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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 4:39 pm
by slowbutrough
Been to an old customer today to look at some general repairs and he has just had his drive PIC'd. The job itself looked ok and the customer seemed happy enough, but the first thing that caught my eye were the splashes from the pixie dust they use on the wet concrete. It was every where, up the house wall, the garage door and all up the new retaining wall they had built. It's not the first time I've seen it either. Is there any reason these guys don't just nail/gaffer tape a strip of visqueen at low level to prevent this, it could be re-used job after job and wouldn't take too long. They just seem to be letting their own work down IME.
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:13 am
by Tony McC
The standards in the PIC trade are appallingly low because the churn, the number of contractors who take up the business then fold after a season, is so high, and this results in no acquisition of the higher skills.
You do find that, amongst the really good PIC installers, they will sheet-off adjacent walls, garage doors, other paving with visqueen and many of them use a gel which is a bit like wallpaper paste to coat the vulnerable surfaces and protect them not just from the so-called Pixie Dust but also any accidental splashes of concrete, cutting dust or sealant. The gel is washed away with water on completion.
But a contractor carrying out this standard of work inevitably costs slightly more than the eejits who have done the half-day training and, at a push, would be able to name the three main ingredients of concrete, and so customers go with the low-cost option.
It annoys me because this underbelly of the PIC trade are ruining it for those contractors with genuine skills and real flair. Their aggressive, low-cost, cash-in-hand business practices are keeping prices too low to foster the development of a more mature, highly skilled market of the type seen in North America and Australia, and in the long run, that will continue to limit the market for decorative concrete.
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 5:24 pm
by TheRockConcreting
Tony McC wrote:It annoys me because this underbelly of the PIC trade are ruining it for those contractors with genuine skills and real flair. Their aggressive, low-cost, cash-in-hand business practices are keeping prices too low to foster the development of a more mature, highly skilled market of the type seen in North America and Australia, and in the long run, that will continue to limit the market for decorative concrete.
Well said!