Shoutout to the foreman who yelled at me in Nashville for not bracing a gate post right

I was on a job in Nashville about 6 months ago putting up a 6 foot privacy fence around a backyard. We were running behind and I figured I could skip bracing one gate post since it was just gonna have a lightweight wooden gate on it. Foreman came over, saw it, and screamed at me in front of the whole crew calling me a hack and saying I was gonna cost the company money when it sagged in a month. I was pissed at the time but he made me dig it out and redo it with proper gravel pack and concrete. That gate is still straight as an arrow and now I brace every single gate post no matter what. Has anyone else had a boss or lead hand chew them out over something that actually made you better at the trade?

3 comments

3 Comments

joel_hall171d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, I used to think bracing was overkill for small gates too. But watching a buddy's fence sag after a couple years showed me it's just not worth skipping that step. Now I'd rather take the extra time than hear the foreman yell at me about it again.

king.robin1d ago

Man I feel that. I once had a boss lose his mind at me for not putting drip loops on some outdoor outlets. I was like dude it's just a shed but he made me redo all of them. Now every time I see a straight up wire going into a box I get twitchy lol.

grant.felix1d ago

Oh man, that story hits close to home. I mean not quite the same but I remember a guy on my crew years ago who got ripped into for using galvanized nails on cedar fence boards. He thought it was fine because they wouldn't rust but the old foreman told him the cedar would react with the metal and cause black streaks and rot right around the nail holes over time. I used to think it was just about looks but after a few seasons you could see those dark ugly lines where he had used the wrong nails. So yeah you're right about the foreman yelling for a reason but also it's not just about bracing specifically, it's about knowing the materials you're working with and how they play together. That lesson stuck with me hard too.