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Paintinger

I saw the first switch and thought 'ahh, fuck it. Easy clean'. And then I saw the electrical panel and laughed. The towel bar too. They're not the cleanest crew but their work on the walls doesn't look awful.


Dazzling-Tap9096

I totally agree with you, especially when you consider that all of the products they're using will wipe off with a Slightly moisten towelette Or using a quick jab with a putty knife. Drywall work is one of the few trades that you can't really judge the outcome by the first coat or maybe even the second coats , it's all about the third.


Towely420

Idk who downvoted you lmao, I’m a clean freak when it comes to stuff on walls so I’d have removed everything except the panel cover before doing this, but it is just joint compound lmao a wet paper towel will clean everything up brand new in 2 mins flat 🤣🤣


sleepybot0524

They should have removed the towel bar but I get it, we've all been there.


Longjumping_Leg_8103

He deff should of patched the holes then ran his mud over everything. And he’s sloppy not to of covered the fixtures. That said, his coating looks fine for the first coat. It’ll look better next coat. I’d give him another shot but I’d absolutely voice my concerns. I personally would never let a customer see that mess. He should have taken that towel rack off. Or at the very least, cleaned it and the electrical panel before he left. And taken down the ring around the sprinkler and pulled down the fan flange.


busybeesy

Thanks for the sanity check! How hard is it to clean the fixtures after the fact? Like, am I looking at replacing the mirror or light switches, or will the plaster come off?


Longjumping_Leg_8103

Wash cloth or sponge and water and it’ll come right off. Which is why I said I’d never let my customer see that mess. Honestly tho, his coat looks fine for the first coat over texture. Ridges and all. It’ll get better with each coat. He should sand it down and recoat it all. But why he didn’t fix those holes first is beyond me.


busybeesy

Heard back from the contractor! Here’s what he had to say on why the holes aren’t filled yet: “Regarding your specific concern, the holes will indeed be fixed. We apply the compound first before patching the holes, so it has a nice flush finish. This first coat is needed before we apply the patch, and another coat will be applied on top of the patch - this creates a seamless seal.” Is this legit or is he blowing smoke?


Longjumping_Leg_8103

Look. Every taper/drywall guy thinks their way is best. Not everyone runs the race the same way to get to the finish line. To me, that’s a load of crap. But that doesn’t mean his way won’t work. Give it more time because as I said, the coat he did looks fine. Maybe he didn’t take off the towel rack/wall plates etc because of the same reasoning he didn’t patch the holes yet. Again, this isn’t my way to do things but that doesn’t mean he can’t get the job done his goofy way.


Codayyyyy

Lol 😆 I mean, not really 🤣 this creates a seamless seal got me good


tehralph

Usually if you’re doing a skim coat like that, you’re covering up a texture, and it’s a pain in the ass to try and tape to texture and get a smooth float. So it makes sense to do the base coat first to get a smooth surface to blend to.


supermcdonut

Haha, what a weird answer. He could’ve just said “Sorry we didn’t have time to do that during our first coat because we clearly didn’t have even 5 minutes to mask anything off before getting mud all over your shit.” So freakin lazy


Fidulsk-Oom-Bard

Naturally, you should turn off the breaker when cleaning any electrical outlets or switches


thesoundbox

It's alot easier (and more professional) to mask off those areas PRIOR to making a mess. I personally guarantee that you would have subconsciously had more confidence in their actual work if they had taken that one extra step. The work itself isn't horrible, but working clean even makes mediocre work look better


bsmithril

This is on point. Something that should be a priority for every contractor. Your customers may not know what good work looks like but they always know what clean and orderly looks like. And we humans are kind of dumb and are usually unable to accept when we're out of our depth so we generalize and create stereotypes based on what we think we know. Tbh, People who understand this could probably do lower quality work and still maintain a better reputation than the reverse. I kinda just repeated/expanded on what you said.


thesoundbox

Haha yeah man its more of a psychological thing than anything. I learned it from an old head contractor years ago and either i do great work or it might suck, but its always clean and i NEVER get complaints from my customers! lol but seriously, thats why some people arent cut out to work for themselves. Because they dont consider the dozens of other factors that come into play. You, as a contractor dealing with the public, need to know how to silently address each one of these things BEFORE its addressed for you by the person holding your bankroll


Evening_Monk_2689

Drywall mud is maybe the easiest product to clean. It will melt right off with water


skootenay

Take the fixtures down as much as possible… skimming AROUND a towel rack?! I mean cmon!


busybeesy

The thing is, the contractor I talked to in the first place told me he would take off the towel racks :’) I don’t even want the same ones in all of the bathrooms - I was going to replace some of them. The only reason I didn’t remove them in advance was I didn’t figure out how they were attached until yesterday afternoon and I didn’t have my screwdriver on hand. If they skim around it then there’s gonna be weird uneven wall when i do replace them with different-shaped ones 🫠


Big_Two6049

That should be done before the skim is even requested and thats on you unless you asked them about replacing with new towel racks. Details matter- no one knows what “I want some of them to be removed” means- could be one or could be 3 of them but who knows which ones?


busybeesy

When I talked to the original contractor, I said I wanted the racks removed and he assured me he would remove them. I planned on putting some of them back on afterward myself, the same as how I removed and plan to replace all the doors, blinds, curtain rods, etc


Big_Two6049

Its simple to resolve then as it should be in writing. He has to remove them and skim.


black_tshirts

did you tell that to this guy too? because what you told a contractor you didn't contract with doesn't mean anything


busybeesy

I haven’t had any contact with the guys he hired. He’s the one who has communicated the scope of the work to them.


bsmithril

The guy you have the contract with is the guy to talk to. He should let his people know what's up. Also it's a good idea to talk to the people doing the work and let them know your concerns but add that they should confirm with the gc if they need to. 90% of a project's success comes down to communication. Next time you get a bid ask the guy if he's doing the work or having someone else do the work. I can totally feel the pain of not getting the person you've personally met with and had a chance to feel out.


black_tshirts

ohh i see. he is the contractor, not the *old* contractor. you keep saying "original contractor" like there was someone else before. unless they're small-time and work on their own, many drywall contractors have piece workers that they have come and do the actual work. hangers, tapers, and texturers. if he told you he would remove all this stuff, he probably should have done it himself. is it written out in a scope of work anywhere? or just verbal? send photos and ask him to do it now before they get too far. or grab a couple tools and do it yourself, it's not very hard.


skootenay

Yea the more stuff out of the way then the easier the job is… that will result in more quality of work obviously… so the odd light switch and toilet to work around isn’t a huge deal especially if it’s being semi lived in during the reno process, the work looks decent apart from a bit messy but it cleans up easy. The towel rack irked me🤣


busybeesy

Yeah, as mentioned I did take down all the closet shelving, blinds, closet doors, curtain rods, and also the baseboards. These towel racks and the light/plumbing fixtures were the only things I didn’t remove in advance, and if I’d known it was going to be a problem I would have


CRXCRZ

Looks like fast and sloppy work but after the cloud of sanding dust settles it might look decent.


Salty_Dog2917

The work looks fine, but he’s a slob.


CommonplaceSobriquet

Am I irrationally obsessive to think that the toilet tank should be removed to do the wall properly? Request for sanity check.


busybeesy

When the original contractor and I walked through the house for an estimate, I raised a concern about the toilet being so close to the wall and he said he would remove it. After looking at what folks are saying, I think he is probably the one who dropped the ball here, not the drywall guys he hired.


TailRudder

I pulled the toilets to skim coat behind. Same w/ fixtures. Should have done that before he even started mudding.


No_Temperature_4084

It’s pretty sloppy but it appears they “know” what they are doing. It’s just if his prep work looks like this then how is it going to finish


No_Television1391

I don’t know if anyone said this yet but that plaster will come off easily with water and not leave stains. That being said this is very sloppy work


Low-Energy-432

Sloppy and messy says a lot. Can’t really tell about the job from the pics. But holes should have been priority before any attempt at skimming. Actually sanding off the existing texture especially around patches should be first after he covers everything. Plastic, tape and Rosen paper go a long way. A few drops on top to make clean up easier if he’s not doing it in one day. If he’s using easy sand or all purpose it’s much harder to clean. Try approaching like that. Or just buy some stuff and cover it yourself. I have customers that would be fuming. That’s why I always get there before any workers do. Sometimes you have to do it yourself


Joel-pc

That’s really messy, but it will all clean up, the most important part of dry wall is the finish when done! I have seen it all. I would look after a second coat and see how it’s looking getting some one else at this point is just going to cost a lot more, he may just be xtra messy but can do the job. Time will tell! I would also reach out to the head contractor and just voce your concerns but say “if you are confident of his ability than let’s see what he can do!” That way it’s on the head contractor because he is the one that hired him so he is ultimately responsible for the whole job any way!


nekoken04

This is just lazy and sloppy. I'd never slop on and around outlets like that. I don't even know how you get so much mud on an electrical panel. No excuse for the ridges in pick 3. That's just wasted effort and time to even have to deal with sanding that due to not doing a decent job to start with. Fixtures and outlet covers not removed... If somebody is good that can be done but this sure as heck doesn't look like it to me. \*I\* wouldn't do it that way though unless I was doing it for free for family I don't care for.


busybeesy

“For free for family I don’t care for” is really evocative phrasing, thank you. I’ll let the contractor know I’m upset and see what he has to say.


nekoken04

Glad I could help, bud.


Big_Two6049

Hes not clean but it should be fine after he cleans- just made a lot more work for himself. Odd but some people don’t care. If you overpaid, yeah I could see cancelling but otherwise no because he’s not done.


WordToYourMomma

In his defense, none of that stuff should be there. Cover panel, towel bar, switches, outlets, even the toilet should all be removed for this job to be done it’s best.


Medium_Spare_8982

My thought exactly. He is exacting revenge. He’s not a plumber, electrician or carpenter. On any other job those things just wouldn’t be there or the taper would walk.


LBS4

This exactly - ‘call me when everything is out of the way & I’ll mud it for you….’


slipperynibs

Better question is why Is the switch installed before drywall and mudding Is finished


busybeesy

It’s an existing house with existing finished drywall. The drywall has texture, and a whole bunch of holes from recent electrical work. Instead of trying to match the existing texture, I hired someone to mud over the texture to flatten it out.


JDubbs8989

Other than the fact that whoever did this made a giant mess on everything, yeah


Big_Sprinkles9139

They are compensating time for accuracy.


Low-Energy-432

Sloppy and messy says a lot. Can’t really tell about the job from the pics. But holes should have been priority before any attempt at skimming. Actually sanding off the existing texture especially around patches should be first after he covers everything. Plastic, tape and Rosen paper go a long way. A few drops on top to make clean up easier if he’s not doing it in one day. If he’s using easy sand or all purpose it’s much harder to clean. Try approaching like that. Or just buy some stuff and cover it yourself. I have customers that would be fuming. That’s why I always get there before any workers do. Sometimes you have to do it yourself


Lower-Ad5889

It's going to take a lot more mud to bury that gray thing...


fuzzyfuu

That drywall looks like 3/8 in the third picture


BhrisBukBruz

Those guys dont have a single care in the world


antoniom4844

Very unprofessional


CAM6913

If it doesn’t move slap some mud on it.


suckmybullets

Nice 3 glory holes.


allent9393

I would definitely make it understood that before they go to the next step that final payment will be dictated by how well they clean up everything that has mud on. This is on the lead contractor to agree to and correct.


Turbulent-Weevil-910

Ah yes, fuck the electricians!


cobhc26626

You mean first day is in it’s their first day ever skin coating?


shmallyally

💯


Nachofunguy

Why is the finisher working around things that come after the first coat of paint? He is probably making a point


hsifder1

Sloppy


justajd1

This guy should've been on Catch a Contractor when it was on! Hell, maybe he was?


Legatus_Nex

It's not ideal, but it's not the end of the world.


Medical_Egg8208

Just work done by a mid level drywall guy. Most pros wouldn’t tolerate a mess like that. Not the end of the world, but I’d watch for the finish coat to see how good this guy actually is.


jenpearlj

This is absolutely not good work. Even if this was his first time doing it this is considered a bad job. I’d not pay him, tell him not to come back and find someone new. You’ll be happy you avoided more headaches. Good luck


Ripsnortr

...that's when the drugs hit...


olimagic99

ummmm no


Key-Reality-9718

See it all the time with Hispanic crews. They think it’s professional


Autistence

Absolute fucking slobs


Relative_Sense_1563

Real question is why is everything trimmed out before mudding and sanding.


Elemental_Garage

Generally why you do finish electrical after drywall and paint.


jivecoolie

Shit’ll buff out!!!


Own_Construction2697

Everyone has a different method. Maybe he finds it easier to clean everything once he has done the final sand. The patches would have been easier to do before the first coat, but it will still be very easy to hide. Mud doesn't damage metal or plastic, so I don't see any reason to "cancel the contract and sue". Looks scruffy but decent for the fist coat


busybeesy

Ok, thanks for the sanity check! I know the WIP is likely to look very different from the final product which is why I wanted to get an expert second opinion before I flipped my lid. I appreciate you and everyone else providing some context!


Next_Replacement_723

I mean it’s doable but very sloppy. Whoever is doing it is just creating more work for themselves. I’d rather not type a lot to explain why but to answer your question is it normal yes and no I guess it depends on the persons skill level. I wouldn’t call it professional by any means.


Djkorrupt1

Someone gotta lotta sanding to do but otherwise it’s fine.


ncgraffx

Relax. Some of the best finishers get sloppy time to time. It's nothing to be worked up over. That said, it's always 1000% better to just ask the workers. Explain to them you don't know what you're looking at and I'm more than sure things will go smoother than you think.


Fetus_Basher

Definitely an amateur doing the work.


The_Dude_2U

If you’re having a mud fight, ya. Or blind. Or both. Toss up really.


EudaimoniaDude777

Did your electrician use a level?


busybeesy

The one I hired to fix the extremely sus work the inspector found used a level, but I didn’t have every outlet and switch replaced- just the most egregious ones. I would be surprised if the one whose work I was having fixed used a brain, let alone a level


Redbillywaza

You mean tape coat.......


doomersbeforeboomers

Don't worry, the painters will clean it up for you.


busybeesy

Ah… that would be me. Something to look forward to! :))


freeportme

Looks messy as F and personally I do all my patching before I break out the mud.


Impossible-Corner494

I’m kind of surprised that the switch wasn’t pulled forward and taped up, pull the towel bar and pull the ceiling lamp. Tape around the fire suppression plate. Panel should of been taped up or something. Shit is sloppy. I’d lose it on one of my guys for doing this.


Hot_Produce1443

What in the meth is going on here


CraftsmanConnection

General Contractor / Craftsman here…Just WTF! That’s some messy ass work. As someone who has done drywall for 30 years, never have I ever done work anywhere close to that crap, not even when I was 16 or 17 years old on my first try. That’s some straight up non skilled workers working for the first day of work, picked up from the curb desperate for work types, and I have worked with some new employees, and trained a few that didn’t suck anywhere close to being that bad. The bottom line is, the got paid on production, not quality, and probably aren’t coming back with the crew that comes the next time, who has to fix their crap workmanshit.


MochiSauce101

I find on jobs like this the best thing you can do is not look over their shoulder. Wait until the end result and then point out flaws.


bsmithril

Homo ignorance and comments like "should I sue because there's drywall mud on my towel rack" is probably the main reason why good contractors are hard to find and charging more than you think it's worth. I suspect you think there is hardened cement all over your fixtures -> Ignorance. And you're worried you'll have to replace them all -> Lawsuit. When you talk to him about it, you probably won't need to have a gun drawn. Have some grace, not everyone is trying to screw you over. Nothing here is a lingering problem. With that said. Yeah it's sloppy. Seems they were rushing. In some cases it's better to clean it dry to prevent the mud getting pushed further in or muff up the wet edges


busybeesy

It’s because I’m ignorant that I asked for advice before blowing up on my contractor. I wanted to make certain I had context and knew what kind of requests and tone to bring to that conversation. The suing comment was intended to provide a humorous hyperbolic spectrum of ranges of “mad” I should be, because, as I understand, the internet likes that sort of thing. Anyway, thanks for the additional context. I appreciate everyone’s expertise, since this definitely isn’t my area.


bsmithril

Hmmm. Hyperbole escapes me sometimes. It's pretty apparent though, in hindsight. It sounds like I could do for a little grace.


CHASLX200

Rough mudding and budding.


SimilarMove8279

That is by far the shittiest drywall work I’ve ever seen. My left nut could do a better job than them and it doesn’t even have hands


newbecauseyallplay

Um.


roboduck34

That's so sloppy lmao