Tiling/ trade blunders and accidents

[Qwerty]

I was packing away tools yesterday at 6pm on the driveway of a wet room I'm working on at the mo. I always pride myself on never having had any serious accidents or blunders, but I went and did it yesterday. Loading my dewalt d24000 into the van when I lost grip of the stand as I tried to manoeuvre it in from an angle. The pointed metal feet (all 4) slammed straight into the next door neighbours new vauxhall Astra side door! Needless to say I couldn't deny it

Looks like I'm phoning my insurance company then.

What accidents or blunders have people had?

I put this in the arms so out of the way if customers!

 

[gamma38]

This should be a good thread.

 

[Del W]

Moving a length of 4 x 2....straight though a window ! opps

 

[bugs183]

We were tiling a swimming pool and watched the glazer drop a tee-shaped profile into the pool, just as the customer walked in with cups of tea.
'Is it ok, she asked?', 'oh yea' said the glazer.
Needless to say the pool emptied to the level of a tee shaped cut in the liner! ooopsy.

Now what have i done:
Having done a lovely floor in Bangor and gripping the cheque in my hand i reversed quickly up the steep drive, straight into one of those stupid nib brick walls you can't see. I gave him his cheque back! Ironically he had it rebuilt and then knocked it over himself!
My dad was grouting a shower and just as he said 'oh this is going well' he dropped his trowel and it stuck straight into the shower tray.

 

[afright]

In my younger days I was polishing a big terrazzo supermarket floor with the wet polisher the cable pulled tight so giving it a big tug,there was an almighty crash looked round and saw the painter and paint laying on the floor he was covered in paint,what had happened was the cable had wrapped around his ladders, needless to say he did not have a clue what I had done.

 

[Pebbs]

Dropped my tape measure on a job, and knocked myself out...didnt see the scaffold bar. I had a bit of a hum dinger of a headache, for a few days, in the end I went to the doctors for some painkillers, who then sent me to the hospital for an xray...I had only gone and fractured my skull! Then I put my hand under a circular saw one day (dont ask why, I have these 'blonde' moments) and was rushed up the hospital for micro surgery....the list goes on...then there was the time I ran up the stairs bearfooted and felt a sharp sting in my foot...yes it was sharp all right, a carpet tack had embedded it self in my foot, it was ok though my brother got the pilers and pulled it out! Two weeks ago I gashed my knee open on the corner of some portland stone, I am a walking disaster somedays....most days come to think of it.

Pebbs

 

[dave l and l]

damaged a couple of baths through my own clumsiness,cost me a few fair bob to sort.
yesterday painter was climbing out on scaffold and he dropped full can of oil based white primer down the sandstone wall six hours he scrubbed and scrubbed but to no avail,

 

[Sean SML Tiling]

Thought id be cheeky and left my trainers on when on site and ended up standing on a nail. Went straight through my foot and rhen went straight to hospital

 

[cam_low]

Walked into the customers house to start the rip out after plumber had fitted tray.
Looking around on where to start I sent the help to get the dust sheets. Whilst he was away I touched a tile...literally. ..and it fell...corner first into the tray. Luckily im a dab hand with the repair kit and have a few shades of white courtesy of a friend in a paint shop.

 

[John Benton]

Actually posted a small incident a few weeks ago that happened to me with a chopsaw. The shape of the piece of wood I was trying to cut wouldn't enable the guard to lift as the blade started cutting so I held it up manually which meant my arm had to hold the wood across/underneath the blade. As it started cutting it grabbed the wood and took my arm in a bit and also the blade down onto my arm!!! New blade meant it was a lovely clean cut and it's healed lovely.

 

[Qwerty]

Had to laugh at the chippie yesterday at the job I'm on at the moment .........he was so proud of his bespoke oak door frame he had just installed and proceeded to run his fingers down the edge catching a really nasty splinter which went so deep he almost went through the roof. Karma caught up with me when I dented the neighbours car. I hope he doesn't find out as I know he will take the p1ss!

 

[White Room]

I was 15 at the time, first job as an apprentice plumbing and heating. Leaned a bundle of 15mm copper pipe up against the wall of a house we was working on, for some reason it slid down the wall and straight through a window, a large one at that.

 

[AMtek]

Draining a radiator, cracked the nut, wrapped rag round it and put a tray under to catch the water, went away to do something else while it drained, came back 10 mins later and the tray had moved. To this day I have no idea how it had moved, empty house, I was the only one there! the worst part is that the radiator was over a very light cream carpet

 

[Diggy]

About a year into my career I was given a patch of tiling to do ( 6x6 white i think ) upstairs in a kitchen - Pub refurb. There was a floorboard missing about a foot from the wall , no prob says Diggy to gaffer, I'll be alright , .

I procceded to put my leg through the only part of the finished ceiling downstairs in the bar area to loud cheers . It was that burgundy floral type wall paper too , wasn't overly popular with the decorator lol.

Diggy

 

[Ian]

I've been reading this thread with interest and trying to think if I've done anything dumb, I was pretty sure I hadn't but then remembered something today. Before I discovered the pro-gres grinder blade, I used to use vitrex glass cutting blades on my grinder, they gave a very clean cut but didn't last long at all. When they were worn they used to spit red hot bits of molten tile everywhere. On one occasion I was cutting inside the customers garage as it was raining outside, he had a classic motorbike which I'd covered over so it didn't get dusty. The tile I was cutting was a glass border and the hot bits were flying all over the place, I'd done my cut and took it back upstairs only to find it needed a bit more off it, back downstairs I went. I walked back into the garage to find the dust sheet covering the bike was in the early stages of an inferno, obviously caused by the grinder sparks! I quickly whipped it off the bike and dunked it in my wash bucket. If that cut had fitted first time, I wouldn't have been back outside for maybe another half an hour and I have no doubt that the house and it's contents would have burnt to the ground. A lucky escape.

 

[cam_low]

CRIKEY ! That's a bloomer if there ever could have been one !

You can see the owner in a few years time, in the pub, when it's a laughable situation, 'Aye, I got the tiler in, he burnt me house to the ground!'

 

[Ian]

CRIKEY ! That's a bloomer if there ever could have been one !

You can see the owner in a few years time, in the pub, when it's a laughable situation, 'Aye, I got the tiler in, he burnt me house to the ground!'

Liability insurance claim for sure! Not covered for hot work though, does a spark from a grinder count as hot work?!?!

 

[cam_low]

Good question, something you may want to check out, however Im sure you wont be setting things one fire in the near future !

 

[White Room]

You don't things in halfs Bri:yikes:

 

[Ian]

You don't things in halfs Bri:yikes:

So, so lucky! Another 10 mins and I'd have been calling fireman Sam :lol:

 

[cam_low]

Then postman pat would have been at your door with a few bills !

 

[MTiler]

Apart from putting screws through water pipes, twice, I managed to break the corner off a customers bathroom sink, I was mortified. I was working above it and just as I was thinking that i should cover it I dropped the hammer. The customer was fine about it, and it worked out for the best because I had to somehow cover a mass of pipes and suggested getting a new sink with a vanity unit attached, I just paid for the new sink. It worked a treat and the customer was a happy bunny.

 

[White Room]

The garage must of stunk to high heaven.....

 

[Ian]

The garage must of stunk to high heaven.....

It must have been about 4 years ago now, I can't really remember. I do recall the dust sheet having a very big hole in it :lol:

 

[CJ]

Those dust sheets do catch fire rather easily.


I had a Bedford Rascal van in my earlier years. On my way to a job, on a hot day. Both front windows open......and 2 small windows in back open.

Me having a smoke on my way home.......flicked my butt out of the window, (or so I thought) and carried on. 10 mins later I had passing motorists beeping me. I couldn't work out why. Until I glanced into my 1 and only functional wing mirror. My large dust sheet had been smouldering away, kicking out rather a lot of smoke, which was being dragged out of the back windows. I thought the smell was coming from the fields. (Lot of stubble burning going on)

God knows wot it looked like from behind, I imagine peeps thought I was on fire.

This is the same van I had to pee into.........but that's another story.

Well.....it's work related. :mad2: