20
My old foreman told me I was overthinking GFCI placement and it finally clicked
He said if I spent half the time pulling wire that I did moving breakers around, we'd be done by lunch, and after watching him bang out a whole rough-in in 4 hours, I'm starting to wonder if the code book is making me slower not safer - anyone else feel like we overcomplicate residential stuff?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
the_holly26d agoMost Upvoted
Man, I used to be totally guilty of this too. I'd spend way too long trying to get every single outlet right on paper before even touching a wire. But then I watched an old timer just go for it and I realized he was right. The code book's important but it's not supposed to freeze you up. Sometimes you just gotta trust your hands and get the work done.
6
grace_bailey16d ago
And that's the thing right there, it's not about ignoring the code or being reckless. It's about understanding that the code is a baseline not a cage. When you've been doing this long enough, your brain just starts seeing the path even without drawing it out first. I've seen guys who can look at a bare stud wall and already know where every staple is going to land. That kind of feel comes from trusting yourself to make adjustments on the fly instead of trying to plan for every single thing that might come up. The paper plan is a map but sometimes you just have to drive the truck and adjust your route as you go.
10
adams.spencer26d ago
Whoa wait hold up @the_holly, you actually just watched an old timer skip the planning and go straight to wiring? Thats wild to me. I get that code can bog you down but I always thought that was the whole point of taking time on paper first to avoid mess ups. Ive seen guys have to tear out whole runs because they thought they could wing it and it cost them a full day. But I guess if youve been doing it for decades you just have that feel for where everything lands. Still, man, that takes some serious guts to just trust your hands over a detailed plan. Props to you and that old timer for making it work.
2