Remembering a job in an old brick building in Pittsburgh

I was running wire for a new panel in this old bank turned office, and the foreman, Frank, pointed at the original plaster walls. He said, 'Kid, you can pull all the new tech you want, but if you don't listen to the building first, you'll fight it all day.' He showed me how to follow the old lath lines to find clear paths. That stuck with me more than any manual. Do you have a story about an old-timer teaching you a trick on a tough site?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinmason2d ago

Man, my old boss taught me the same thing about reading the grain in century-old wood!

theabennett2d ago

Grain reading's for green wood, not aged stuff.

kim.hannah2d ago

Oh man, that's a risky take... I've had aged boards with wild internal tension that'll pinch a saw blade just like green wood. You gotta look for those subtle color shifts and how the end grain checks run, even on old stock. Skipping that step is how you get a nasty surprise halfway through a cut. It just takes a different eye, that's all.