My first foreman told me to always double-check the fit-up before the root pass, even if it looks good.

This was back when I was a helper on a big boiler job in Gary, Indiana. I was rushing to get a section of water wall tube ready, and the tack welds looked fine to me. He came over, put his square on it, and just shook his head. He made me cut the tacks and re-fit the whole joint, which took an extra 40 minutes. I was annoyed then, but a few weeks later, I saw a guy on another crew have to cut out a 6-inch section of root because his fit was off by maybe an eighth of an inch. The foreman just said, 'Time you spend now, you save tenfold later.' That stuck with me for every job since. Anyone else have a simple piece of advice that saved a huge headache down the line?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_spencer1d ago

Yeah, my buddy learned that the hard way, kinda like @the_william with his thermostat.

milesbailey2d ago

But how many times is it actually off enough to matter?

the_william1d ago

Oh man, more than you'd think! I tracked it for a month and my home thermostat was reading 3 degrees high. That made the AC run constantly. Just getting it calibrated saved me a chunk on the bill.