# Your Story.



## SaskMud (Jun 9, 2010)

How did you start?

Mine; Was working with a friend for the military reserve... the contracts were running out,(military contracts) I'd done some painting before he was a taper for 4 years previous. Always wanting to be an entrapenur I said lets jump into this! We did our 1st job.. had only hand tools in this basement, broke as can be... using the clients T-square... holding razor blades to cut the boards with our fingers... Choked cause I used my last 80 bucks to get a rotozip(and by last 80 I mean the last 80 available from visa  ), we finished the job, but life was still rough. (GREAT clients BTW even tipped us!) Worked for my business partner`s family member after that made $300 in 3 weeks from them ... was rough... then got more and more contracts then obviously grew became a machine taping crew, real painters etc. Lifes good now, but looking back I just shake my head... lol

Whats your story, was it a rough start? Or was it a nice apprenticship? Dooo tell!


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## Saul_Surfaces (Jan 8, 2010)

Seriously? You mean we weren't all born with our first set of tools already in our hands and equipped with an innate ability to move mud onto walls faster than a blizzard moves snow?


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## McDusty (Oct 12, 2009)

11 - 15, My first taping job was when i was about 11. Pushing my old man ('the master') around on scaffolding and playing with blobs of mud. making snowmen and such, sticking stray screws in as arms. mud sandwiches, with plug cut-outs as bread. helping out once and awhile here and there, pretty much useless really. but you can learn a lot watching someone work. 

16-18, spotted screws and such, learned to walk on stilts, part time summer gig for the 'the master'.

19 - 22, 6 months a year taping with my older brother ('the master v2.0'), 6 months snowboarding.

23 - current. 'the master v3.0'. i still work with my brother from time to time. we typically put on a clinic whenever we get together. it's like having 2 pro's on the exact same system and train of thought. imagine there was a clone of you on the job site. we could easily do a whole house without saying anything other than 'did you grab my smokes?'


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

Mcdusty.....snowboarding.... plus ........did you REMEMBER to bring the smokes,what type of smokes are we talking here ?:whistling2::jester:


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

I started in '95, so I'm just a cub compared to a lot of the old farts on here (I make up for it by being super intelligent though :jester. My first day on the job was sanding a 60x40 garage with a 12' lid.....I have no idea why I stuck with it after that. I worked for that guy until 2000, when he got divorced and decided that skiing was more fun than finding work. I did everything but spray textures while working for him (hanging, tube, boxes, hand textures, prime, etc.) Then I became a full time hanger until 2006, when I was asked to become superintendent for one of our bigger local companies. Basically drove around a lot, supervising and all that b.s. for about 2 years. Then the market tanked, and I went back to hanging....then worked for a large commercial outfit....now split time between my own gigs and a friend of mine's....95% remodel, with those shining gems of carpentry thrown in.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

got dragged into it kicking ,screaming and whining all the way...stopped kicking and screaming,,,just mostly whine now.
slave driving step father was a general contractor,was around 15 or sixteen working summer and weekends and stuff.not good with dates,but around age 20 or so,dropped out of college,started my own drywall crew,needed the money,was already married at 18 with a 2 you old son(shot gun wedding) 2 stupids in a row. it was the eighties,economy was booming.easy to get jobs then
would do taping off and on for step father and his buddies,but around 27 I was a full time taper.was one of those long haired artsy fartsy/music types,so i picked up on it fast. I was taught by a lot of different masters b/c of step fathers connections.
just working for a large dry wall company now.getting old ,,p/w...and whine as much as possible:yes:


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

i'm a ticketed carpenter so thats what i do for my day job. it pays well. about three years ago i got my own place and started by doing my own drywall repairs and small reno stuff. i did a good enough job on my place that when i took on my first side job that involved a lot of drywall(a lot at the time, it was only like 8 boards!!!) . i realized i really liked finishing drywall and just kept jumping at every opportunity to do it. this last year i've done about about eight good sized side jobs(between 50 to 80 boards) along with countless patches and 2 or three board jobs. all of my jobs are referall based or repeat customers and rarely a day goes by that i don't pull the taping tools out for something. i also do a lot of the small work for the contractors i'm with that is not worth calling the drywaller in for. drywall has brought in a lot of extra money for me these last two years and my skills also get me a higher wage and make me more valuable at my day job. i would really like to work with some seasoned drywall finishers one of these days to maybe learn some new tricks and unlearn some bad habits i may have formed. i mostly do finish carpentry these days as thats what the boss makes the most money off me but i do also have alot of experience framing. i really just love building things in general. lately i've even been getting to dip into plumbing a bit. i have no intention of becoming a handyman however, i will always be a carpenter first.:thumbsup:


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

quit school in 85 , went to work for dad. i know nothing else , but when everything is going right , i love what i do.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

:lol::lol::lol::tt2:


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## igorson (Nov 10, 2010)

*Your story or How did you start your company?* 
Well in my case it was like joke since i did not have a choice. I simply could not find a job so any job offer work for me. First it was drywall sanding for 3 years in Minnesota than i started doing drywall hang, tape, sand, popcorn, texture, painting and so on. I figured out i could do from start to finish but can not get customers I did my work very cheep but still good, spent (waste) money for advertising at last i got upset experience with advertising and build my website http://www.1drywall.com since that my business start growing little bit


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## Drywall_King (Dec 18, 2010)

Try living with a father as a drywaller iv been drywalling since iv been 12 years old lifting sheets on my dads side jobs after school and working on his houses... i remember trying to hold sheets as he placed a homemade T made out of 2X4's just to liten the load on me.. remember looking back screeming for help and he at the time was nailing the bevels.. but everything was allright after he nailed his side and came over and helped me.. after high school it was at least 4 years of yelling from him on how to do things ... where i come from my dad is the best drywaller in the community getting all the doctors and high end jobs because he cares about what he does.. everything is keep spotless clean at all times my old man hangs strait to texture on every job himself.. his quality is far more than any other drywaller iv ever met because the floors are cleaner than anything and his work better than anyones.. after enduring alot of **** i became a excellent drywalller that can do anyjob any vaulted ceiling any complex project to the highest quality.. my old man swears by his columbia tools and iv explored other brands but i can say that columbia is one of the best... goodluck greenhorns it's a tough business!!!


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## Sand Man (Nov 25, 2010)

My dad was building homes on chicago's south suburbs, i was on a framing crew hanging siding in the middle of winter in about 15 degres in 20" snow on the ground. While up on pump jacks 20' in the air freezing my a$$ off hiding behind a corner of the house, i was looking thru one of the windows and noticed the drywall crew working inside and how warm they looked working with t-shirts , heat, radio playing, those s.o.b's! went to the local ames they talked me into thier training deal down in atlanta which was in about "92" been taping ever since........


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## taper71 (Dec 9, 2007)

Drywall_King said:


> Try living with a father as a drywaller iv been drywalling since iv been 12 years old lifting sheets on my dads side jobs after school and working on his houses... i remember trying to hold sheets as he placed a homemade T made out of 2X4's just to liten the load on me.. remember looking back screeming for help and he at the time was nailing the bevels.. but everything was allright after he nailed his side and came over and helped me.. after high school it was at least 4 years of yelling from him on how to do things ... where i come from my dad is the best drywaller in the community getting all the doctors and high end jobs because he cares about what he does.. everything is keep spotless clean at all times my old man hangs strait to texture on every job himself.. his quality is far more than any other drywaller iv ever met because the floors are cleaner than anything and his work better than anyones.. after enduring alot of **** i became a excellent drywalller that can do anyjob any vaulted ceiling any complex project to the highest quality.. my old man swears by his columbia tools and iv explored other brands but i can say that columbia is one of the best... goodluck greenhorns it's a tough business!!!


Ya well my Dad is tougher than your Dad:jester:


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## rockhound (Dec 27, 2010)

*full circle*

dad had and still does have a plastering buisness..
-age 9..worked summers sweeping job sites...pay was a free half hour at the end of the day to collect the soda pop bottles....thought i had the world in my hands...
-summers and weekends as a teen mixing and wheeling and loading mortar
-time for college...but i was spoiled by the money i was earning...
- trade apprenticeship for Lather...3 years later!!
-joined the master plaster layin it on...3 years later
-lets try this Ames taping tools stuff...2 years later
-time to go it alone... 25 years later
-somewhere along the way i became a decent estimator 
-i still catch myself walking a job site looking for soda pop bottles(full circle)


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

rockhound said:


> dad had and still does have a plastering buisness..
> -age 9..worked summers sweeping job sites...pay was a free half hour at the end of the day to collect the soda pop bottles....thought i had the world in my hands...
> -summers and weekends as a teen mixing and wheeling and loading mortar
> -time for college...but i was spoiled by the money i was earning...
> ...


now that made me laugh:yes:
you got to look at the bright side of things,instead of a 1/2 hour to collect those pop bottles,you have the full day now to feel like you have the whole world in your hands:thumbsup::jester:


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## Checkers (Jun 25, 2010)

15 years old, almost 16, family friend said, "Hey, you should come give taping a try some day!"
Started out spotting screws, learned to walk stilts, hand tape, sand bullnose, scraped and swept and learned to swirl texture in the first two weeks. $6/hr
17 years old, learned to box, apply Strait-Flex, arches, transitions, apply bead, run angles, skip trowel, and handwork.
20, became licensed and insured.
21, falling out with the family friend and officially went out on my own. First big job was 550 sheets of 8' flat, 135 sticks of bead, Level 4 prep for orange peel. **** took 12 days with 2 buddies haha. 
Continued in same building and cut it down to 5 days for 276 sheets by myself with an apprentice.

Now I'm 22 and actually doing pretty good for myself!


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## taper71 (Dec 9, 2007)

Well I was a typical loser. In and out of prison since I was 14 started to clean up my act at 17 was cooking in a resaurant from 2:30 till 11 at night. met a drywall guy while I was hitchhiking into work and he asked if I wanted to try drywall out. ( I was pretty big from being in prisons ). Went to work that day, but I could only work until 2o because I had my other job to go too. Started me off at $6 ph got $8 ph 2 weeks later . Got fired 2 weeks after that because I was too slow lol. 1 month later was hired back at $10 ph on condition that I quit my cooking job and work full time with him as an apprentice. He was the biggest prick in the town and 1 of 2 drywall guys in town and no one could handle working with the guy. I didn t mind him, I was a pretty big prick too and I liked the solitude of drywall because I really did not get along well with others. Worked with him for 4 years 3 man crew . We did it from hang to texture . I wish to thank that man for showing me how to do this trade and giving me the skills to make my own money and raise my familly from it.


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## Drywall_King (Dec 18, 2010)

taper71 said:


> Ya well my Dad is tougher than your Dad:jester:


Your dads got a KIND face........ The Kind I cant stop KICKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Axecutioner-B (May 3, 2010)

Short version:
Went to work for my dad as electrican when i was 17. We didnt get along too good so after he closed his shop i started my own that filled the niche. I did this for almost 15 years & had 2 guys that were with me over 10 years & 1 for 6 years. Was running 8 guys for years. We specialized in concrete & electric for above ground spas. In '06 i started doing drugs again & ruined the business & went to jail. In early '09 my friend (a "GC") asked me to help him remodel apartments, this was my first exposure to drywall. I did the plumbing & electric & started learning mudding from a master finisher. I loved it !! So after the finisher stopped working for my friend i needed to learn as much as i could as fast as i could so i could finish these apartments. My experience is very limited compared to everyone else on this site, but i really like doing drywall, which is how i ended up here. Since then i quit working for my "friend" because he is a donkey. He is one of those GC's that thinks he knows stuff but really doesn't know sh!t. I don't know what the future holds for me but i do know it won't be for that donkey. I've been clean & sober since Sept.1 '08. We have 2 kids, my son Bradyn Jr. & my daughter Melody. If things go good for me i might be lucky enough to take over my dad's retail store in June. If things don't go as good i will get my GC license by the end of '11. I really like building, but this retail opportunity gives me a better chance of taking good care of my family. 

I had a loooong version all prepared but i think it woulda been a little too much information lol
________
Marijuana Seeds


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## A1rocker (Jan 8, 2011)

I started out hanging and finishing for my dad in the summers when school was out.Once i got older he said you better start metal framing or youl have a back like mine when your 40.I started framing but still do a lot of drywall .I think ill always love finishing the most.


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## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

At 16 I quit school(1980) and was asked by a crackhead(unknown to me at the time) if I wanted to try taping. My old man always told me I should learn a trade so I thought that was a good opportunity. First couple weeks were pretty hard cause this guy was doing 90mph for 2 1/2 hours and then would disappear for 20 minutes. Then a few days later I realized he was getting "fixed up" every couple of hours or so and would go hide under stairs or in a closet for awhile before he went back to work.
Tried to talk to the guy cause he was married and all that jazz but wasn't able to help him with his problem. I had my own ! 
Anyway, I stuck with the guy for 2 years. We did an average of 3-5 houses/week. This guy was absolutely the best taper I have ever seen at the time and I was very lucky to have had him take me under his wing for awhile.
I ended going on my own once I was worth more $$$ which was fine with him and succeeded in perfecting the skills I had learned over the next few years.
I'm 45 now and over 2,500 houses later I still love my job and do it very damn well.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

A1rocker said:


> I started out hanging and finishing for my dad in the summers when school was out.Once i got older he said you better start metal framing or youl have a back like mine when your 40.I started framing but still do a lot of drywall .I think ill always love finishing the most.


I'M 43 and my back is a ****ed up mess ..any young bucks out there thinking of jumping into this trade ..think again... I've had pulled hamstring ,,torn muscles ,,pinched nerves ..GET OFF THIS SITE ,,AND GET A REAL JOB!!!!!!!!! drywall sucks!!


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

moore said:


> I'M 43 and my back is a ****ed up mess ..any young bucks out there thinking of jumping into this trade ..think again... I've had pulled hamstring ,,torn muscles ,,pinched nerves ..GET OFF THIS SITE ,,AND GET A REAL JOB!!!!!!!!! drywall sucks!!


I get out of bed in the morning like an arthritic old man.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

SlimPickins said:


> I get out of bed in the morning like an arthritic old man.


AUSTRALIAN DREAM ... look it up!!


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

moore said:


> I'M 43 and my back is a ****ed up mess ..any young bucks out there thinking of jumping into this trade ..think again... I've had pulled hamstring ,,torn muscles ,,pinched nerves ..GET OFF THIS SITE ,,AND GET A REAL JOB!!!!!!!!! drywall sucks!!


Hand finishing is a lot more strain than the tools moore, I want to last, Thats another reason im a tool junkie. Do yourself a favour mate, You have earned it and have our support :thumbsup:


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## gazman (Apr 29, 2011)

moore said:


> AUSTRALIAN DREAM ... look it up!!


Work hard and it is possible here in Australia.
On a serious note I am 47 and my generation may have been the last where this was possible for the majority. What about you guys is it still possible to achieve home ownership?

To answer the initial post started drywall at 16. Learnt it all by hand. Thirty one years later still working, using a lot more tools though.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

moore said:


> AUSTRALIAN DREAM ... look it up!!


Shoot...now I _almost_ wish I actually had arthritis so I could get some of that stuff!

But really, I should get a job painting flowerpots or something.:whistling2:


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## gazman (Apr 29, 2011)

Sorry wrong Australian dream. This is what I have always known as the Australian dream.
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-australian-dream-is-fine-for-those-who-can-afford-it/


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

gazman said:


> Sorry wrong Australian dream. This is what I have always known as the Australian dream.
> http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-australian-dream-is-fine-for-those-who-can-afford-it/


Yeah, that Australian Dream is a LOT more expensive than the $19.95 they're asking for the arthritis cream! I think I'm about ready to clamp down on the American Dream myself, even though I know the game is rigged by swindlers and cheats....I have to give my children a leg up if I can.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

gazman said:


> Work hard and it is possible here in Australia.
> On a serious note I am 47 and my generation may have been the last where this was possible for the majority. What about you guys is it still possible to achieve home ownership?
> 
> To answer the initial post started drywall at 16. Learnt it all by hand. Thirty one years later still working, using a lot more tools though.


Nope !!!!!

One day on a job, A nice old Italian brick layer who was approaching 80, was picking on my son at lunch. he was doing the old you young bucks today story, how they don't work hard to get a head stuff. he was going on how he came to this country with no money in his pocket. But he got a job as a brick layers apprentice, saved his money, got a car, started his own company, got married, bought a house, then another house then a ... blah blah blah we have all heard the stories.......

But at the end of his friendly rant, My son asked him one serious question "If you came here now, and tried to do it all over again, do you think you could do it again ?"

The old bricky thought long and hard, and looked my son directly in the eyes and said "No, you guys do have it harder, things aren't the same as they use to be !!!!!!"

And a secondary thing me and 2bjr do, is to find out what type of job the home owner has. So far, the civil servants (government workers) are winning about eight times out of ten. The house we finish tomorrow is a corporate lawyer. The one before that the dude was a banker, but he said it was his wife, the doctor,is why they could afford the house they were getting. But in conversation with the banker, he said he was seeing the same thing, and that things were getting grim


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## gazman (Apr 29, 2011)

Over the last few years we have done a lot of homes for the first home buyers. ( the government was giving grants of up to nearly 20K to first home buyers to kick start the building sector). The biggest problem that I see is that they want it all and they want it now. They have to have 4br + study 2 bathrooms double garage separate lounge room, family room etc. Then they fill it with brand new furnishings huge plasma surround sound. 2 late model cars in the garage. 
Then they wonder why the have no money, fall behind on payments, she gets pregnant, then the rest is history.
People will never own a home if they continue to start where there parents have ended up after 30 years.


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## Kiwiman (Jun 14, 2008)

gazman said:


> Over the last few years we have done a lot of homes for the first home buyers. ( the government was giving grants of up to nearly 20K to first home buyers to kick start the building sector). The biggest problem that I see is that they want it all and they want it now. They have to have 4br + study 2 bathrooms double garage separate lounge room, family room etc. Then they fill it with brand new furnishings huge plasma surround sound. 2 late model cars in the garage.
> Then they wonder why the have no money, fall behind on payments, she gets pregnant, then the rest is history.
> People will never own a home if they continue to start where there parents have ended up after 30 years.


We went through that boom here too, that ground to a halt about 2 - 3 years ago, they all had to keep up with the Jones's, I did a lot of new houses for couples in their twenties, new everything including boat and car etc, the Mrs would always say to me how the hell can they afford it when we can't? .... you should see the poor buggers now, he he he, they learnt the hard way.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Kiwiman said:


> We went through that boom here too, that ground to a halt about 2 - 3 years ago, they all had to keep up with the Jones's, I did a lot of new houses for couples in their twenties, new everything including boat and car etc, the Mrs would always say to me how the hell can they afford it when we can't? .... you should see the poor buggers now, he he he, they learnt the hard way.


And that's one of the reasons why housing has gone down the tubes here.
5 years ago all you needed was good credit. Now you need 40% down.I saw young couples making back then the same money as me.. building $300,000 homes ,,not me ,,mine cost 90k 4 more years and it's paid for.


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## Zendik (Sep 14, 2011)

I met a girl in Hawaii when I taught surfing lessons on Waikiki Beach. 
She swindled me into moving to Calif to get married. One day her brother ran into the house saying his friends brother had a construction company and hired him at $6.50 an hour to learn the commercial drywall trade. I said I wanted in too and got hired.

Here's the funny part.
My GFs brother, "Butch" had a very hard time waking up in the morning and I remember bouncing him off the bed at times to wake him upo at 5:30am. One morning he was WTF, asking me how I could wake up so early all the time which I replied I was already in the Army which taught me how to get up. 

Well, dude kind of let the job go, me and the girl broke up and some 20+ years later I find out the guy joined the Army son after I left. So now, some 27 years later I'm an old drywall hand and dude is a battalion command sergeant major in the 5th special forces group with 25 years in.

Funny how things work out.


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## Mudshark (Feb 8, 2009)

Started doing TBar ceilings on a KMART in the mid 70's for a big drywall outfit. The company liked my work ethics and later had me boarding, work was there and what the hell. Very rough boarding days before screw guns and routers but tapers lived with it. Left the boarding trade a few times but fell back on it when I was between other work. Eventually graduated to a screw gun (and much later a router). After several years of bouncing back and forth and getting a bit older for the boarding, discovered the world of taping. Taught by some master tapers from Manitoba that came out to BC. Boarded for them a while and they took me in to teach me the ART of taping. Still board when I need to but prefer the taping jobs.


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## vhcconstruction (Nov 11, 2008)

I started out growing up on the farm, we did all our own stuff, became a mechanical designer for 11 years then said hell with an office job and started my own costruction company. Never liked hiring subs so taught myself, wrongly... Then had a really good old timer taper do my jobs and he taught me. Still mastering it though, But did get published with one job in Architech digest with one job, stacked stone foundation, hotel turned into condos, two 5/8" layer thick firewall each scribed to every stone... man that took allot of time and beer.


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

moore said:


> quit school in 85 , went to work for dad. i know nothing else , but when everything is going right , i love what i do.


I quit in 87 had enough o that
Started paintin Lorrys (TRUCKS) but the cash was no good so left there 2 work with my uncle sprayin cars but that was cr*p 2!!!
So went and started with my dad painting:blink: So in that time more new houses were comin along and we started hand tapin them,then he bought a set of tapeworm tools that had been sittin in the back of some1's van and not very nice!! Never seen a gun & boxes before Well me was self learned from there on! and companys/home owners keep wantin me 2 do work for them so i must of trained myself not that bad:whistling2:But in reality of things i am a time served painter not time served taper!! But hate the painting now if i need something done i phone my dad and he's 69 and still working:thumbsup:
But still willing 2 learn thats why i like this site!!!!


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