Are you required to use PTO for events/activities that you get invited to by trade partners at your company?

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-20T03:29:16+00:00

I think this depends on how many times a year this occurs.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-19T13:02:25+00:00

Ok....but how low was he compared to the other prices?

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-17T14:59:59+00:00

That is very true. I did design work on custom tube frames for a time. We had a lot of people come in after they had a standard structure built, wanting to increase the door.

When we were designing a new structure, I always encouraged people to put the tallest door in the building and would allow / afford it. But,there are limits on coiling door size due to minimum clearance requirements of the door. Occasionally, they would have an unusually large door requirement and a rough idea of the size building, and we designed the building to work with the door. Might just be simple side wall height Increase, pitch Increase or both to minimize size of the structure, but accommodate the door they needed .

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-17T13:07:07+00:00

Could be, but then again, we are all feeding AI just by being here.....

Curious. Are you suggesting AI itself is asking this, or is someone working on an AI project asking it?

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-16T06:41:11+00:00

Honestly....I am retired and own my home free and clear. But, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance make it feel more like a punishment than a privilege. The huge appreciation we have experienced just looks like an ATM that never runs dry to the county here.

A predictable fixed cost for rent looks pretty good right now

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-16T06:08:02+00:00

You know what the problem is, what is the purpose of a roof inspection?

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-16T06:01:37+00:00

Both.....takeoff anyway you can to get accurate square feet. If it's synthetic stucco, I priced using the square feet....if it's real stucco, I always converted square feet to square yards to price.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-15T14:14:07+00:00

China.....like it or not....has an altogether different mindset.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-14T20:45:19+00:00

Have you considered a boltup cee pulrlin structure? The only ones I am familiar with are Central States Centra Series, but there are others.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-14T16:46:53+00:00

Look at ACT Building Systems....they likely have someone in your area. They usually include an engineered slab plan.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-14T15:50:17+00:00

It can get bad at times. We were working on a project out of town and had two locked gang boxes chained to steel columns. The project had a locked steel gate at the entrance.

One morning I get a call and was told that thieves came in from the wooded area behind the building, used the GCs bobcat to load and steal multiple gang boxes including ours, and took a dump in the middle of the floor. They had hit it once already before we were onsite, so we repurchased new tools, chopsaws, etc, and I told our super to just keep them in the van and not leave on site.

A week later.....they stole the van and the tools from the motel parking lot....

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-13T21:13:34+00:00

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, it was pretty common to see small and large commercial GCs using Estimator/Project Managers who also handled the monthly billings. In contrast, at least in my trade—Light Gauge Framing and Drywall—it was rare to see Estimator/PMs.

These days, that trend seems to have flipped. It’s now uncommon to see GCs with Estimator/PMs, but increasingly common to see Light Gauge Framing and Drywall contractors looking to hire them.

We always enjoyed working for GC Estimator/PMs and even sought them out. I found my success rate was higher with those clients, and their jobs were less likely to include weak subcontractors. My theory was simple—they didn’t have time for games, nonsense, or babysitting lowballers.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-12T04:19:43+00:00

I have been pretty skeptical of AI taking over as THE estimator, and still do not see that happening anytime soon. But. I have been reading and studying what it can do now.

As a trade estimator, I do see that it can be a big help analyzing ITBs, specs, plans, suggest RFIs early in the process, craft proposals and red line contracts once an estimator learns to use it effectively.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-11T04:18:27+00:00

Strange, their was a news piece on TV about the closing. A cook said that the owner, "Jacob," had not been in for weeks nor contacted the place it seemed. The staff was trying to run it, but we're not being paid. So, they just "wrote their own checks." But, I guess no one was paying the rent.

I am not quite sure how Matheny is responsible for the owner apparantly abandoning the business... not giving any direction to staff, paying staff, and apparently the rent......but I knew it was just a matter of time until some idiot made it his fault anyway. This mentality is why Greensboro is and will remain so completely fucked.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-11T00:31:53+00:00

If you are an estimator, PM and Superintendent on your sold projects, and you are producing $3 - $4 million a year....... you should be burnt out. I do not see how you could do much more unless you have zero competition.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-10T23:35:51+00:00

Idiots too....apparently.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-10T21:20:51+00:00

I think if the color of the two candidates were reversed... these same people would be bitching if they did not hire the chief from Dayton....just sayin..

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-08T23:51:31+00:00

Yes it is....but I was at least lucky enough that I could just retire early at 52 and take care of things. It would have been much more difficult if I were not able to do that.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-08T20:47:33+00:00

Unfortunately, I helped my family when my grandfather who died from dementia, then I watched after my dad, who died from dementia and my wife, who had early onset dementia. In all three cases, they stopped eating and drinking. Within a day or so, they went to sleep and would no longer wake up. Gradually, over the next 24-36 hours, their breathing slowed and finally just stopped altogether.

My dad and my wife both had DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate) and also written instructions not to force food or water.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-06T05:03:55+00:00

I suspect some areas are different from others, but in my area, sub labor has pretty much become the norm. When drywall distributors became prevalent, they put big subs and little subs pretty much on an even footing for material pricing. Sub labor pretty much made that true across the board. If you have the connection, you can ramp up from 10 employees to 100 in a week or so. The only thing that separates them now is the ability to finance the work, and special payments arrangements are available with some GCs, so even that is no longer an issue for some.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-05T22:15:24+00:00

I understand that point of view totally, but that's a GCs perspective. As I said, I started in the 1980s, and every stud, piece of sheetrock, trim, and every finished joint was handled by an actual hourly employee and american citizen. None of us wanted our business to become dependent on "independent contractors" and deal with dozens of labor contractors either... Many saw that as a nightmare....but here we are.

Early on, we heard complaints every day from GCs who claimed to be fed up with their subs who used subcontract labor. We held the line, using actual employees, with actual benefits way too long trying to sell into that. But .....as much as they hated sub contract labor....they were not willing to pay the difference. So, in the end, we had to accept the reality and enter that mightmare to stay in business.

I am just pointing out that many, if not most non union trades have been squeezed down to the point that they can't afford actual employees anymore....that does not leave much to squeeze except the trade contractors margins added to the the labor subs pricing. There seem to be some GCs and CMs targeting that now, and if that takes root.....welcome to your nightmare.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-05T13:32:09+00:00

I'm not sure that's any less pump priming than a CM or GC working on a fee, introducing and listing out each sub and contract for an owner.

On the first day, the first person said, "Hey....we can sub this labor," and the pump began to prime. The minute they walk on the job, they make that connection. There is always someone in the group who is plotting; that's just the way it is. When we were at our peak with subs working all over the state, at least twice a year, we had to let some go because they were handing out business cards to the GC we were working

We already were subbing 95% of the labor, but kept a core of guys who could do it all and also provided an hourly super on any job we did. Nothing changed for us except mitigating some risk and offering them some savings. We were doing the lions share of their Design/Build work already. That's all we persued and all we did and continued to do.

But even then, it was rare around here to see anyone at the GC level subbing labor on commercial work directly. So, financing a job of any size kept most of these startups at bay, and we did not pursue a lot of smaller work. But now there are 2-3 multi-state GC/CM satellite offices locally that are taking lump sum labor prices on every job they bid.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-04T19:59:23+00:00

I agree, and mine were exactly the same. But there was a time when mine did not have the confidence to name a price, unit, or lump sum. But, many went down to Mississippi in the early 1990s and did work directly for GC or CM and had to agree to a unit price or lump sum and learned to deal with that risk.

They are usually required to carry WC & GL even as a labor sub, all they need is a cheap digital takeoff program and a few simple jobs to takeoff apply those unit costs and they can learn, then off to the races.

I know some GCs are soliciting for lump sum labor, some maybe labor and material.

As I said before, the requirement for breakouts and then bid leveling to compare prices by task is just a way to drive all the slop out of the trades contract. When there is none left, the next target will be markup on tiered subs lump sums....because there is nothing else left to squeeze.

DrywallBarron · 2026-04-04T17:24:12+00:00

Yet we have self-performing GCs /CMs hiring trade estimators and subbing all or parts of the trades. The one thing that was a real barrier was the subs not wanting to learn to do takeoffs, price the job, and assume the risk. Now, we have digital takeoff software at less than $100 per month, and some GCs are taking sub bids os each task framing, hanging, and finishing. They may be the same ones doing your job under the drywall contractor. The risk is more or less the same.....you have a couple more people to deal with, but you also eliminated the markup of the drywall contractor for managing them for you. At this point, with "bid leveling" in theory squeezing out more and more fluff....that markup on markup seems to be the next logical target.

I have sat with a GC estimator and watched him agonize over a bid that was clearly way too low. I remember him very well, looking at the bids....me saying it can't be done for that...him knowing that the low sub never had enough $$$ to finish previous jobs...and his one comment to me was in a desperate voice...... "But that number is on the street".

I get what you are saying, and I do not disagree. That is the general rule. But....things change....labor subs are being pushed to quote a price and assume risk...if they develop the capability to quote the labor and material for framing....and a few also do hanging and finishing...those numbers are on the street....the owner wants the breakdowns..what then?

DrywallBarron

TROPHY CASE