This is so accurate. I absolutely hate that it’s super hard to find qualified craftsmen nowadays. And worse, sometimes they’re clearly unqualified AND don’t speak my language, so communication is super frustrating.
I can find plenty of craftspeople. But usually they will only take specific jobs, with specific outcomes.
I have a situation where I have to have a bathroom completely demolished and plumbing and waste water lines redone.
It’s a simple deal and a quick work yet nobody will take it because there are special demands that need to be met (it involves insurances) like ripping old water lines completely from the wall and run new tubes.
But “ripping out the old is too much work and puttin new pipes into the wall is too conplex: leave the old ones as is and put the new ones outside the wall”.
Nope. Old out, new in. Everything through conduits, with joints and safety valves inside inspection bixes. And there they go running.
As a European:
Struggle to find a craftsman to do any small work.
Work really needs to get done.
Go online, find how it is done.
Go to some hardware store and buy everything and a couple of extras, just for good measure.
Start the work.
Break or destroy whatever the cause of the problem.
Realize the original work was already badly done, is too old to be safe or was half assed together by some lazy person.
Go back online, find modern solution.
Go back to store, buy extra materials.
Break things even more.
Replace bad original work with modern solution, creating in the meanwhile a solution to conected bad work you can’t solve to the work you’ve done.
It works and it is safe.
Eventually, one of the crafts worker calls back.
Sees the work you have done: “Why did you bother doing all of that? You spent too much money.”
Describes shoddy solution, like what was before the damage you solved by yourself.
“Fuck my luck.”
End note: I faced this when fixing a sewers issue and a renewal of an electrical circuit.
This is so accurate. I absolutely hate that it’s super hard to find qualified craftsmen nowadays. And worse, sometimes they’re clearly unqualified AND don’t speak my language, so communication is super frustrating.
I can find plenty of craftspeople. But usually they will only take specific jobs, with specific outcomes.
I have a situation where I have to have a bathroom completely demolished and plumbing and waste water lines redone.
It’s a simple deal and a quick work yet nobody will take it because there are special demands that need to be met (it involves insurances) like ripping old water lines completely from the wall and run new tubes.
But “ripping out the old is too much work and puttin new pipes into the wall is too conplex: leave the old ones as is and put the new ones outside the wall”.
Nope. Old out, new in. Everything through conduits, with joints and safety valves inside inspection bixes. And there they go running.