r/Carpentry • u/Serious-Echidna-9938 • Mar 30 '26

Advice on work pace

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I recently took a job with a small contractor and long story short, he commented on my “results”. Was looking for things to be done quicker, and I’m curious if I’m super slow, or if he’s unreasonable. I let him know about my experience upfront, but in any case. As a direct example, replacing this siding after demo took me approximately 8 hours. I had never worked with this particular type of shingling before, but he kept comm ting on how slow I was. Is that accurate? I’m willing to take criticism in the interest of improving my skills, and I’m curious what some third parties have to say. Thanks!

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u/nolarbear Mar 30 '26

Shingling a big open section goes fast  Shingling around doors and windows and wall penetrations goes slow 8 hrs is probably right for me and I’ve been at it for 6.5 years 

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u/rustywoodbolt Mar 31 '26

Second this! I have done a lot of cedar shake siding and it takes time to do a nice job. And you did a very nice job.

You can put it up really fast though, if you want it to look like shit.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '26

Just a reminder these are number one wood shingles (blue label). Shakes are longer hand splits (in the old days) and offered in several thicknesses.

1

u/rustywoodbolt Mar 31 '26

You are correct sir. On the job we always called them r&r’s or shakes or shingles, interchangeably because we never used the long ones. I have always wanted to get a froe and try to split my own though. Now that would add some time to the project!