We've done this before but often new horrors are unearthed .
Younger sparks find some of the stuff hard to believe in a world where the firm wants jobs turned over quicker & quicker.
Going back to being an apprentice with a very large contractor , mostly working on industrial installation & large commercial sites . Actually no domestic whatsoever other than the odd foreigner TBH .
So a few bullet points ( I think thats the buzzword)
1) Tools were very dear in relation to a sparks earnings ( Sparks on £25.00 /week ...Stanley 10ft rule @ £5.00 )
2) Self employed sparks unheard of other than in the domestic line.
3) No employed sparks actually had an power drill , most had in kit a wheelbrace or swingbrace .
4) A typical job could be , say, 10 sparks & 5 apprentices , there would be 3 power drills , non hammer, big heavy Wolf
things .
5) SDS unheard of . First hammer drills were the old ratched cam type
6) Fixing holes plugged by hand with a Rawlplug Tool & hammer. (The Devil's Device) ( Fixing one saddle= 10mins)
7) Most wiring had no earth wire , trunking & conduit acting as earth conductor .
8) A good point was , all cable was stranded until Metrication Day when 7/.029 became 2.5mm.sq Solid crap core.
9) Sparks dayrate was higher than most trades but chippies, brickies, plumbers, heating engs, plasterers, painters etc all
worked on a price , forsaking their hourly rate while it was totally discouraged for sparks .
So your average sparks , young, just married, 1 child, struggling with mortgage...so often did not own a car.
10 ) Some were still using a wooden bending block to set conduit ........plastic conduit unheard of.
11) Also unheard of was any kind of testing :C or certifying ...certifying
msl1: other than meggering Pyros .
12) I saw sparks on a big new housing development drilling the joists with swingbraces or augers
I'll let others come in with their memories of the not so good old days.
Younger sparks find some of the stuff hard to believe in a world where the firm wants jobs turned over quicker & quicker.
Going back to being an apprentice with a very large contractor , mostly working on industrial installation & large commercial sites . Actually no domestic whatsoever other than the odd foreigner TBH .
So a few bullet points ( I think thats the buzzword)
1) Tools were very dear in relation to a sparks earnings ( Sparks on £25.00 /week ...Stanley 10ft rule @ £5.00 )
2) Self employed sparks unheard of other than in the domestic line.
3) No employed sparks actually had an power drill , most had in kit a wheelbrace or swingbrace .
4) A typical job could be , say, 10 sparks & 5 apprentices , there would be 3 power drills , non hammer, big heavy Wolf
things .
5) SDS unheard of . First hammer drills were the old ratched cam type
6) Fixing holes plugged by hand with a Rawlplug Tool & hammer. (The Devil's Device) ( Fixing one saddle= 10mins)
7) Most wiring had no earth wire , trunking & conduit acting as earth conductor .
8) A good point was , all cable was stranded until Metrication Day when 7/.029 became 2.5mm.sq Solid crap core.
9) Sparks dayrate was higher than most trades but chippies, brickies, plumbers, heating engs, plasterers, painters etc all
worked on a price , forsaking their hourly rate while it was totally discouraged for sparks .
So your average sparks , young, just married, 1 child, struggling with mortgage...so often did not own a car.
10 ) Some were still using a wooden bending block to set conduit ........plastic conduit unheard of.
11) Also unheard of was any kind of testing :C or certifying ...certifying
msl1: other than meggering Pyros . 12) I saw sparks on a big new housing development drilling the joists with swingbraces or augers
I'll let others come in with their memories of the not so good old days.
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