Had a customer chew me out for drilling through their ceiling joist

Last month I was wiring up a new DSC panel in a basement in Portland and the customer walked down right as I was about to drill into a joist for a wire path. He told me I was risking the structural integrity of his 1950s house and he wanted it done with surface mount conduit instead. I argued for a minute but then I looked up what he was talking about and he was right. Now I always map out my routes above the drop ceiling first before I drill anything. Anyone else had a homeowner call them out on something that actually made you change your whole approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim6936d ago

My buddy is a structural engineer and he told me once that a 1950s house is actually way more forgiving than something built in the 70s or 80s because the lumber was generally bigger back then. Still doesn't mean you should go wild with notching though.

holly_walker766d ago

That's actually a solid lesson though and I respect that you changed your approach after looking into it. A lot of guys would have just argued and drilled anyway because they think they know better. But honestly building codes exist for a reason and messing with joists in old houses can be a real problem. My uncle had a house from the 1920s and a previous owner notched too many joists for plumbing and the floor was sagging bad by the time he bought it. Now I always scope out the whole ceiling grid first with a flashlight and mark my path with a pencil before I even pull the drill out. It saves so much headache and drywall repair later. Plus the customer sees you being careful and that builds trust even if they are being annoying about it.