Garage door industry magazine for garage door dealers, garage door manufacturers, garage door distributors, garage door installers, loading docks, garage door operators and openers, gates, and tools for the door industry.
Issue link: https://idoi.epubxp.com/i/117695
TECHNICAL by Gary Lombard How We Learn Our Trade All of us who install and maintain doors learned what we do from somebody. We weren���t born with the gift and it wasn���t taught in school. It may have been that what you know about installing doors was passed down to you from your parents who owned the business. Perhaps you decided to carry on the tradition and work toward taking over the business once the folks retire. It could also have been that you were seeking a job and somebody told you about a door company that was looking for help. You knew absolutely nothing about a door other that it moved up and down. Regardless of how you entered the trade, you did get involved, and somebody taught you. I often think back to when I began working for a door company in Denver. It was the ���rst job I ever had, and it kept me out of trouble during summer break from school. Never did I think that I would spend my life���s work in the industry. But, forty some years later, I now re���ect back and think about where the industry was then compared to where it is now. It is a night and day difference, and one of the most signi���cant differences is how we learn the trade. Back in the day, there was only one way to learn to install or repair a door. You were assigned to a seasoned veteran who put you under his wing for a time while you were taught in the ���eld. From the beginning, I remember watching my teacher perform his magic as he took sections off his truck and set up an organized system in the garage to install a sectional door. Before long, the door started taking shape as it was stacked in the opening. After the spring assembly was installed and tension applied, the door miraculously opened. I was astonished at how it all went together and couldn���t wait until the next job when I could start doing some of the installation with my own hands. 34 International Door & Operator Industry��� After a couple months passed, I was to the point where I could perform a simple installation all by myself. Of course I was slower that molasses, but with time, the speed of the installation picked up and I ultimately became a residential door installer. I discovered that given time and experience, an installer develops and masters an on the job trained system of installing a door. Once an installer has the system mastered, their speed, ef���ciency and quality of installation increases. Back when I began my career, everyone was paid by the hour. The word ���piecework��� was not invented yet. The men who taught me were members of the local carpentry union, and perfection was as the top of their list. If I was seen doing something wrong my mentor would stop me and make me take it apart and do it over again until it was right. Believe me, I was taught at an early age to do it right the ���rst time or don���t do it at all. Continued on page 36