I'm going to have to let someone go.

Have you ever had an employee who just could not do one single thing correctly? No matter what it is either they just don't comprehend or are off in la la land or whatever? This is a young twenties general laborer.

Today was the last straw. I had my helper replace air conditioner filters today. They are in overhead compartments that screw shut so I don't want tenants fooling with them. About an hour later my tenants all start calling that the AC isn't working.

What the heck? ALL my AC going out at the same time? First though was copper or Freon thieves. I get over to the apts and the AC units are hardly pumping any air.

My "helper" didn't take the plastic wrapping off the filters before he put them in the blowers. Is that not self explanatory?

This my friends, is the future of our country. God help us all.

Hmmm,

Based on what I have witnessed in the last month alone....I have to agree with you.

I make the mistake of watching Band of Brothers, then going off to work where I meet ....a whole lot of your helpers.

David, that's simply not true or a be all end all philosophy. I hire people in all pay ranges and they all mess stuff up. Not all the time, but often.

ne, yes but the higher paid people mess stuff up less often. you want a higher quality labor , you pay more

I agree with NE. My handyman of 5+ years can drive me nuts at times when he made rookie mistakes. I think being hourly wage earners, they just don't care, or their life got in the way (court for unpaid child support, lousy gf, etc etc)

Just this past week alone, my blood was boiling at least twice and dished out 10+ f bombs to him at once.

1. caught a minimum wage guy was using finish paint on new drywall while I deliberately supplied primer/paint in one to save time. My handyman would miss that (he gives them work and the paint, no excuse)

Elliot, I just had this yesterday with my "high wage" guy. Had him roll off an enclosed 2nd story porch. It looked like the pitch of the gable end changed from the outside to the inside of the enclosed porch.

I specifically told him to remove the ceiling inside the porch first before doing the demo. That way we'll be able to see if the pitch changes and it would be a lot easier to fix it while standing on the porch before the porch was removed than it would be to do it from ladders 20' up in the air.

Guess what?

Porch is gone, soffit line changed. Now it's

Gotta be done from ladders 20' up.

I texted him a picture and ask him how he plans on fixing that now that the porch is ripped off?

He said all I told him to do was demo.

I said no, we both stood there in the yard discussing

It, WHILE LOOKING AT IT, the night before.

He's my highest paid guy and usually the only one who complains I don't pay him enough, hahaha. Figure that one out?

So it's not the pay, it's when they try to think for themselves is where the issues usually come from.

Even if I didn't tell him to fix the ceiling from the inside the porch before the porch was ripped off, wouldn't you think a "high paid" guy would have the foresight

To know that the soffit would need to be fixed and it would be 100% easier to do it while standing on the porch 7' above your head?

Guess not.

So it's to the point now where EVERYTHING will be in writing including cleaning up the ground of debris and where to put the cleaned up debris.

He did ridge caps for me the other day and left a bunch of junk on a 9/12 pitch roof.

I texted him and asked why he left all that stuff on the roof. He said that I got a good deal on the caps and to send one of my other guys up there to clean it. All I responded to that was with another text that said "Wow!"

About an hour later he texted me and told me he went over and cleaned the roof off.

So, all in all, this high paid help usually does good work when he listens to exactly what I want. If he strays from that at all, he messes up big time and tries to blame me.

"He's my highest paid guy and usually the only one who complains I don't pay him enough, hahaha. Figure that one out?"

The fact that he's YOUR highest paid guy doesn't mean anything. He could be paid $10 an hour while everyone else gets $8. So, how much are you paying him an hour?

Wow!

Sounds like when a "friend" of ours- man in his 40s, was helping us start flipping houses. We trusted this guy cause he had done some of his own. He said "let me take care of EVERYTHING."

First red flag... Plastic piping that his workers had installed under the front porch so he could have access to a water spigot. Of course it froze up.

He painted the roof and all the screens with overspray.

Third and last red flag was when he commented that he thought the big window in the front of the house should have a screen.

You mean the big picture window that doesn't open?

Yep, that night it was margaritaville in my backyard.

Hey - we are all human. We all make mistakes. Once I called an appliance guy because the appliance wasn't working. Don't remember now exactly what it was. I think it was my new chest freezer- of course it had to be when I was really young.......That's my story and I'm sticking to it..Anyway all it needed was the switch to be turned on.

Don't even get me started. I have handymen and farmhands.

I make them take their earbuds out before giving orders. Last year I had my handyman come to my farm to mow. I took him over farm and made a HUGE point about the hill over my pond not being safe for tractors. He informed me he had done professional landscaping and knew tractors. I told him to still stay away from that hill and do by hand. On his first round and before he had even learned the tractor, he took it down the hill and went right into the pond. My tractor was headfirst in the pond with his flipflops floating behind it. He blamed the tractor tires.

Omg! Lana,the picture of flip flops floating...I lost it. Can't believe he drove a tractor in flip-flops!!!!!!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

CTLL, why did you have to have your chest frozen? Charlie...... ..... Just asking? ...

Last guy that mowed the lawn at the flip had one of those mowers that blew the grass out the side. Well needless to say he had it pointed at the house. Also mowed it when it was a little wet so I have this semi wet grass stuck to the entire house, 2 decks, outside stairwell and steps, front/back door, etc haha. This of course was after I originally told him I needed the lawn bagged when you mow.

Reminds me of the two guys who were siding a house. The experienced one noticed that the new guy was tossing about every other nail over his shoulder. He finally asked the new guy, "How come you're throwing so many nails away?"

The new guy said, "Well, boss, a lot of these nails are defective. They have the head on the wrong end."

I hired a drunk painter (is that an oxymoron?) and one painter was alone doing all the work. I got him number, and he assured me that he would finish up, and fix everything. He also wanted to be our "handyman".

He's in him mid-twenties. He started out doing good work, and it was certainly better than the drunk, but then he couldn't maintain it. He doesn't like to work! When ever I drove up he was on his phone, or not working, or wouldn't show up.

His stepfather and uncles came over to help out. They are first generation immigrants. They worked hard and never stopped.

I hired a drunk painter (is that an oxymoron?) and one painter was alone doing all the work. I got him number, and he assured me that he would finish up, and fix everything. He also wanted to be our "handyman".

He's in him mid-twenties. He started out doing good work, and it was certainly better than the drunk, but then he couldn't maintain it. He doesn't like to work! When ever I drove up he was on his phone, or not working, or wouldn't show up.

His stepfather and uncles came over to help out. They are first generation immigrants. They worked hard and never stopped.

LTD,

Hahaha! GREAT story!

Pay rate does not equal competence. It just means they are able to talk someone into laying more.

Some of my best workers were good ol country boys at $9/hour. Got more done without complaining than the $50/hr certified HVAC tech. Common saying: "If I pulled a stunt like that my Daddy woulda wupped my backside."

Employers are saying young candidates do not have basic physical skills like using simple household tools - Screwdriver, hammer...

BRAD