
Ned Pelger's blog on construction, design and other weirdness. Email him at ned@constructionknowledge.net
Please help him win his readership competition against his son Lex at the Construction Phone Apps Blog
A drywall contractor and friend, Erik Schouten, just told me a great story. Erik trained a kid named Jake 15 years ago to finish drywall. At that time Erik was working as a drywall finisher and writing lots of songs and performing as a musician. The music biz didn’t take off for Erik, but his drywall business did. Erik also developed one of the best new construction products, shown in the video below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nbiKLkhgeE
The story Erik told me, though, was about Jake. With a winning personality and a solid work ethic, Jake was in demand as a drywall finisher. But Jake loves to longboard surf, especially in exotic locales. Turns out that drywall finishing is an internationally valued skill.
So for the past 15 years, Jake has finished drywall in the UK, Brazil (where he met his wife), Costa Rica, New Zealand and a few more. Finishing drywall has allowed him to live an exotic lifestyle…always in search of a new place to surf.
Don’t let your dreams get crushed by what everyone else says and does. Develop your skills and you get to choose.
Seems carpet manufacturers and salespeople strive to make carpet selection complex. I think they are able to up-sell so many purchasers by keeping the facts so very vague. Here’s my attempt at clarity.
First, think fiber.
Within a type of fiber, it’s fairly easy to compare one carpet option to another. Simply put, the more dense the carpet (in oz per sy) and the higher the twist level (in turns per inch), the more durable. After you understand the fiber, think about the style. Carpet is made with the fiber looping into the backing. Loop carpets retain those loops and cut piles slice them.
No rational method currently exists to compare the various fibers and styles. As stated earlier, comparing within a fiber group can be done based on density and twist level. But there is no good method to compare 24 oz/sy nylon carpet to a 26 oz/sy PET. So the comparing of carpet options, particularly when approving “Or Equal” products remains subjective and challenging.
The carpet padding, used in most residential applications for a more cushioned feel, should be at least 6 lbs/cf. Most commercial carpet installations are glued directly to the concrete floor.
If you are trying to value engineer a building project, understand that substantial savings can be made by approaching the carpet selection from an informed viewpoint. It’s definitely not a situation where “The more you pay, the better you get.”
I’ve been involved in various stadium seating projects over the years. It’s been fun working out the details for how to efficiently get these projects built. Here’s a dilemma that I hadn’t tried to resolve.
And the good natured response by the president of the American Seating Company.
Like so many of the things that I post about, my 28 year old son Lex shot this to me. He checks lots of sites and blogs, this one came from Letters of Note. Of course, the author of the first letter was just a wise guy trying to see what kind of response he get. It made me laugh, though, and hopefully gave you a smile as well.
I read today that toddlers laugh 400 times per day (every 2 minutes) and that number drops to 15 for average adults. As a competitor, my new goal is to laugh much more than 15 times each day so as not to be average. Above all, I don’t want to be average.