It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Best advice I can give? It happens. Get over it. Sounds a bit harsh, but if you linger on it it will always be in the back of your mind and will creep back and make you feel incapable.
originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: nonspecific
I'm anxious every time I'm plastering or rendering, both tasks are effectively the final finish of everything else I or mates have done to a property. I'll be the one judged, never mind the crap stud walling, plasterboarding or block walls I'm hiding.
I stress over drying times, depending on the weather/heat/humidity, and it's not until the final trowel that I start to become happy with what I'm looking at.
I hate being watched, and if someone is not around me to actually assist in getting the muck on the walls or ceilings then I'll usually tell them to piss off out of my way.
I don't know why I get so anxious when starting every job because I have produced quality work for years now, I guess it is because I am the final finish of a project, so I'm the one who will be judged if it looks crap.
....as another member said earlier, it's the folk who never question their skills and abilities to watch out for. That's where complacency comes from.
originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: nonspecific
Lol, most jobs I'm building the walls/ceilings, boarding, rendering/plastering, then painting/wallpapering anyway, so if I can make the next stage easier I will.
What really really annoys me is lazy bastards who leave screws sticking 5 mil out if I haven't done the boarding myself, they get smacked in angrily with a claw hammer.
My favourite work is on the mostly old buildings here, joining say a stone wall to rendered areas but instead of using edge beads the client wants sexy freehand curves...I like that a lot, and there are a few places I sometimes drive past just to look and smile to myself that I did that.
On-topic, you finished the job nicely and faced your worries, move on to the next job with a smile...and hopefully not for mates rates next time!
originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: nonspecific
I've held a lot of jobs in my day. From low skilled, to technically skilled to management and teaching jobs. During that time I learned how to do a lot of things. My family and relatives always tell everyone, if you need something done to call on me! (Sometimes not always a good thing, as you probably already know. lol)
What's kind of crazy, is I'm the worst critic of my work. Everyone says I do awesome work, but I'm never completely confident or satisfied in what I do. If I ever do any kind of remodeling or graphic design job, after I'm finished I'm always critiquing the finished job. "I should have done this, or I should have done that. "
It's probably not too uncommon especially for people who are creative or work with their hands. I've had moments like you've mentioned, but I think it comes from being pressured. You feel like your friends are having higher expectations of your work, so your afraid your not going to meet their expectations. The truth is, most people can't tell a good job from a bad job sometimes.
As long as the customer is happy, that's what it's all about. If they find something they don't like than fix it to their satisfaction. I've designed things that in my eye looked awesome, but than my client wanted something that was simple and could have been done by someone with very little skill. That's ok though, just as long as they pay me for my time.
originally posted by: nonspecific
As to the next job I have retired now and moving on to a whole new venture, can't be arsed with it anymore and been trying to escape for years.
It's time to be the real master and boss of my life and not have to worry about this crap any more.
originally posted by: grainofsand
originally posted by: nonspecific
As to the next job I have retired now and moving on to a whole new venture, can't be arsed with it anymore and been trying to escape for years.
It's time to be the real master and boss of my life and not have to worry about this crap any more.
Ah don't be a tease! What's your new mission?
I made a career change to building after nearly a couple of decades using just pens and laptops, I don't miss wearing a suit but I imagine I'll change my mind again in a decade or so. I am quite fickle.
originally posted by: nonspecific
Been trying for a few years to get into small scale manufacture of bespoke furniture, custom personalised dog beds to start with, always nearly got it off the ground and then got busy working to survive or buy tools but almost ready now.
When I was in an office environment I wanted to get back into getting my hands dirty. When I was half way down a hole or upside down behind a toilet trying to tighten a twat of a screw I wanted to die and wished I was back in the office chatting # with my feet on the desk sipping a nice coffee.
It's just life I suppose...
originally posted by: grainofsand
originally posted by: nonspecific
Been trying for a few years to get into small scale manufacture of bespoke furniture, custom personalised dog beds to start with, always nearly got it off the ground and then got busy working to survive or buy tools but almost ready now.
Ah, sounds good, best of luck
When I was in an office environment I wanted to get back into getting my hands dirty. When I was half way down a hole or upside down behind a toilet trying to tighten a twat of a screw I wanted to die and wished I was back in the office chatting # with my feet on the desk sipping a nice coffee.
It's just life I suppose...
Haha true!
I was concreting today with 3 mates, two mixers on the go, 85 full mixes in an inaccessible rear garden, still worked out cheaper than hiring a boom pump ready mixed wagon, and we made a good earner.
I was absolutely ruined though, still am lol, and at one point today I was sweating pints in the sun asking myself why the # am I doing this...then I remembered the earner, and the paid physical workout I was getting.
I'd be a fat bastard if I didn't do physical work, and I'd have to adapt my calories intake...especially beer.
I know a few plasterers that would spark you clean out for leaving a screw protruding for them to ding a well honed tool on. One of the last things I do if I have built a stud wall is check every last one...