# apprenticeship ?



## brdn_drywall (Apr 25, 2008)

how many of you tapers started out as hangers or just jumped right in the trade learning to tape.
those of you that did board before tape ever jump back into the hanging aspect of the business anymore i for one can't stay away for too long and like to get back to the basics/roots maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.


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## Whitey97 (Jan 27, 2009)

nope, making money was more important to me.... I've always been and will continue to be a taper, unless there is nothing else.. then I hang


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## [email protected] (Dec 23, 2008)

First exposure was as a helper to a do-it-all builder. Only thing he let out was cabinets, furnace and well drilling. Hung off saw horses and a plank. Taped with a "hog-trough". This guy built 2-4 houses a year this way. Everything was slick. Too tight to buy a banjo or a hopper gun. It was several years before I ever saw either. I remember thinking how much faster taping was with a banjo than that trough. Should have kept my old one for show and tell. They were the width of a roll of tape and the sides sloped out towards the top, had a divider w/ a slot at the bottom for the tape to pass under the mud and out the end. the mud was held in the remaining section. My job was to hold that trough and keep it full of mud and he'd get on the stilts and tape. And we used a hawk/trowel too. 

Once I got to the city I found I made more jack hanging than taping. I can still finish but I'm soooo sloooow. But framed/trimmed quite awhile in between, even supered awhile. Today (and always) would rather frame than anything else....


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

you guys are my apprenticeship.


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

Today (and always) would rather frame than anything else....[/quote]

do you mean wood and steel stud framing? or is there some other meaning for the word framing that i don't know?
right now i'm learning to frame intersecting roofs at tradeschool here in BC.


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

brdn_drywall said:


> how many of you tapers started out as hangers or just jumped right in the trade learning to tape.
> those of you that did board before tape ever jump back into the hanging aspect of the business anymore i for one can't stay away for too long and like to get back to the basics/roots maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.


 i would hardly call myself a taper yet, but to answer your question i suppose i started hanging first. sometimes on small jobs we hang our own rock and then a finisher we use comes in. i was just always interested in what he was doing but never had a chance to try. then i got my own place and did some home renos and did the finishing myself. then i did a side job and did the finishing there. i still do work for the guy and everything is still in good shape a year later just for the record. all added up i probably have less than three months actual experience finishing . i am always reading up on new info and tools and always looking for better ways to finish. if i wasn't in the middle of my third year of my carpentry apprenticeship i would jump right in with both feet. i am however someone who likes to finish what i start and getting my ticket is my first priority. now is also a risky time to go down uncertain paths as far as career changes are concerned. i really appreciate all the helpful advice and the entertaining exchanges that go on here. so thank you guys.
BTW i am also totally hooked on this forum.:thumbup:


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## Whitey97 (Jan 27, 2009)

suck up


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

are you trying to make me cry again?


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## Al Taper (Dec 16, 2007)

Well with me I started out as a carpenter in 89.. Roofing,siding,trim,sheetrock,ect. Then in 99 joined the drywall union here in Jersey.. I went throw the apprenticship.. Was a greenhorn as a taper and finisher..So glad I did that.. But wish I learned in houseing frist...


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## brdn_drywall (Apr 25, 2008)

ya that boarding/hanging stuff is real work after 60000 board feet in the last week or so with my crews is enough to make me appreciate the finishing aspect of drywall again, but the urge will come again and the belt will come out of retirement.
damn you terry half that board was for you better give me a sweet deal on your mark iv when your finished with it on the tillbury mansion.


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## muddermankc (Apr 6, 2009)

I started out with small drywall company and learned all trades of the trade,glad i did, we hung, taped,sprayed,sanded. Prefer taping though,and for me i can make the most money doing that, but its cool to know all drywall, i was always the most wore out after hanging all day though, its all hard work but man my hat is off to scale hangers,


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## Whitey97 (Jan 27, 2009)

carpentaper said:


> are you trying to make me cry again?


no, I love you! :scooter:


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## A+ Texture LLC (Jan 10, 2009)

Get a room.


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## Whitey97 (Jan 27, 2009)

They only rent them by the night. I only need 5 mins!


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

that is the best smiley ever


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## Whitey97 (Jan 27, 2009)

with over 300 posts you think I wouldn't use all the cool smileys?


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## tapingfool (Mar 11, 2009)

I also started out by doing it all hanging taping and texturing..then branched off into taping and started with the bazooka early on, so there was no hand taping for me always a bazooka runner...love the commercial stand ups!!!


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## [email protected] (Dec 23, 2008)

carpentaper said:


> Today (and always) would rather frame than anything else....


do you mean wood and steel stud framing? or is there some other meaning for the word framing that i don't know?
right now i'm learning to frame intersecting roofs at tradeschool here in BC.[/quote]

Wood, big nasty houses, crazy roofs, curved stairs, timber barns everything that fu##s up production guys. Steel framing was always too much like playing with an erector set. :icon_biggrin:


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

cool. most of the framing i have done is all back framing for reno's. also done quite a bit of steel stud framing in the highrises downtown. all renovations so it gets pretty tricky tying everything in to the old stuff but its more fun.


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