Stopped by a job site downtown and watched a guy redline an entire set of plumbing risers by hand in under 2 hours

I was dropping off a revised electrical plan at a mid-rise build on 3rd Street last Tuesday. The plumbing drafter had this beat up old parallel bar and a roll of vellum, no CAD in sight. He marked up every floor with red pen corrections, no erasing, just straight lines. I asked if he ever used digital tools and he laughed, said they slow him down. Has anyone else run into old school drafters who can outpace a full CAD setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

val94925d ago

My buddy down at the supply house told me about this old timer he ran into on a hospital job. The guy was like 70 years old, wore a pocket protector with like ten pens in it, and could mark up a full floor plan in the time it took the CAD guys to boot up their laptops. He'd just walk the site, pull out a red felt tip, and start crossing things out and drawing new lines freehand. The GC was trying to get him to switch to an iPad but he said he'd retire first. Last I heard he was still working three days a week and the younger guys were bringing him their stuff to check because he never missed a pipe size or a slope.

mason.brian25d agoTop Commenter

Ngl that actually changed my mind too. Kinda cool.

sarah_hart25d ago

I get where you're coming from and that guy sounds like a sharp dude for sure. But I see it a little different. Relying on one person's memory and hand-drawn marks is risky when you're dealing with something like a hospital where mistakes cost serious money and lives. If that guy gets sick or retires for real one day, all that knowledge walks right out the door with him. A digital file at least stays around and can be checked by the next guy. Old school skills are great but they shouldn't be the only way things get done.