Saw a WOMAC (well oiled machine) at buddy's home construction site
 

Something I've never seen before. Buddy is having an outdoor covered patio added on. Not a particularly complex project but it did encompass some pretty extensive demo and adding new roof lines to tie in with existing structure. They did an outstanding job making it appear as if it were part of the original design. Thes guys cam in early and worked late with a fairly large crew and they didn't slow down A BIT. completed in less than three days and it turned out beautiful.

What I had never seen before is they set up their own "kitchen" complete with a microwave and gas burner cooktop. Nobody left the site to go to lunch...they ate and cooked in shifts so the construction was continuous without the usual 1 1/2 hour lunch breaks away from the site. They were serious about getting the job done in short order.

Wow! Will they do work in Houston?

Wow, amazing. I think you saw a 1-in-a-million team.

I've seen it done a few times here in Tejas - typically a 100% ethnic crew, Latin American decent.

Yet another reason I have the utmost respect for the poor sots struggling to make it here - call them wet-backs or illegals but you can't call them lazy or impolite!

Any Anglo NOT worth his weight in salt would head to Micky D's, leave their trash and take off early and stayy two weeks long then they were supoosed too which is pretty much all of them I have had contact with.

Wow, it is great to hear someone say good thing about a contractor.

The guys that did our marble countertops for the kitchen, bathrooms & laundry room were great. I was amazed to see the entire kitchen done in just one day. We bought a new sink & garbage disposal for him to install. I did not realize the sink did not come with a drain. He did not want to put in the old worn drain & strainer so he drove to the local hardware store and bought a nice new drain to put in. He said he knew we did not want that old one in there. Of course he was right. He did not even charge for the drain. I know it was just a few bucks but many guys charge for every nail and screw.

They guys that did the tile work for the bathrooms did a high quality job but it took a full week longer than the estimate because they kept pulling away from our remodel job to work on new construction. They wanted to be paid before they were finished. The final product was amazingly square and level, but the delay of very annoying.

WOMAC indeed.

Had a Polish crew come build my garage. They had it framed and sheathed in a day, cold November day. I sat at the window and watched in amazement.

Not to generized, but Mike is right. B-tch all you want about immigrants but they are more "American" than some of the whiners. Work hard and don't complain about the conditions or pay.

it's not that uncommon here in Cali for the work crews to cook on the job site (usually one of the workers wife) what's become uncommon is to see an anglo crew

I don't see much cooking on site. I think it's a grand idea, but in the city there are just too many places to eat. I do see one person leave the job to get lunch for all in many cases.

The times I have seen cooking on site have been the Samoan families. They will set up a small b-b-que.

Both of the jobs I had done were anglo crews.

I've seen a lot of the Mexican/Latinos with a hot plate and microwave from home. They bring leftovers or raw materials from home and just cook up a simple meal. Sometimes they order off the Roach Coach ( I don't, but I've heard it's good ).

The anglos are gone for an hour, eating fast food or who knows what...