Having a house built during the summer months

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by southgeorgia

I've always thought we get more production during the summer. During the winter we spend a lot of time huddled around a fire on the jobsite.


The heat is much easier to work in, as it keeps your joints loose.

I would say this applies to almost every except roofers. That's just brutal.

Yea.......have you ever seen a Roofer over 30? Come to think of it, have you ever seen a Framer over 30? Those near 30 have the skin of a 40+ year old. That is one lousy way to make a living.

[southgeorgia]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Yea.......have you ever seen a Roofer over 30? Come to think of it, have you ever seen a Framer over 30? Those near 30 have the skin of a 40+ year old. That is one lousy way to make a living.

Not in residential. The money just isn't there for anyone serious about the profession.

[motormaker]

Well the 2 guys that did my roof last year were definitely over 30. But I do know what you mean, it does take a toll on the body. I have friends the were cutting and stacking roofs back in the 60's, good money but their bodies are pretty stoved in except for a few smart ones.

[Pilgrim21784]

Answer to the OP, yes definitely there are better months to build in each climate. Mother Nature takes her toll. A related strategy is to get involved with the subs (carpenters, roofers, drywall, plumbers, electricians, etc.) let them know that it's your home they are building and the free beer/bull roast/night at the pub/lunches/ chilled water/hot coffee/etc. that you provide onsite are an expression of appreciation and reward for well done work (it doesn't hurt to pass out some cash money at such affairs.) Tell your GC (general contractor) that you want to meet each foreman and ideally, anyone working on your house. Yes, it takes extra time, but it is well worth it. A relatively minor amount of expense will go a long way in assuring decent work. Trade folks generally work their butts off and if you show them respect and appreciation for their craft, you end up with a well built home. JMO.

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim21784

Answer to the OP, yes definitely there are better months to build in each climate. Mother Nature takes her toll. A related strategy is to get involved with the subs (carpenters, roofers, drywall, plumbers, electricians, etc.) let them know that it's your home they are building and the free beer/bull roast/night at the pub/lunches/ chilled water/hot coffee/etc. that you provide onsite are an expression of appreciation and reward for well done work (it doesn't hurt to pass out some cash money at such affairs.) Tell your GC (general contractor) that you want to meet each foreman and ideally, anyone working on your house. Yes, it takes extra time, but it is well worth it. A relatively minor amount of expense will go a long way in assuring decent work. Trade folks generally work their butts off and if you show them respect and appreciation for their craft, you end up with a well built home. JMO.

Part of what I was sezing before. The new house game is so different from the general repair, maintenance, remodel game. There are no slack days, lots of bosses will try to work the crews short handed and still keep the same schedule. Every house blends into a blurr of getting your head beat in for the same money, the only thing that varies is the pressure to get it done.

One of the many reasons I never wanted to get into new construction. We did all of the various types of repair and remodel work. Some just dinky day jobs up too and including major total gut out type remodels. The day jobs could be a very easy skate with maybe not a full work day, typically they were with the core helpers who were usually very good, everybody knocked off early, help got a full days pay. The major remodel could be gut wrenching, sometimes 6 - 7 days a week, full 8 hours and more. I never tried to schedule major jobs back to back they took too much gas out of everybody's tank. Plus on the big jobs, I always provided an on site cooked hot free lunch. Most times we would have extra hired help that we had never worked with before. Bigger crews have a lot of potential for all sort of conflicts. The smaller jobs were a way to relax and kick back after a longer big one. The big jobs are like trying to catch the brass ring and scored major profits but it don't always work that way. The smaller jobs are more paperwork, wee bit less money but you get beat up a lot, lot less.

It really matters if you treat the workers right. Every job, every employer becomes the same in the worker's eyes. You want to make your house stand out in their memory, want them to have a very good feeling about that job. By attempting to identify yourself (the owner) as a nice human, who cares, can do that.

They in turn, tend to care more and will do the small things willing without supervision. The process becomes more like the old dazes. Probably pretty rare these dazes for the workers to have clue about who they are building the house for and what type of person they are. You definitely will be a subject of conversion within the crews. Probably all of very good.

BTW, if you go to the job site, never drive up and park close to the front door. Always park way back, never block access or get a chance to have them damage your car or worse require them to take extra care to avoid it. Will mark you as a know nothing rookie for sure.

It is sort of like getting reps around here. Any time the other fellow is saying you are doing a good job, it matters a lot to those in the trenches.
Part of what is badly missing in the modern house building industry is any sense of job satisfaction by the grunts who put it together. You will also find crews, different subs that have long running insane disputes over something that happened so long ago. Can be just horrible and affect your job if that type of thing is allowed to happen. Those type of folks I made damn sure never got to work on any other job I had anything to say about. Everybody on TV is always so cheerful and happy, definitely Disneyland. In the real World, too many of them will attempt to bring their personal problems to work.

[Nepenthe]

Thanks for the advice! I'm definitely going to take care of the workers to whatever extent I can. It's rough out there!!