That one attic run that took me 5 hours instead of 30 minutes

I had a job last week in an old house in Richmond where I needed to run a line from the basement to the second floor attic. Looked simple on paper, but the fire blocks were placed in the worst spots ever. I spent a solid 2 hours just trying to find a path through the walls with my glow rod. Then I hit a nail plate that stopped me dead for another hour. Ended up having to drill three extra holes in the drywall and patch them after. My boss was not happy when I rolled in 4 hours late to the next job. The whole thing took me from 9am to 2pm and I didn't even have lunch. Has anyone else dealt with those old balloon-frame houses that seem designed to make you suffer?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_oscar17d ago

I read somewhere those old houses were built with whatever wood was cheap back then.

ryan3698d ago

Wait, so they were using cheap wood even back in the old days? I always figured those old houses would be built with strong, quality lumber that lasts forever. Sounds like even back then people had to cut corners to save a buck.

oscar74317d ago

Cheapest lumber they could get.