Words: 2154
Carpentry is changing every day and the arrest is rising thanks to technology and newer practices. Carpentry is everywhere. Anything that has to do with wood Involves carpenters. “Carpentry Is the trade and art of cutting, working and Joining timber” (Britannica). Anything that has wood was made by a carpenter. One of the main jobs a carpenter has is making houses. Carpenters can do almost everything in the house. Some of these Jobs involve all of the framing of items such as doors, windows and stair cases (Britannica). After all the framing Is done the carpenters have to do all the Interior Jobs.
These Jobs Include rimming, kitchens, wooden furniture and sheet rocking. After they have all the framing done they start installing the house and covering it with sheet rock. This is so the house can stay warm in the winter and cool In the summer. Shoetrees is also used as a cover to paint the house and even to texture It. Carpenters have to make all of the wooden furniture and the kitchen cabinets, some prepare by manufacturers, in the house. The kitchen is specifically made by a carpenter and his team. Some cabinet shops specify in only making the cabinets and installing granite countertops for the kitchens.
That Is because the kitchen Is such a big place and It requires a lot of work. It takes several steps and can take up a long time. It takes less time to make separate cabinets and wooden furniture. The only reason it takes more time to make a kitchen is because it is bigger. It takes about a regular day of work to make a cabinet. There is an average of three steps to make a cabinet. The first Is to measure and cut all the right parts in order to assemble It. The next part is putting It together and making sure it is sturdy and everything is right. The following step is finishing it.
Once the cabinet is put together and has its form details are added to it so it can be nice. One of the main effects added is staining the wood or putting laminate on all the way around. Another Important lob that Is done Inside the house Is all of the trimming. Trim carpenters are the ones who add the final touches to the house so it can look nice. One trick they can do to make the house look nicer is putting all of the trim around the door and windows. This Job does not seem like much, but it can be quite a hassle. This trim connects the ceiling and the walls.
In order to do this the rocker have to figure out the certain angle that is needed for the corner. It can take up quite a bit of time. The trim can really make a house look nicer. A very intricate part of carpentry is Joining wood. Every carpenter should know how to do this. Basically, this is combining two or more pieces In order to make a bigger piece. This technique can be used for everything. Woodworkers use this technique to make 1 OFF more to it than Just gluing. Joining wood can be done with several different techniques. Some people leave indents in the wood so the other piece of wood can go in it.
Then it is glued and it can stay connected for a long time. A major problem in construction is that productivity has dropped in the past years. The reasons include changes in drawings and specification, worker experience and skills, worker motivation, inadequate communication, unavailability of the right materials or equipment and poorly organized projects. Something that really irritates workers is when the contractor changes the plans. The workers then have to redo the project. This takes up a lot of time. Now the workers are behind and might not finish in time. New workers also slow down the process.
The contractors have to take the time to train the new workers. They also have a tendency to make more mistakes. Since the new workers have little experience, they are slower and usually are the ones to make most of the mistakes. This is why contractors prefer people with experience over new workers. The only problem is that people with experience want to get paid more. Good communication is always important to have for better productivity. It is very important so that the workers know what they are doing and how they are going to do it. Planning everything out before will create fewer robbers, and the work will be more productive.
Tools have changed the face of carpentry forever. Newer tools have shortened the time of work, the quality of the finished products, and the depth of this project. Power tools have made a big contribution to these tools such as levels, plans, and crosscut saws. They do the work in less time and are now more accurate (Britannica). Specific tools that have helped are lasers and GAPS. Their main use is for setting up the building corners and building perimeters. Before lasers and GAPS was available, workers used to do all of this work sing string and tape measures (Craig). Now the work is done far more accurately the first time.
It has reduced the amount of time spent at work (Craig). Tools can also make a big difference in how productive a worksheet can be. These problems can include not having the necessary tools or not being able to find the tools. Studies show that fifteen percent of working time is spent looking for tools (Wage). New tools are coming in every day. The big change in tools is that most of the new tools take less time to use. Not everybody has these new tools so they have to do the work with older tools, which takes longer. The project has to be well-organized or else the work will not be productive at all.
An organized project has fair work assignments. An unfair work assignment would be giving a new worker a Job that requires experience. The new worker would take more time and would not do it as well. Another problem would be having incomplete plans. The workers would then have to wait until the plans are finished. Something important as well is that good teamwork is applied. Carpentry and construction is a team Job. The supervisor has to make sure enough people are helping and that they are doing their assigned Jobs. Supervisors also have to make sure everything is under control.
Supervisors are also the ones who tell everybody what is going to happen. All of this is important to have in order to have a good production. If the supervisor does not do his entire Job the productivity will drop. The carpentry industry has been around for a long time. It has always involved every industry is the techniques. Humans will always find a better way to do things. Something that has changed in construction is the way architects design the houses. They have made different ways of making roofs. Roofs are now stronger because all he pressure focuses on the top center of the ceiling.
Now the traditional roof is made from inclined studs that meet at the peak. The ceiling gets extra support by adding horizontal cross braces. These supports are called trusses (Britannica). As technology changes house designs change. Another technique that has changed is that contractors are now doing more green building. Green building is helping the environment by using renewable materials. Green building is better because the houses tend to last longer and are cheaper. This is why green building is high in the market right now (O’Brien). Green houses also help the environment.
Green homes contribute to the overall sustainability of the region (O’Brien). Supplies have differed as the years go by. Manufacturers make the supplies cheaper but Just as good. Manufacturers made laminated timbers such as plywood easier to make so the material has become cheaper (Britannica). The material now has more quality. For example, cedar is usually used for roofing and siding shingles. Now the wood is made so that it has a “natural resistance to weathering” (Britannica); therefore, buyers do not need to waste their money on other materials to preserve it. Roles have also changed in the carpentry industry.
When there is a construction of a house there can be up to 10 different Jobs. Carpenter roles have gone into depth with these specific jobs. Even carpentry shops specify in only building one thing. For example cabinet shops only make kitchens and separate cabinets. Back then there was one carpenter for all of these Jobs. That show us how big the carpentry trade has grown The easier accessibility to tools has taken the carpentry industry farther than it was before. Engineers, and architects all have their own programs that have been available only to them. Now those same programs are available to the public.
Project managers can now calculate the sizes and designs for all of the programs and they can manage their employees themselves thereby saving a lot of money and time by doing it on their own. Computers are becoming more portable and cheaper every day. This is good for contractors because they can do more work at the Job site. The computers and programs are more available to everybody. The contractor can even have his meeting memos and rules online. The workers can also fix the designs themselves right there and then (Craig). The programs are also now easier to use, so the workers can use it.
Thanks to these computers fewer problems are made every day. Computers are more accurate and they are a big help for contractors. Technology is definitely the biggest change in carpentry. “100 construction activities from 1977 to 2004 have changed because of technology’ (Goodman). Technology can help to increase productivity. With technology people can stay connected (Craig). Staying connected is important because if the manager is gone and there is a problem, the workers can Just call him and solve it. This also increases he decision-making speed. It is important to have a good manager.
The managers must make sure everything is in line and everything is done right. It is important that he is an accessible person (Wage). He needs to be available so he can guide them of everything. He has to make sure everything is done right, and that the workers finish on time. Having weekly meetings could help to be a better manager. At these meetings, the manager can talk about what is going to happen that week at work. Workers can also talk about improvements. Time is very valuable. Time is something nobody can get back so it needs to be seed wisely. It is essential to be well-organized.
The workers need to know what they are doing now and after. All of the supplies and tools need to be organized so that time is not wasted looking for them. The more they communicate the less they will have problems. Workers will know what each other person is doing (Wage). Teamwork is necessary in construction. Usually, on a worksheet it requires more than one worker. The workers have to work together to have good productivity. Team work can produce faster work and better quality. “Understanding and accepting individual preferences in worker preferences can significantly improve the project performance” (Wage).
Something else that will improve productivity is more motivation. Motivation has a big impact on the work environment, it is deemed intangible according to Sunk Wage. The quality of the work can be improved by giving the workers motivation. This includes factors like goal setting, positive reinforcement, work facilitation, and incentives and rewards (Wage). The motivation can do several things to the work performance. It can raise productivity, reduce the price of the projects, lower the time pent in construction, improve the quality of management, and increase the wage of the workers (Wage).
The reason that productivity has decreased in some places is because of little to no motivation. If the workers do not receive incentives and rewards then they have no reason to work harder. All they care about is finishing the job. With incentives and rewards the work will be better. Carpentry is changing and it will never stop. These changes help the carpentry industry produce more and are increasing the economy at the same time. It is important the cabinet shops practice good productivity. There is so much that carpenters can do in order to be producing better.