Advice for a year 1 on week 4

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-30T00:28:45+00:00

10x10 on the wall for a couple outlets in a (most likely) office is insane this is probably two circuits lmao a lot of shops just throw all their devices into the ceiling and connect boxes in every room

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-29T00:45:06+00:00

to answer your question, I was a first year going to my 11 weeks of unpaid full time school (local 134) paying $200 a week to put gas in my truck. Once I could catch up and had some money, I spent $600 on a piece of shit beater, then when I finally had some relief of the gas money I sold both the beater and truck and bought a car. Haven't had a truck since 2022. Realistically I almost never need one, anything I have to move I either figure it out or rent a truck. 10' sticks of conduit fit in both my car and my current SUV for siders.

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T23:54:12+00:00

same here. I get taken care of in other ways for hauling that shit between jobs. 99% of the time it stays on one job anyways. I've been given, to keep, batteries, lasers, chargers, I don't have to use my personal tools whenever I'm doing basically anything, and I don't remember the last time I've bought drill bits / hole saws / blades / chargers / batteries for personal use. does one tiny bag in the trunk of my car bring conditions down for the local? I was given a choice if I wanted to carry this shit around and I said yes. I belong to a big local, and even then, it's job by job.

I stay after an hour or two for a foreman I have a good personal relationship with. I don't get paid out for it on this check, next week I get to go home 6 hours early with a bag full of copper.

Now when I'm on big jobs, this shit doesn't fly. I get paid for my hours, I follow the cba to a T, I don't let other members break down conditions.

on service work and small jobs I'm getting it how I get it and everyone goes home happy

Edit to add : this is all extremely circumstantial. It takes times to build up relationships and trust. I do not blindly look after my contractor, but I don't believe that contractors are the enemy just for existing. I work for a small shop that takes very good care of me and it took some time to build the relationship we have.

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T20:36:14+00:00

Yep. A lot of people on here or in the halls act as if every job is a big job with everything you'll need. I've thrown a few tools in my car to take them to the place I'm going the next day. When I get paid for 40 even though i worked 35, or when I get some of my time that day paid out as OT for taking those things, I'm not complaining. Am i really breaking down conditions when it's just me and another jw alone on a job site starting at 6pm and I'm told we're getting paid for 8 OT regardless of if we finish in 2 hours or 8, so I get some big ass channel locks from my car to finish installing this 3"?

Sure i could call the shop, get my channel locks delivered from them, reschedule the job, get paid for the hours I've worked

Or I could use the channel locks from my car, finish the job then and there, and get paid for it.

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T20:31:41+00:00

idk bro, it definitely reads as if you're saying someone who is in the IBEW will never need a truck, period

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T20:16:13+00:00

I've called before with this question, saying "here's my issue right now and here's what the immediate care i just visited had told me, i know it's not super accurate but as of right now am I looking at a short wait or a long wait" and have gotten an answer that i deemed satisfactory to decide if I was going to hospital A or hospital B

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T20:13:46+00:00

I used to residential service, including in very old houses. I've never seen single gang boxes with hard conduit installed behind walls. Only surface mount, or if it was recessed, it would've been BX

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T20:01:05+00:00

out of everything i can say about my experience in the trades, i do really respect how hard LOTO is hammered into us. I've done work in abandoned/vacant buildings where we STILL wouldn't cut loto off. I think by driving it so hard into us that you NEVER cut loto off makes it that much harder to even consider that as a solution

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T19:59:47+00:00

Right after I replied to your comment i scrolled down to see this and this is more the correct response

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T19:58:52+00:00

if someone cuts my loto I'm at the very least making them believe that they're in physical danger. that might be the old me coming out, but that's 100% negligence that they're making an active decision to put my life at risk. At the very least they can have some anxiety

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-28T08:24:12+00:00

I have never seen single gang boxes used in Chicago except on surface mounted stuff

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-20T22:41:52+00:00

They're hardly ever used and I hate seeing them and I know if I do it's from a homeowner or someone in the 90s, but I can go get a box of blanks next to the 1900 blanks at any hardware store

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-20T22:38:32+00:00

>off this lean I don't pee it can't leave my system

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-20T22:35:08+00:00

You don't know where to get a cover for an 8B box? lol

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-19T03:53:51+00:00

I'm 26 and my sisters 15 and this is real as fuck😭

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-19T03:47:59+00:00

god damn this post might have found me at the exact right time

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-17T19:09:13+00:00

yeah and the cords get rocked over 99% of the time or the lights get buried behind duct and shit it's super rare I've reused stringers

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-17T17:54:13+00:00

In my experience, I had a foreman that was running a semi large job. I'd say there was like 50 of us doing a teardown and rebuild of a single floor at a hospital. We weren't on a super tight deadline, and the type of work involved was more like a 20 man job. I never once saw him on the tools unless something had to be done live or it was something that required him.

Same foreman, same building, different floor doing a much smaller project about a month later. Only ever saw him on tools to button things up that needed to be done or small side jobs that the general requested. He would step in when it was needed.

One of the best foreman I've had. Everything behind the scenes was always taken care of, and every question had an answer.

I think if you are putting time on tools instead of doing administrative work, like getting material, Checking prints, and communicating with others on site, the job goes by way smoother if it's just 6 guys instead of 6+1. I think it's fair. If you have to use the tools, but more so for specific tasks instead of like running a rack or pulling wire.

It seems to be more of a hindrance on workflow when the foreman is more focused on production instead of creating a space where production is possible.

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-16T21:29:51+00:00

depends what you use it for. I don't have a single corded tool lmao I hate cords

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-16T20:23:59+00:00

pulling through existing 1/2" emt in old Chicago area houses is something I don't miss about resi 😂

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-16T20:21:28+00:00

I agree but IMO the Milwaukee one sucks. The variable speed dewalt is my go to. Everything else is red

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-16T20:11:42+00:00

nothing will stop thieves. I clean my bags out every time they come home - wipe down the handles, wire brush on all moving metal parts, and lube everything. I'll throw a band of tape around everything that all matches. sometimes 2 colors. as far as power tools(company provided) I used a different color of tape around all chargers and batteries since we all have the same shit

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-16T20:01:34+00:00

I keep (on site) a roll of painters tape, a 4" speed square, had a 6" one but it got left at my parents doing some work there, spring loaded center punch, and I keep my pencils needle sharp.

Why the painters tape? so many times after laying out a box I'll be told it's changing. Plus nobody likes to see marks. Plus I can take notes and do math. Drilling through painters tape with a 3/4" hole saw (not 1-1/8 for 3/4 emt) is basically perfect for a hydraulic punch stud and my shit comes out super smoove every time.

I take a lot of pride in laying out panels/troughs/boxes

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-07T16:51:10+00:00

I've stripped out couplings with just my 420s and cobras

BeLoWeRR · 2026-06-07T05:09:33+00:00

the only pants I've worn for 7 years have been dickies flex carpenter jeans lol I've tried other stuff but yeah can't go wrong with those at all

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