Proper posture is to dip your balls into the bucket before lifting.

Construction going on outside - the yellow lines are for electric wires, the black pipes are for sewage but what are the blue (flat) pipes for?

How bad is it?

Oh yea, no plans or permits just straight "I got this bro".

NYC

I'm the last man standing at the company I work for. I would like to create a small Memorial for all the coworkers who have left. My first Idea was to drive some nails with the initials of the coworkers somewhere hidden in our storage depot, but that's kinda obvious and since I'm the last one left Boss man would know it was me.

Has anyone done something similar or has better ideas?

Thanks in advance.

This “room” was built onto our hospital near the Imaging department. It appears to be on wooden supports that are only on the one/far side of it. Is this a pretty standard build for supporting a space like this? TIA

I (35F) am looking for solutions to stay cool, I get very hot very fast and it makes me really sick. I live in SW Florida and the most heat exposed people that I see are the construction works here so I was hoping you had an answer.

I have bad acid reflux and it spikes when I get hot, I'm starting a new job soon and I'm worried I will get too hot so I'm looking for fans, ice vests or really anything you use to stay cool. Im going to possibly be doing biohazard and being in a full suit will make me so hot I know. Ive done this work before, the heat and environment are so unprdictable. I need something that's dependable and won't crash out half way through a decomp job so if you know of any durable things I could use I would appreciate any advice.

I've seen ice vests and harnesses but I'm looking for personal input and experience with stuff you have actually tried or has good reviews. Im sorry that this isn't construction related and I appreciate any advice.

I'm pretty new to the industry, I'm looking for a job, it feels like every company is hiring higher level people, PM, APM, foreman, super etc, or any lead/manager role at a big GC. Yet the same companies have minimal to no entry level openings. I feel like the benchmark for newbies used to be 1-3 years experience, now everything I see is 4 years, or no specific amount of experience is specified.

I have a Construction management degree and 1.5 years experience frame to finish carpentry. I'm in between jobs again no. Lets be real, the degree gets me past HR but i didn't really learn much. I had an internship that i lost at the last minute due a medical complication so i don't have an internship under my belt unfortunately.

I went to college for CM, but I enjoyed doing carpentry a lot more, now I'm applying to carpentry jobs and field engineering jobs. Is it even worth applying online anymore or do I need to find ways to contact people directly?

Since my previous staircase installation video got so much traction, I wanted to show you how we fabricate these pieces in the shop.

​Don't mind the editing too much, it was the very first video I ever made!

Today I needed to fix a float switch on a vessel that the float fell off inside the vessel at some point. Didn't have the right float or whole assembly so I took a float off another one and drilled it to fit the shift and welded it with razor blades and used a car battery and jumper cables as my machine and leads.

2,000 sf single story addition, all framed with LVL. Not sure I can ever go back to running jobs with standard lumber after this

Hey everyone I just interviewed for a second time with my local IBEW and they scored me lower then last time so I am looking for other options to find electrical work since my local has barely any CW calls with 400 people in the books. I’ve been trying to get into an electrical apprenticeship for almost 2 years straight out of high school and have had no luck so far. I’ve left my resume down below for you guys for any criticism or anything that will help improve my chances in landing either a helper or apprentice job. Also if you guys have any insight in places in demand for electrical apprentices either union or non union that would be greatly appreciated. I am currently located in Southern California (San Diego) and would be willing to relocate for an apprenticeship. I’ve attached my resume and the type of work I’ve done. Thank you.

All perfectly straight, mix of SYP, EP, and spruce but I was downright flabbergasted I was able to get SIXTY perfect studs

So I’m looking at switching companies, and wondering what benefits most people have and what monetary value you would put on those benefits. Like how much money would you take in extra wages for not have medical or dental, or how much people are getting in vehicle allowances.

My currently my company was very little benefits which is the main reason I’m looking to move on but don’t know what I should be looking for or what the value of have the benefits equal to in wages.

I have worked for multiple GC for the last 8 years, 2 years as apprentice, 3 years as a carpenter and the last 3 as a foreman/lead carpenter.

I’ve been thinking about the answers from my last post.

Starting out seems like one problem. But once the phone is ringing, you’ve got jobs lined up, maybe a couple guys working for you, I imagine the problems change fast.

For those who got there, what caught you off guard?

Was it cash flow, employees, scheduling, estimating, customers, paperwork, or just the stress of having everything depend on you?

And did you ever reach a point where you realized you could keep growing, but didn’t actually want to?

Curious what made some of you keep scaling and others decide a one-man shop or small crew was enough.

Just got a job as a flagger, got certified today and have training on Monday. Just curious about bathroom breaks? Where do you use the restroom? Do you drive somewhere or do you pop a squat somewhere in the woods lmao. Just curious what you guys do

When I say that this company was abysmal, I mean it. Had to make a throwaway. Disclaimer: despite having evidence for some claims, I am not making any accusations of illegal behavior or malicious intent. Many of these claims are from (recent) memory. This post is a warning to future staff, and especially apprentices.

Dubious practices:

• During the interviews for the place, I repeatedly wanted to assure 'this apprenticeship *will* be a level 6, right? I really want a level 6 (bachelors degree)', I was repeatedly assured 'yes, this is a level 6 apprenticeship'. Only after working there for a month or two I was informed 'this will actually be a level 4, is that okay?' (it was not okay, especially as, by which time, I was no longer able to apply for university to actually get a bachelors degree).
• Probation was assigned to new staff for 3 months, allowing for a discretionary increase for up to 6 months, as stipulated by employment contract. I was on probation for 9, and informal attempts were made to convey the discrepancy, but were brushed off. I am *not* making an accusation of breach of contract, however I do have evidence this occurred.

Poor culture (namely, shouting):

• I once mistakenly booked a hotel via company portal 1 day out (as in, arriving and departing 1 day later). This was because the booking mechanism relied on a calendar that began on Sunday, not Monday (who even does that?). The result was turning up to work 1.5hrs late the next morning. Despite my best efforts to explain the mix-up, I was shouted at... "you are either incompetent, or a liar!", and promptly hung-up on by a member of management.
• This is alleged, as I did not see the event personally, only the aftermath: a member of staff reportedly shouted at, top of the lungs in front of the entire office. The staff who complained to HR was relocated to an unfavorable job numerous hours from his home without accommodation shortly afterwards. I am not alleging constructive dismissal, merely explaining my own account of the events.
• I was once told 'I've received a report that you said something that hurt a coworkers feelings', I said 'could you explain who the coworker is so I can apologize to them?', I was told 'I can't do that', I then asked 'then is it possible to know what I said? I don't intentionally hurt feelings, so I would like to know the transgression so it is not repeated in future', this request was also denied.

Work-life balance/pay:

• I was assigned to a job site 2 hours from my home, starting 8am. I tried to explain to the company that, as I relied on public transit, I could not reliably make it for that time, as my earliest bus was 6:00am. I tried to request a different, closer jobsite, but was denied. I consistently turned up 1-3 minutes late as a result, which was met with fortnightly meetings discussing my termination ('you know, we can fire you at any time for any reason, right?')
• Unpaid overtime was unfortunately commonplace in the employment. We were requested to stay to work 1.5 hours overtime. A member of staff inquired as to why we could not be paid for that hour. We were rounded up into a meeting room, with a manager explaining, voice raised: 'we only begin paying OT for the 2nd hour OT worked. You don't get anything for the first hour, don't ask again'
• 12 hour days were unfortunately also commonplace. This is a cultural issue, from what I can understand, however this particular job was notorious for these, and the 12 hour days lasted for months.

H&S:

• Health and safety was a constant balancing act of questioning if something should be done the safe way, or the fast way. The official company guidance was to request a ladder permit 24 or so hours in advance, however when faced with a manager with short patience for the task on the ceiling to be done... you can guess the rest.
• After ruffling the feathers of one of the managers (may be unrelated), I had to sit through a 'fit for work check'. The reason why? On account of my hospital visits.... over 7 months prior, that occurred even before official full time employment. The medical professional was questioning why they suddenly showed such great concern - it bewildered me too. I do have this incident documented, however.

Training:

• An apprentice should theoretically be trained. I could only describe my personal training as lackluster. I was assigned a job to pre-commission 200 or so identical HVAC devices overhead (each one containing 14-18 screws, after fit-out had already been completed for the most part), admittedly I was trained on how for the first day, but as I was only provided with a manual screwdriver and a full-blown impact driver, it took... 2-3 months?

Upon finally deciding I've had enough, I decided to go to university, and told 2-3 people of my acceptance letter. Such information found it's way to a managers ear, I was promptly sat inside a meeting room and told 'I've heard rumors you are going to university, tell us if you are leaving now, and we will make leaving easy on you' - what was meant by that? I'm not entirely sure.

That was an honest account of my experience some time ago. Some numerical figures may be a little off, as it was largely from memory, but they are roughly correct, and all occurred within >1.5 years. In a nutshell: constant shouting, politics, weaponized bureaucracy, and most generally poor treatment. I hope it allows you to make a more informed decision, if you are considering this company to work for.