>be me>Be stone expert>Always end up being the last guy just fixing everyone's mistakes because workers are messy and incompetent. >Drag stuff across stone. Takes me three hours to grind and fix>Leave half full coffee around, it soaks and etches the polish, one hour to fix>Cleaning staff show up, spray acidic cleaner on walls. Takes six hours to fix>Work hard. Be the one guy who gives a shit>Make good money >Ruined at the end of the week I wish I had a desk job for a few weeks at a time. How's your week going?
Also. I guess a good old fashioned "stone autist here, ama" since it's been a few months and I'm just too busy to post here. I just know a lot about stone and enjoy solving/consulting on stone related work. Nothing makes me more upset than a normal person buying crappy stone that's impossible to maintain because muh designer told them to or the shop lied.
>>2788607Some overnight warehouse guy crashed the forklift into a sprinkler supply pipe last night. Put 1/3 of the warehouse under an inch or two of water before the fire dept showed up to turn the water off. They had to pull a few supervisors out of bed at midnight and then had every big boss asking questions the next day.At least you weren’t that guy.>>2788608Do you at least get to bill them for the 6hrs fixing what the cleaning crew did?
>>2788607I thought you be complaining about walls not being(a) flat, nor(b) square, nor(c) plumb.Stone is not very flexible.I recently started ordering PVC baseboards because they’re so flexible I can heat-gun it and it flaps tight against any fuckin crap the framers and drywallers slapped up. Oh and the flooring guys. That’s the worst. PVC is great for that.
>>2788612>Water pipeWow, that sucks. Merchandise destroyed?>Billing I bill the client, not getting involved trying to chase anyone, that's their issue. But I do work for the ultra weathy, my reputation is basically the wolf from pulp fiction, whatever needs doing detail wise I can either do or pull another specialist in to take care of it. I show up, I see more damage than anyone, and tell them what I can and can't fix. In most cases its just stone work, but lately I end up fixing whatever else they just don't trust anyone on. On this job I'm color matching cabinet paint by eye and they sent me home with a statue to repair because they just don't want anyone touching it. I also pointed out a few other blunders that they now need to call other trades back in on (fixtures installed incorrectly, lights that are not level or boxes in the wrong place). I literally ask them if they want me to only report on stone related work or if theyd like me to point it all out, knowing they won't be able to unsee it once I point it out. Most of these items are better taken care of before they move in and have their personal belongings there. Usually husband will say "tell me directly don't let my wife know". The curse of good eyes and 20 years in the nicest homes imaginable... It sucks sometimes.
>>2788607Dude that fucking sucks.>be me>union electrician>have to finish job but gc and client are rushmaxxing the fuck out of certain part of the project (can't name names bc they're a fagman company)>we get approximately only 2 hours every morning for three hours to bust ass and get these busways covered>client demands that this portion of project be complete by friday>generators also have to be completely term'd and re-fed/a bunch of shit has to happen has to happen within this stupid fucking 2 hour window>gc and client are so rushrushrush that they almost powered up an untested mv line (13.8kv) and our mv team barely got there in time to stop themanother story>this one gc tranny gets mad because a dude labeled a ground heading into a transformer as tranny for shorthand>trannies fucking suckOur general contractor is full of fucking retards. Don't even get me started on the fucking safety presentations every week. The safety lecture lady has chewed her painted fingernails - watched her do it. She told us not to let our kids eat halloween candy, they had us listen to a month of "financial health" bs that ended up being an advertisement for a bank that wanted us to open accounts with them, there was a grinch, so much fucking retarded shit.
>>2788620We are pretty good at packing walls out if we need space, but we can't make slabs bigger, so every once in a while we need people to rebuild structures so our slabs fit. That said I don't do much installation, I typically meet the installers and advice them on my limitations for grinding, what type of grout I expect, how to apply grout if I'm going to cut the floor completely flat etc. if they are not confident I'll have them just not do things and we tell the homeowner when I'll take over. Once the project is complete 100% I come back to fix all the blunders. This week I'm alone in a 10000 sq ft house listening to bucket head full blast and grinding marble all day. Tomorrow is silicone, which isn't my job but the homeowner insists I do it. I hate doing silicone.
>>2788622That sounds messed up. I do hate both the deadline crunch, when the owners and designers suddenly think they matter, and of course this time limited work window bullshit I did once. >Louis Vuitton store>"Hey anon you can work from 6am to 9am. only, whatever the cost only that time then we open the store">One hour prep>One hour work>Tear all my prep down and leave I cancelled the job on day two, I wanted to prestige of the store but no, it was too stupid. It never got done, checked the store about a year later and the stone was still ruined.
>>2788607I gave up my sub positions because of incompetent designers, intermediary companies and paperwork, uneducated customers, and constantly shifting expectations, scope of work, and funneling of blame. The jobs I went way out of my way the farthest to pull together were the ones that would come back around to burn me the hardest. >>2788620You can kerf bend standard lumber and mdf trim. It's just rare that I ever need to. I am frequently scribing base to fit the floor, however.
>>2788608What cleaning products do you recommend for marble bathroom sinks? How about marble shower floor tile? Do you have recommendations for polishing them (products, frequency etc)? My wife, inlaws, and kids are too irresponsible to have marble, I should have known better. Although not stone, how do you recommend removing tea stains from white quartz kitchen counter tops?
>>2788788Dawn dish soap is my go to for normal marble cleaning. It doesn't degrade the sealer and removes most contaminants. If you have etches/rings/dull spots those cannot be cleaned and require grinding and resurfacing, since it's an erosion in the stone. In extreme cases, bleach is alkaline and can be used, however there is a chance it will still etch the stone if left too long or if the polishing process was a fragile one (like crystalizing methods). For the quartz you can try to make a patch of folded paper towel and bleach and see if it leaves a stain in an inconspicuous spot. If there is no stain after it sits with bleach move on to the tea marks. Otherwise you can try poultice like stain eater (mangia macchia) Google it, but it's more of a grease remover than a general stain remover. Still worth a shot. Maintenance should be white bristle brush for scrubbing and microfibers for washing.
>>2788892Thanks anon. It's hard to find legit sources for this online and some of them conflict
>>2788909I've tried to correct so many terrible posts by people looking for internet points (ie use vinegar on marble!) and it never gets approved so I gave up. The most important think to remember is that marble is calcite, acids eat calcite. Granite is silicate, acids are safe. Just always test and keep things sealed with a solvent based, penetrating sealer like Lithofins stain stop.
>>2788916Yeah I understand. I run into that with topics for which I have a lot of passion, experience, and knowledge. I gave up too. The product sheet for Lithofins says it can be used on synthetic materials too. My understanding of the quartz countertops is they are "non-porous" even though they can stain. Will lithofins be able to seal quartz at all, or will it just pool on top? I don't want to waste a bunch of time and money. On another note, what sealant do you recommend for driveways and patios? I have a brown exposed aggregate driveway, walking paths, and patio. It's the worst
>be lead webshitter>build demo for new feature so users can test the behavior>doesn't match the design because it's a prototype and I don't have the time>leave big disclaimer at the top of the page stating it's a prototype and to ignore the style, just evaluate the functionality>start the demo by saying it's a prototype and how it looks is not how it will look later>spend most of the 1hr demo answering question after question about how it looks different than the designs
I do commercial refrigeration for a small company. Owner of the company is smart but semi retired and out of the loop. I fix all kinds of shit and make good money but it’s more stressful and physically intensive than I’d like. Currently spend all my evening hours and some of each weekend taking classes online to get out of this. There’s no reward apart from a jaded attitude and broken body for working this shit til you’re old
>>2788959I've never sealed quartz, I actually do very little with artificial stuff these days. Lithofin is the "thinnest" sealer I've ever used, it's penetration rates are insane compared to other sealers I've used. I think using it would offer some benefit, but I wouldn't expect it to plug up the pores like it does with marble. >Exterior aggregateHonestly I don't know. If it was natural stone I could offer some recommendations. The thing to consider with exterior sealing is whether you want one terrible day in 5 years when it requires stripping or it's peeling off vs. annual sealing with a less aggressive coating. I always lean toward penetrating products or products that disappear due to UV and require a light wash and reapplication. A personal favorite for porous stone is aquamix color enhancer, it goes on thick but does penetrate. Assuming you remove the excess before it dries it can be recoated every two years without resorting to full on stripping.
this joke of a board continues to get worse. we went from "how do I get a job, I'm a lazy moron", to "waaah, my job expects me to do work".too bad there isn't a board for man-children to cry and give each other hugs. >>>/adv/ or >>>/lgbt/ or >>>hm/you have to just laugh.
>>2789036Everyone bitches about their job, infact tradesmen are the biggest whiners I can think of. Trying to dunk of fellow 4tard posters that you’re so much harder working than them is pretty pathetic. Shouldn’t you be working right now?
>>2788608Hello stonefag, I'm a glass guy, and I install showers on typically subpar tile work. Say if some know-nothing dipshit were to drill a hole in the wrong spot and have to fill it with akimi, is there some trick to color match? I know to blend marble veins and yadda yadda but how would one make a hole not look round?(also ffs tell these people they don't need 1" granite slabs in their showers)
>self-employed >wfh>stay up all hours, wake up when I want>average $100hr when I actually work>tradwife does everything for mestill have to wipe my own ass tho :/
>>2788608Hey man should I leave my comfy office job to take up my dad's stone company? Is getting old but I suck at dealing with people and I'd have to know more about the trade than all the other employees besides getting along them which I doubt I can.Do you think there's a chance? I should learn CNC perhaps but I never liked it. It's messy and I prefer wood to stone. I'm against quarries in fact...
>>2790134I'm also wondering if I should leave my comfy (but boring) office job to go work with my dad at the family quarry. The hours would be longer, the pay would be less per hour, but I would get to be outside and use big equipment and do cool things with rock rather than sit in my windowless office all day playing on the computer.
141h in 11days. My hands hurt.
>>2788607it's too cold to work
>>2790029>Color The trick is being absolutely accurate with your color. So I use green red and yellow along with black and white, but modern guys have a whole plethora of (unneeded) colors. You have to mix it perfect, the tips are more art and color theory than diy, and not worth really explaining here, you'd have to just learn color theory, practice the rules and get used to pigment. >Filling the hole I like to Dremel the hole so there are no shallow points. You take a decent chinesium diamond bit like picrel and just shave away and shallow shelves around the inside of the hole, ensuring the depth leaves opaque fill with the epoxy and also a stronger repair that won't flake off. 2mm should be the minimum.>>2790134>Should I leaveNot unless you get to be your own boss, working for family can be bad.
>>2788607If my co-workers actively sabotaged my work for a significant amount of time, leading to me doing excessive restorative work I'd be clocking them on their way to their cars outside of work hours. If they don't fire me I know I'm in-expendable, if they do I'd go somewhere else. What kind of subhuman chimps would even think to fuck up someone else's work to that degree?
>>2790361I travel job sits to job site doing repairs. I never really deal with joe blow electrician, so I don't know what to say. Some really high end builders use a dedicated crew and really take time to protect the natural stone as the project goes forward, so they have less repairs to do, seeing as it's very expensive/some repairs change the final product enough it should be avoided. Not even one is used to working around polished karhle
>>2790396Apparently I had a stroke while typing this. What I'm trying to say is ultimately it comes down to the owner and builder to prevent accidents. Some material is so fragile even a little bit of dust under a roll of protection will scratch a floor badly,beyond this they hire subdivision tier trades who have never been around slabs of fragile limestone or marble, and fon't know that coffee will stain it permanently or that urethane caulk will bleed. So everyone points fingers at each other but really it's the builders responsibility to cover, protect and manage the site as the home is built, not the workers. I do wish people would use common sense and a touch of etiquette. Just the other day.>Doing final inspection and polishing on black marble floor >Floor is temporarily uncovered while I work>I'm in the room in a clean pair of indoor slippers/crocks>Taped door when I go on break (line of painters tape across the door at chest level)>Come back>Electrician on a ladder cutting a hole in the ceiling>The drywall dust just raining down >Feel bad and tries to wipe it with his hand, fresh polished black stone is extremely soft, leaves micro scratches >Grab a microfiber and just ask him to stop and leave
>>2788892A stone guy I worked with swore by goof off/goo gone, what do you think about using that for cleaning stone?
>>2788607Retarded owners have been running the business into the ground for years. Overheard the faggot director of operations telling the part time guy they hired two months ago not come in every other Friday because there is not enough work. I know these people, they will refuse to acknowledge ANY problem at all ever. Concerned me a lot because despite not having enough work for quite a few months, this is the first time anyone above the floor actually acknowledged it. Fast forward today, the last two guys I got along with got laid off. I'm the last man standing of the old guard.
>>2790352holy shit, it never occurred to me to grind off the edges of the holes to get a better fill. Went through a 6-month long back and forth because my helper, definitely my helper, drilled holes in the wrong part of a sill. She didn't love my akimi job and the tearout would jeopardize her wall tiles, which were apparently the last of those tiles in existence. Long story short, I got better with akimi. Thanks, stonefriend.
>>2788607last week all i was doing was digging in the dirt. running a new line to a shed and it had to be a foot underground even though code says rigid emt is fine being 6 inches but inspector was being a faggot. boss handed me a couple shovels and an axe and I started to dig by hand until after an hour or two, I got to a point where It was taking so fucking long, and I was making so little progress, that i was sure this was the wrong way to do it. I told the boss fuck this it only cost a hundred bucks to rent a trencher for a day let's do it. so we rented a trencher from home Depot and it still took half a day because it was all fucking clay. i also had to deal with landscaping lights on a different job. 22 different heads had to be connected so constant splicing in the dirt and dealing with roots and plants and branches and shit. god i hate digging so fucking much. i pity landscapers. it must suck ass.
>>2789036The tagline of 4chan might as well be "here's what I've got a problem with"
>>2790465>not running a line to get a perfectly straight trench >formwork isn’t square with the housedisgusting
>>2790479im just doing the electric. i have nothing to do with building the shed. and it was the first time ive ever used a trencher. i don't care how straight it is, its underground.
>>2790480Woman moment
>>2790444I think it has too many contaminants, stone is very porous, goof off will work until you encounter a hyper porous limestone and it leaves a stain in it's wake. It carries less risk to surrounding surfaces though. I never ever use it. Instead I use, in this order. >dish soap + time + microfiber + razorblades>stronger soap, also neutral (stone safe degreaser) + time + microfiber + razorblades>acetone + white lint free rag + razorblades>laquer thinner + white lint free rag + razorbladesThe thing you are removing is as strong as what breaks it down, so those usually have it covered.
>>2790453I know this feeling. I used to work on commercial/condo developments. Builders have a tendency to lay everyone off as we near the end of the project. Of course everyone I got along with slowly disappeared and since I'm one of the last trades it was me and a crew of mexican painters and that was that. >>2790463no problem. Also so rare to hear the name Akemi, it's been years since I've used that brand. I use exterior grade stuff in picrel. Its much harder to remove, and does yellow with too much hardener/not enough pigment, but its damn strong. Another trick is to lay the epoxy on about 1mm high, but tape almost right up to the circle so it's clean. Once dry a quick shot with acetone to soften it momentarily, then quickly take a new razor blade and plane the fill flat by pulling the blade gently perpendicular across the repair. This typically leaves metal marks on the tile so be careful, but acetone or a magic eraser usually removes those marks, always test. I do a lot of holes in the wrong place repairs, we never replace slabs or tiles because usually we do bookmatching, so literally can't be replaced. >>2790465looks straight (enough) to me. I hate digging. Part of why I went into stone repair was to get away from the dangers of lifting slabs all day and being on my knees, was ruining me.
>>2790488>get away from the dangers of lifting slabs all day and being on my knees, was ruining me.im becoming more aware of this. id love to find a company that just does troubleshooting. no big heavy anything. no dealing with retarded gcs who have no idea how to keep track or schedule anything. whys it on me to tell my boss what supplys we need? didn't he quote the job?id love to do like 2 or 3 small jobs in one day. that would be really satisfying.
>>2790490I often would wish I could drive around and do 3 chip repair jobs at $400 a pop every day, but the problem is clientele won't use you if you refuse the annoying jobs. I guess I'm saying. >client calls, has a long relationship with you>offer you a job you absolutely don't want to do>they are forced to call a competitor even though they like your work>suddenly the next small job, they may call your competitor insteadMy jobs average 2-3 days, once in a while I'll get pulled into a project for 2-3 weeks and I loathe it, but comes with the territory. My cutoff that hasn't harmed my business is commercial or multi floor/month long projects like a full condominium development. Literally got a call today via a client of mine to do 40 elevator lobbies, and a main hotel lobby. I had to refuse it, since I'd miss out on 20 other clients who want me in that time-frame. I do have a few competitors I work well with, if they have something very tricky they send it to me and if I have something too big/time consuming I send it to them. My skills have leaned into high end work vs. bulk and its cozy.
>>2788621>they sent me home with a statue to repairhow do you repair statues anyway? Is it hard to put the arms back onto the Venus de Milo?
>>2790173I thought I was alone in this world but.. there is you...Let's go brother. Our purpose is waiting for us deep in the quarry! The first one to reach 1 Million wins...
>>2790465>metal conduit for underground runwhy
>>2790574if its pvc itd have to be 2 feet. since its just under grass. rigid doesn't have to be that deep.
>>2790568the children yearn for the mines
>>2790568Fuck man I fantasize about dwarfmaxxing. Shave my head, let the beard grow, and just turn big rocks into little rocks until my back gives out. My family literally owns a mountain, I want to make caves.
Hello friends,I’m currently working my notice… it’s a long one. 3 months. I know, I know.I’m a memorial mason, and my employer sits at his desk all day. We have another guy who fixes the stones - he is not even qualified.The workshop outside is a mess. I’ve given up cleaning it because every time the man sees me cleaning he says he’d rather me do other things. So, I gave up keeping the shit clean, place is fucked. Boss man rarely does any stone work at all and is constantly making little mistakes which slow the whole business down.I’ve worked here 7 years, honed my skills and I’ve been consulting my own customers on the sly - fortunately the guys so thick that my contract doesn’t even mention loyalty clauses.It’s been tough, it’s been awkward, and I can’t wait to leave.Also shout out to all you lot at diy, especially anyone else who stones professionally.
>>2790668>The workshop outside is a mess. I’ve given up cleaning it because every time the man sees me cleaning he says he’d rather me do other things. So, I gave up keeping the shit clean, place is fucked.haha>used to do shop trash by myself>another person started helping>out sick so didn't do it>tell the guy, let's just stop doing it and see how long it takes them to do it themselves because they mistook us doing shit to not work as that we are trashmen>2-3 weeks later, there is a fruit fly infestation and still then it took them longer to actually do it
>>2790668Based. Learn what you can and then bail on the sinking ship. Non compete contracts are bullshit anyway so even if you did sign one, it rarely makes a difference. Go work for yourself and let the boomer realize how fucked everything is.
>>2790678Too right mate. Only reason the mess doesn’t bother him is cause he doesn’t do any work anymore. Love the fruit fly infestation story, pure pottery.>>2790691The guy’s bringing gout back. He’s gotten to the point where he thinks it’s funny to sarcastically say “looks like I’ll have to do some actual stone work”Man it’s been testing me.Here’s another story, I hurt my back moving this disgustingly big jew memorial>me and the fixer feel unease about the whole thing, we get to the cemetery and the fixer asks the council workers there for help.>4 of us moving this stone around in the mud and due to awkward ground I lost my footing and SLIP was in some serious pain all of a sudden.>Help put the stone up any way I can, leading them with instructions while my back is screaming at me.>Seeing red the whole time. I don’t get paid enough for this (no one does)>We get back to the workshop, I tell boss about my back, he sees I’m angry and asks if somethings up, tell him I’m not happy with the money he’s paying, but don’t want to talk about that right now.>boss offers me private physio and if I need it a follow up appointment >I obviously accept, least this prick could do>boss says he didn’t want to do the big jew stone because he might hurt himself>Fuming inside.>boss goes on holiday, I am in charge of workshop for no added compensation, just stress and a bad back>time for physio>I get massage, acupuncture and a POP>life is good back is healing>I organise follow up appointment >boss back from holiday“How you feeling abou-““Yeah I’m leaving”“Oh- that’s sad”>comes back downstairs in less than 5 minutes to tell me he’s “obviously not going to pay for my next physio now”…all that did was prove I made the right decision, shit this guys an asshole.I don’t know what happened bros, I’ve worked there 7 years and within the last 9-12 months this guys become some kind of spoiled princess.
>>2790714He's probably getting close to retirement and decided he was going to coast for the rest. Which maybe he's earned, but at the same time he's about to learn why it's important to take care of the people who make your business successful.
>>2790743Naaar he’s 43 bro, the fixer he employed is older than him!But for sure he’s got some learning to do
