16 Comments

This was a great read!

I am wall and ceiling fixer by trade (a gyprocker) from Australia and I loved your summation of the many hiccups that can come with gyprocking.

I also just thought it was cool that someone wrote about gyprock - I’ve been writing for ages and working with gyprock for even longer. And writing about it had never even occurred to me.

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Thank you. Sometimes I wonder if I am writing something obvious that only I didn't know. If you ever want to share a construction story that we can collaborate on, I would like that!

I've had many issues with my renovation and I am happy to be able to share them.

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In my experience, I’ve found lots of people don’t know anything about gyprocking, it’s actually one of the reasons that shitty tradies can get away with so much. So I think what your writing is valuable for sure.

Yeah I’ve seen lots of people have some real night mares with renovations- I wouldn’t wish it on anyone to be honest haha.

And I certainly have some funny/debacle type construction stories I could share - but like I said I’ve never thought about writing them out. But you’ve kinda inspired me to do so.

If I write one out and it works I’ll be in contact and maybe we can collaborate on it.

I’ll sub so I can keep you in my ‘rolladex’

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So true that tradespeople get away with things because homeowners don't know. Every time I'd try to catch my contractor with something he didn't know he would blatantly lie. It took me a while to figure it out.

Happy to collaborate if it makes sense but I'd be thrilled if you wrote yours!

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Yeah I used to say to people - I don’t think I’m the greatest tradesmen in the world or anything but the reason I always stayed employed was that there was some many dodgy tradies out there doing a bad job

Thanks I’ll see how it goes.

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It's really unbelievable that construction is afflicted with so many dishonest folks. A good post idea > why they do it and what questions to ask to protect oneself.

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That is good idea 🤔

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This article is super informative. It's a must-read, thank you!

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Thank you!

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Great post. Plenty of practical detail but not overwhelming. For those who want to know what’s really in any building material, you can request the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). Here’s an example from Dr. Google: http://www.commercialdrywall.com/files/products/liftlite-drywall.pdf

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Thank you! Very helpful suggestion. I was contemplating writing a post on product sheets then wondered if anyone would read them. Most contractors never seem to but they should. Perhaps it’s a good idea to write it so homeowners can be informed.

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I'm all for it. People don't know what they don't know. When I first learned about MSDS, I was like - how could we NOT know about this?? One of the leading firms in sustainability in the '90s sent a request for MSDS from all their sales reps of all the products they specified. They got a lot of puzzled responses, but eventually compiled the first green product spec guide. And the rest is history. . . .

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Fair point. Awareness is a step in the right direction.

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To write about such technical issues in

simple language and thus make it accessible

to a common reader is no mean achievement.

And felicity in writing is a major plus point

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