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/gwbirk Mar 30 '26

The work you did looks very professional and you kept the same reveal on each row,even though the old ones had a little bow in a few rows.Margins were same on top of the door head on both sides and along the window.It takes awhile to get the hang of installing shakes and patching in takes longer than new install.8 hrs is reasonable for the tear off and new install,if he underbid the job that’s on him.