All Things Tradies

I’ve trained apprentices from all races.
It’s not about the colour of their skin.
Like I said, it’s about the training, and if not then about experience in local conditions.
If you ignore that then you get what you deserve, and I have no pity for you.

There is also a massive difference between hard and soft landscaping.
Soft is more just gardening, plants, mulch etc.
Hard is concreting, brick and stone work, paving, timber etc.
A fully qualified landscaper has both.

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I take a dim view of anyone who willingly chooses to install fake lawn.

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Considering I live on swamp land which is horrendous for 6 months of the year and many others in my estate have the same issue (heavy water log and constant mud. I think it’s better than just going full concrete yard.

Never go full concrete…

Sounds like quite a challenging site. Lots of fake lawn don’t like full immersion for prolonged periods which may void the warranty. You may need to raise the prevailing ground level to improve the drainage and to limit the bog during the wet season. If you went down that path, it opens the door to using real grass. And time spent mowing it. I’d avoid those contractors who think they can just spread some cracker dust, run a compactor over it then roll out some fake lawn as they’re not familiar with your terrain. Sounds expensive either way. Or you can move over here. Gutless coastal sand does have it’s advantages. Good luck with it.

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What if he’s Italian?

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Well there goes SBS plans for their own version of Backyard Blitza

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could you do some of the initial work yourself first to reduce the cost from 18k, back to like your 15k which you are happy with? - level the block add more soil to the swampy areas, fix any drainage issues on the property, deconstruct the play equipment then get the pros in to finish it off.

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Will give it a crack.

I like the decal on the van used by a couple of NZ plumbers of Indian heritage.

You’ve tried all the cowboys
Now call the Indians

Having worked on quite a few software projects, we used to joke about the old proverb too many chiefs, not enough Indians.

No such thing as not enough Indians in software projects.

My issue was a cultural one. If they (in particular, men) didn’t understand what you were instructing them, they didn’t want to lose face in front of their colleagues by asking. Tons of exceptions though. The bloke who replaced me when I retired was of very high quality.

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Can we not turn this into a racism thread and keep it all about experiences with Tradies good and bad.

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My best experience with a Tradie.

About 2 years into having our house built (this is going back 6 years ago) our ensuite shower wouldn’t stop dripping from the shower head. Our neighbour who live across the road (was a plumber with his own business) came over and sorted it out on a Sunday. We found out the builders who built the house used plastic washers which had worn out. Fitted us out with brass/copper ones for six pack of Coronas.

Good thing for anyone wanting to build their first home. Ensure they don’t use the entry level stuff.

Devestated that they moved out. His business was booming and needed a bigger house and land to store his excavator and 4 company vehicles (one for each worker) as they lined our street and people were complaining.

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Can anyone recommend me a decent fence contractor in the outer Eastern suburbs?

Looking for someone who can install maybe 30m of chainlink fence on steep and uneven ground as part of a dog run.

Tradies, you say?