Had a talk with an old foreman from a job in Austin that made me rethink how I run conduit

Ran into my old foreman from a 5 year ago project in Austin, a big mixed use building. He said I was too worried about making my conduit runs look perfect on the first try. He told me 'just get it in and test it, you can always clean up the bends later.' At first I thought he was wrong, but then I remembered he was right. I was spending an hour trying to make a single 90 degree bend look factory when I could have just pulled it and adjusted. Has anyone else had a boss or coworker say something that stuck with you way after the job was done?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.mason1mo ago

Wait, three times longer like @terry_lewis21 said? That's insane, did you ever get faster?

felix82418d ago

Took me way too long to learn this lesson myself. I remember spending three hours on a single panel termination because I wanted every wire to look like it was laser cut. My old timer just looked at me and said "client's gonna cover that up with a door anyway." He was right. I still try to make things neat obviously, but now I do it smart - rough it in fast, then go back and clean up only the visible stuff. Saves me a ton of headache and lets me actually get home at a reasonable time.

terry_lewis211mo ago

Man, that hits home. My first boss in the trade used to say "pretty don't pay the bills." I'd waste half a morning making a rack look like a museum piece. He finally made me time myself, and I was spending three times longer than the other guys. It was a real wake-up call to focus on what actually matters.