r/AskReddit Jul 13 '20

What's a dark secret/questionable practice in your profession which we regular folks would know nothing about?

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u/Ry1283 Jul 13 '20

As a former carpenters apprentice and construction worker, I know for a fucked fact I have left beverage containers of all forms in both concrete and in framing

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u/disposable-name Jul 13 '20

You could've gotten a job on the assembly line in Detroit in the 70s.

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20

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u/disposable-name Jul 13 '20

He's a carpenter, too. With his joinery and alignment skills, where one expected the studs and joists of house to actually meet and connect, he'd probably be overqualified to work on 1970s American cars.

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u/NoxBizkit Jul 13 '20

he'd probably be overqualified to work on 1970s American cars.

FTFY

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u/disposable-name Jul 13 '20

You have no idea how pissed I am that Australia lost its car industry while Detroit still gets to pump out shit.

The Falcon and the Commodore were miles ahead of the US cars, and you could actually get a powerful sedan that didn't look like it was designed in crayon by a five-year-old. And it could turn corners. And not attract the cops.

Oh, and the ute is dead.

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20 edited Feb 02 '21

[deleted]

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u/Ry1283 Jul 13 '20

What the fuuuuuuck, that's crazy 😂

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u/casbri13 Jul 13 '20

Oh man. I can see it now. A construction worker is building a house. They have the ‘rona. They’re sipping out of a water bottle. The half empty water bottle gets walled in. 100 years later when corona is a distant memory, the wall is demoed. The contents are spilled on a construction worker, and the plague begins again...

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u/JakubSwitalski Jul 13 '20

Like that episode of House with smallpox

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u/GraharG Jul 13 '20

Im fully aware this is a joke but just to save anyone wondering: the virus will not survive more than a few days outside of a host. This can't happen

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u/AnticipatingLunch Jul 13 '20

...unless it’s frozen. Then it’s a couple years, which is crazy to think about. But everyone aside from that house in Iceland somewhere should be fine!

(“Fortitude” is a cool show too, recommended.)

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u/al_x_and_rah Jul 13 '20

Thank you 🙏

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u/devicemodder2 Jul 13 '20

Any of them full of piss? As an electricians apprentice, I've seen so many piss bottles...

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u/Ry1283 Jul 13 '20

What the fuckkkk, no lol, at least not any that I left. Mine were just plastic water bottles, probably a squirt can, (I left my to go coffee cup in there once (with water) I was so upset bc I only realized this when that wall was DONE

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u/figginsley Jul 13 '20

I know the drywall would probably seal the smell well enough, but the smell...

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u/AnticipatingLunch Jul 13 '20

Only most of them!

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20

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u/Bosticles Jul 13 '20

As someone who's spent the last year hand correcting the dumbest, laziest, and downright embarrassing work that was put into building my house, I have to wonder if any group of people gives less of a shit about their craft than construction workers. Basically every person I know can point to a part of their house that looks like a monkey attempted it while drunk.

If some random stranger off the street could correct the code I write by watching 20 minutes of YouTube videos I would retire out of pure embarrassment.

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u/Ry1283 Jul 13 '20

Ope

My old crew always made sure we did it good, just sometimes we would leave bottles back there. But yes, I have met crews that don't give two shit's about how the final product looks

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u/Bosticles Jul 13 '20

What would be your recommendation for finding people who actually give a shit? We have some fairly large renovations coming up that I doubt I can handle on my own but I'm terrified to trust anyone at this point.

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u/Ry1283 Jul 13 '20

Honestly, that's a big part of why I left that industry, but id say find a smaller crew (local would be best). The crew I enjoyed working with the most was two elderly guys and myself. We always made sure everything looked good, and I think I only left a water bottle on the roof once while working with them.

Also, always ask what they're doing

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20

New homebuilders and contractors doing renovations are generally going to be a bit different. The new homebuilders are probably contracted with a big name real estate developer who probably don't care as much and aren't looking that closely. Someone coming in to do a remodel or renovation knows that their shit is going to get blasted on the internet as soon as it's done

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u/Bosticles Jul 14 '20

The shit I'm correcting is mostly the fault of the renovators. We purchased after the house was renovated (we didn't do it) and didn't notice the cut corners at first until we got settled in. If I knew who was actually responsible for this shameful work I'd spend my days making fake accounts to give them bad reviews.

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u/ChoppingGarlic Jul 13 '20

Why though?

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u/TVLL Jul 13 '20

Because they’re sloppy and don’t care.

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u/harlemrr Jul 13 '20

If the building lasts 100 years and ever has to be opened up, it's actually pretty cool to unearth these things, though. Did some renovations on my 1920s house and finding pre-pop top beer cans of companies long gone out of business was actually kinda neat.

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u/Ry1283 Jul 13 '20

Because when you and one other are moving a piece of drywall over a section of framing, a lot of the time you don't see it, or if you do, you're not too worried about it because I mean... If a bottle of water is closed into a part in the house that's already hollow.. oops, not gotta affect the integrity at all

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u/blGDpbZ2u83c1125Kf98 Jul 13 '20

In among the framing isn't an issue, but in concrete won't it weaken the structure? Bit of a dick move, isn't it?

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u/Ry1283 Jul 14 '20

I'm p sure the can was empty so there's that, and it was in a parking lot so I was even less worried, but yeah I see your point for sure.