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Wednesday, February 3. 2010Builder LiteracyTrackbacks
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Two blogs in a row that I can't help but write a comment on! The carpenters you were working with on those tract homes sound much like a lot of carpenters here in Australia - rough as! I've been blessed to have an apprenticeship where I still get to learn things like stairbuilding ( no spirals yet though!) and how to cut a roof, each time I do these interesting and challenging tasks it just gives me a stronger desire to do more of them and less frame bashing( we still do that to, unfortunatly) but you have to take whats put in front of you I guess... Anyway, keep these blogs coming! I'm loving them.
Tedd,
I hope you consider adding a "Distance Learning" or On-demand Virtual Training program to give other like-minded souls access to quality homebuilding education. I echo Tim's comments in the meantime...Keep the education via your blogs coming. Derek Katy, Texas
I feel lucky to have never experienced anything but conscientious and careful builders and carpenters both when working on a crew and more recently as an architect. Maybe because I've never strayed from northern New England. I feel spoiled working as an architect in Vermont.
The Northeast, particularly New England, does have some of the best builders I've encounter too. Like you, I'm lucky to live and work here.
Remember, too, 95% of new homes are built without architects; just your involvement assures a better team and process.
Ted,
Glad to see you’ve been keeping up on your pioneering. Indeed, we have some of the worst builders in the country hear in southern California. One of the good things that’s been surfacing in the midst of our current recession is that many of the incompetent builders and contractors have simply gone away. Many resumes arrive to our office each week. Recently we were in need of hiring rough carpenters for a new project in San Diego. Out of 386 resume reviewed for the position, only 3 seamed most qualified with great references and were hired the next day. Within 2 days they were fired due to lack of competency. Our loyal superintendent told me that the fundamentals of construction was simply absent from the applicants. It doesn’t take much convincing to recognize the level of competency. It is simply observed by the way a carpenter holds his hammer, to some extent. I like to think that we in the south west have the literacy levels within the likes of the New Englanders but I’m not going to kid myself. We have very little builder literacy here and I think it’s because of mass building of track housing aimed to make fast cash for the developers. The cheaper and faster they can build them, the fatter the bottom line. This has been going on for decades. This way of thinking produced countless of illiterate work force in our business and countless of badly built homes and building. I usually don’t like to point out a piece of work and label it as anything at all, let alone label it as ‘bad’. But let’s not keep our mouth shut. In my humble opinion, most builders of today think more is better and dismiss traditional craftsmanship prior to 1950. I must also mention the lack of literacy in today’s architects. Many architects dismiss traditional architecture of the Irving Gill's and Frank Lloyd Wright's and the Green & Green’s. It is of great fortune that we’ve managed to stay busy simply because of our reputation. Word of mouth is most powerful. We strive to follow in the footsteps of the greats in our business and I feel very fortunate to know that pioneers such as you Ted to keep the standards high and preserve the fundamentals and the literacy of building construction. Hope you’re well and don’t forget to call and say hello the next time you visit San Diego. Michel Khozam, President ZMK Construction |
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