I have to rant.

It seems like most of the tradesmen I talked to do not care about
minimizing downstream headaches when doing their work.

Example: I have a wall that is a 3/8" plaster on top of a 3/8" gypsum
board backing, a total of 3/4" thickness. I am trying to eliminate
having to match thicknesses, so I demo to the corners where possible.
I hired a guy to do the additional demo work, one wall is about 30'
long and previously I demoed from door edge wall edge, and now I
decided to remove the additional 2' from the door edge to the wall
edge, so a uniform 1/2" thick standard sheet rock may be used. I
hired someone to come to do those additional minor demo work. He said
why not just use 1/2" thick new sheetrock plus 1/4" new sheet rock to
match? or use 5/8" sheetrock and do a think coat of plaster all over
to match. So, it easier and cheaper to match 28' of wall or demo the
remaining 2' of it?

Another example: I have custom stucco finish on my exterior wall. At
one location I converted a door into a window, so I need to match the
custom stucco under the new window, as well as a couple of other
spots. I hired a stucco expert to come take a look, and he said he
can match it and it's a small job. Then he said "why not get rid of
this custom stucco, and do a plain smooth stucco, that way if you need
to do other work in the future, the matching work would be less".
Again, why would I re-stucco 400 linear feet of exterior wall to avoid
patching a 2' wide 3' tall spot, especially considering the custom
pattern is one I like better than the smooth finish?

I can go on and on.

It just seems like they only motivation is to create more work,
whether it makes sense or not.

OK I am done ranting.

MC

I have to rant.

It seems like most of the tradesmen I talked to do not care about
minimizing downstream headaches when doing their work.

Example: I have a wall that is a 3/8" plaster on top of a 3/8" gypsum
board backing, a total of 3/4" thickness. I am trying to eliminate
having to match thicknesses, so I demo to the corners where possible.
I hired a guy to do the additional demo work, one wall is about 30'
long and previously I demoed from door edge wall edge, and now I
decided to remove the additional 2' from the door edge to the wall
edge, so a uniform 1/2" thick standard sheet rock may be used. I
hired someone to come to do those additional minor demo work. He said
why not just use 1/2" thick new sheetrock plus 1/4" new sheet rock to
match? or use 5/8" sheetrock and do a think coat of plaster all over
to match. So, it easier and cheaper to match 28' of wall or demo the
remaining 2' of it?

Another example: I have custom stucco finish on my exterior wall. At
one location I converted a door into a window, so I need to match the
custom stucco under the new window, as well as a couple of other
spots. I hired a stucco expert to come take a look, and he said he
can match it and it's a small job. Then he said "why not get rid of
this custom stucco, and do a plain smooth stucco, that way if you need
to do other work in the future, the matching work would be less".
Again, why would I re-stucco 400 linear feet of exterior wall to avoid
patching a 2' wide 3' tall spot, especially considering the custom
pattern is one I like better than the smooth finish?

I can go on and on.

It just seems like they only motivation is to create more work,
whether it makes sense or not.

OK I am done ranting.

MC

I feel your pain.

Looking at it from the other side, I try to give clients all the
options before they make up their minds what to do. But I do my best to
steer clear of implying that they did something wrong and how I would
have done it differently--unless they specifically ask. Even then, I
don't imply they're stupid.

--
Steve Bell
New Life Home Improvement
Arlington, TX USA