The Four Tradesman And There Sons

The passing of a trade to the next generation still exist.

Photo by Milivoj Kuhar on Unsplash

The picture about is pretty close to what happened in our kitchen, starting in July 2020.


Three things we accomplished during this Pandemic so far.

Purchase a home, remodel the home, and moved into the home.

The purchase and the move parts in were straightforward. That is no drama or shortfalls.


The remodel

The exciting part of this journey was the remodeling of the complete inside of the home.

We explored several options, including hiring a general contractor. The idea soon faded when we discovered the contractors were months out because they were too many projects and not enough workers.

The only other option was managing the entire process ourselves. My wife over the year had viewed many of the home improvements shows combined with knowing exactly what she wanted in the home.


The beginning process, the kitchen.

The kitchen was a galley-style kitchen. Dark with one way in and one way out. There was a drop ceiling. So, it was very confining and not an inviting room.

The first process involved gutting the kitchen and removing the drop ceiling. The first step was to make sure that what were told prior to the purchase was in fact true, it was. We started calling around for sheetrock professionals. After getting estimates from several contractors, we select one, and the work began.


The first tradesperson and his son.

The first part of the demolition started taking several days. We give away the old kitchen cabinets and countertops. This excited us knowing that they were repurposed, and not in the dumpster. A dumpster was outside our home for several weeks. They placed the old drop ceiling and the many other components from the kitchen ceiling in the dumpster.

When the re-construction and sheetrock parts began, the first tradesperson son was amount those working on the sheet rocking parts. They returned four arched doorways to squared doorways. Many walls that had uneven sheet rock texture, requiring removal and re-texturing.

The son was there more than the dad, seems dad just got the project started.

The Dad and Mom are in their late sixties. They have three children, one still unmarried, and seven grandchildren. The son who worked on our home was in his late thirties, married with four children, three girls, and one son. I wander is any of those children will take the drywall trade.


The second tradesperson and his son.

After the drywall part of the project completed, it was time for a painter. We interviewed several painters. The first painter painted the garage floor with two-part epoxy, and the ultimate price was more than expected. The search for another painter ended with one that the drywall people knew for years.

There were three areas that required painting, the inside of the garage, the entire inside of the home, and the outside. We could complete the first two parts, the garage and the entire inside. The outside will be likely in the summer.

The painter showed up and gave us a price for the first two areas. And then said that his son would start on the garage tomorrow. He had another project to complete before starting on the inside.

The painter was in his mid-sixties and mentioned that he had been a painter most of his adult life. The painter was divorced and had been for many years and had a girlfriend. His son was in his thirties, unmarried, and had a son. His daughter was in her twenties, living at home. Expecting in several months, and not with the father of the child.


The third tradesperson and his son.

During the remodel process, all the rooms with carpet and several rooms with the older flooring that went into the dumpster before it left. We applied luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring to eighty percent of the home. It is easy to keep clean and has a twenty-five-year warranty. The remaining kitchen, dining, and living rooms had ceramic tile, that was life in place.

The flooring dad was in his middle forties, and his son was onsite the first day. We learned the dad had divorced ten plus years ago. The son was the dad’s only child. The son had a one-year-old son. The son and the mother of their child had not married.


The fourth tradesperson and his son.

The plumber was the fourth and last of the tradesperson who worked on our remodel. The plumbing work was in the kitchen and living room. A plumber during kitchen drop ceiling removal had to reroute and move both water and gas services. The plumber originally did most of the work with one of two assistants. They punctured one of the water lines during the kitchen cabinet install and they called the plumber. When called, he said I will send my son out there. The son was twenty years old and was practicing since he was 16 years old.


In summary and my thoughts

Two shared thoughts.

Four of the many contractors had children who were following in their parents’ trade. We like to support local when possible and were excited to see so many of the people who worked on our remodel were local independent businesses.

Half of the business’s owners were in the sixties. In conversation with them, they enjoyed their profession with plans to retire at seventy. Those with son planned to move the sons into the management of the company.

The picture below is pretty close to what our kitchen looks like today.

Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash

Thank you for reading.

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