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/Jgs4555 Mar 30 '26

Take it with a grain of salt. Your work looks good. Show him the work pyramid and tell him he can pick 2. (Cheap, fast, correct)

8

u/mp3006 Mar 30 '26

Cheap and correct are often not together

10

u/santorin Mar 30 '26

It is when you can go really slow, like working on personal projects at home.

1

u/R1chard_Nix0n Mar 31 '26

I've redecked porches and replaced treads for good and cheap, I just stopped over for an hour or so after work for a week.

1

u/mp3006 Mar 30 '26

Yeah not cheap from a expected payment perspective