Changed my mind about drilling into brick for window contacts

Three years back on a job in Phoenix, I would drill a fresh hole in the brick for every single recessed contact. Last week, my helper pointed out we could just use the existing screw hole from the window screen frame with a longer screw and a spacer. It saved us over an hour on a 10-window house and looks just as clean. Has anyone else found a simple trick that made you drop your old way of doing things?

4 comments

4 Comments

paige16617d ago

Ngl, I read something similar from @jennifer_jones17 about overcomplicating small stuff, and it stuck with me. Honestly, sometimes the biggest time savers are the smallest adjustments. I heard about a guy on a jobsite who realized he could use existing pilot holes instead of drilling new ones for conduit clamps. Saved him like 20 minutes per run. It's not life changing but it adds up over a whole day. Tbh, we're all guilty of doing things the hard way until someone shows us the easy button.

emma_garcia2mo ago

Okay but "saved us over an hour" on a whole house? I mean, that's good and all, but idk if it's some huge life changing trick. It's just using a longer screw. Maybe it's just me but I feel like a lot of these tips are just people realizing they were doing something the slightly harder way for no reason. Like when I finally started using a magnetic bit holder instead of holding the screw with my fingers. It's a nice little win but it's not that serious.

morgan.jason2mo ago

Right? It's like watching someone discover fire after years of rubbing sticks together. The real life hack is just reading the instructions or using the right tool for once. We're out here celebrating basic competence like it's a Nobel Prize.

jennifer_jones172mo ago

Ugh, I felt that. I once spent twenty minutes trying to open a jar before realizing the lid said "push and turn.