cats, but a renovation site is no place for them to be. Don't make it the renovator's job to put up with their presence. Lock them up somewhere for the day with the necessities. I can't count the number of times a pet dish with water or kibble and bits has tripped me with my hands fully laden with god knows what kind of construction paraphernalia. And reimburse the renovator for tools your pets have destroyed. It is not our fault they fancy nice rubber handles.

By the way, Rufus and I have come to a stalemate about my presence. He hasn't peed anymore so I still pet him, but he is off the pieces of food donation list for now as a protest. I am still there ... his owners being pleased enough to extend my services to other parts of the cottage.

Happy Renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 4

Collage: construction, blueprints, women

Credits: MS Office ClipArt - j0291984.wmf

Part 4 - It Pays to Be Honest

Vrrrr ... vrrrr ... vrrrr ... went the drywall screw gun and another screw went in and another one and wait ... What was that? The last screw felt funny or different when it went in.

Then it dawned on me and a very sick feeling washed over me. I raced around to the other side of the wall of the bathroom which hadn't been boarded yet and sure enough, after I removed the insulation, I realized that I had indeed driven a screw right into the black ABS drain pipe of the sink. I decided I had better call my customer and fess up.

Very sheepishly, I dialed my customer’s phone who had gone out of town for a couple of days.

"Hello", said I, "its Janice".

"Yes Janice, what can I do for you?"

I explained the mistake I had just made, and offered to pay the plumbers out of my own pocket to correct it. My customer was okay with that arrangement and thanked me for being so honest. Then I decided to call the plumber and get him to do the repair as his company was ultimately responsible for the whole system. If they repaired it, their insurance would cover it should anything happen down the road.

After the repair was complete, the plumber came up to me and thanked me profusely for admitting my mistake. He then informed me that almost all drywallers at some point make the same mistake. The only problem is that they almost never tell anyone what they did and keep on going. Or they don't even realize that it even occurred in the first place. The last time this happened to the plumber, his company had to make good for the damage caused by the drywaller’s error. This included replacing the flooring, baseboard, drywalling, repainting etc…

He then thanked me again to the point I was beginning to think it was overkill until he mentioned that driving a screw into a drain pipe was the worst type of leak to figure out, because it would leak on an intermittent basis only, when water went down the drain.

If you drive a screw into a supply line, it leaks continuously, so it will eventually give away its location.
He was so grateful after the sting of the last unfortunate incident of errant screw placement that he offered the repair for free. Now how often does someone do that?

Meanwhile, my customer's business lunch had been interrupted by my phone call, and her dinner companions were curious as to what was so urgent that her renovator had to call her in the middle of it. She relayed the story to them and they agreed that she was one lucky person to have so honest a person working at her house. The reason they had so high of an opinion of me was because, coincidently, they had had a drywaller work at their home who put 5, count them, 5 screws into one of their copper pipes which of course created all kinds of expensive damage.

The incredible part of this whole story is that, even when you make a mistake, if you admit it right then and there, and get it fixed, not only does your integrity remain intact, the accolades you receive for doing the right thing goes a very long way indeed towards business longevity. The plumber extended exceptional courtesy to me as well and as a result I have fostered a very good working relationship with him.

Everyone makes mistakes. It's what you do about them that makes the whole difference.

Happy renovating!

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator: Part 3

Collage: construction, carpenters, hammers, nails, women

Credit: MS Office ClipArt - j0338018.wmf

Part 3 - They Were Nailed

I gleefully boarded the bus and bounded to my seat. This was not just any bus, but a bus chock full of male contractors and me, the lone female contractor.

We were heading out to a "contractor only" trade show hosted by a local lumberyard.

Once we arrived, I strolled into the show and looked around. There were many display booths of all shapes and sizes, presenting different construction products with their sales staff pitching their wares.

Wait. What is that in the corner over there? It's a contest! I love contests, so I hurried over and low and behold, it was a nailing contest. The hosts had put a 6 by 6 inch pressure treated post horizontally on 2 saw horses and the contestants were timed as to how long it took to hammer in 3 - 31/2 inch galvanized ardox nails.

There were separate categories for male and female entrants, so I took up the challenge and hoisted the hammer up. "GO!" said the fellow timing, and I took the first nail and smacked it hard! For those of you who don't know, ardox nails are the ones that have a spiral down the length of their shaft, which makes them rotate as they go into the wood. Since the hammer being used was not a framing hammer, it did not have the engraved criss cross on the face of it. As a consequence, if you don't hit the that type of nail right square on with that type of hammer, the hammer face slides a bit on contact as the nail turns and the nail flies off into space. It flew all right and careened wildly through the air as the male spectators watched in horror and ducked with all their might.

The organizers told me to try again, so I took the next nail and waited for the signal. "GO" the fellow shouted, the spectators ducked in readiness and I drove that first nail into the wood with all my fury, all the way to China. I hurriedly grabbed the next nail, smacked it hard home and then the final one which pounded into the wood almost too easily, now that I had warmed up.

The amazed look of the fellow on the timer is forever etched in my mind. Once all the guys had come up from their respective hiding places they too stood there, dazed at my performance, like deer caught in the headlights.

By the end of the day, I had come in first in the women's category and third in the men's, although I was ineligible to collect the prize in the men's category.

When the winners were announced, the male first place winner arrived at the front and collected his prize, a battery operated hammer drill. Not a bad prize at all thought I, as I walked up to collect mine.

To my surprise, I was not awarded a drill, but instead was handed a tiny tool pouch. Some of the fellows on my bus had won them as door prizes, and they were laughingly referring to them as "purses".

The very next day, I was at the local lumberyard and ran into some of the contractors, all of whom were trading their "purses" in for more useful items.

A woman who I did not know came up to me and congratulated me on my nailing acumen, and then introduced herself as the new assistant manager. She asked me how I liked the show and I told her it was lovely, but then laughed and explained how I had received a "purse" instead of a drill as a prize.

By jeepers, she had a new drill waiting for me that afternoon. It turns out that the male organizers assumed that the female participants of the nailing contest would only have been secretaries or wives or girlfriends, and did not think that there would actually be a female contractor around.

I look forward to this year's show, knowing that whichever gal wins the contest, she won't be going home with a purse.

Janice Bell
Bell Renovating

2009 © Janice Bell

Tales from the Renovation Track: One Woman’s Experiences of Being a Renovator
Part 1: All in All
Part 2: Weld on Fire
Part 3: They Were Nailed
Part 4: It Pays to Be Honest
Part 5: Rural Renos
Part 6: Messy Is Costly
Part 7: Door Hell
Part 8: Just Where Do I Stop?
Part 9: Dressing for the Trades