Clean Up - Later? Or As-You-Go?

Professional builders or trade contractors look at projects (or they should, if they want to stay in business) as "How can I Get In, Exceed Expectations, Get Out, and Get Paid?"--- All well planned projects should be approached the same way, except the "paid" part may be in the form of non-monetary remuneration (accomplishment, praise or thanks). If you approach the planning of the construction of a project, but neglect the clean-up part, a lot of the good done in planning can come unraveled.

Successful projects are very much a product of the process of construction "How did it go as the project was being built?" -- You don't see a lot of ruins, or partially completed projects around (although with funding problems, there seem to be more lately), so projects get built eventually -- "Was it a good process, well planned?", "How was it viewed by the public?" -- these perceptions all contribute to the success or failure of the project.

The End In Mind

There are generally two ends of the spectrum on project clean up: Clean up at the end of a project and Clean up as-you-go. Many believe that clean up as-you-go is more time consuming and costly (for those being paid in money), but I am convinced that well-planned cleanup as-you-go actually reduces the amount of clean up needed to be performed, and saves overall time/money.

Consider project jobsites - We have all seen examples of the cluttered, trash-strewn jobsites (maybe even in your neighborhood). The idea is that a separate crew comes in at the end, or on a weekend and "does all the cleanup at the same time". The trash created in those sites invariably gets run over by equipment, foot traffic, carts, vehicles, etc and even if damage to adjoining work is avoided, all the debris is never completely removed. In the case of exterior masonry for example, it is difficult to pick up all of the brick, mortar and other debris, and when landscaping is later planted, it may affect the proper growth of trees or bushes. In the case of interior flooring and cabinetry, it is difficult to ensure that completed work is properly protected, amongst debris, and additional damage could result. Both of these examples show that although the initial work may be completed faster than the as-you-go cleanup, the likelihood of call-back or rework is greatly increased.

I learned a lesson early in my career when I was in Detroit, when I used to drive north up Jefferson Avenue along the lake to a hospital project I was working on (now St John Riverview Hospital)--- I got to see first hand the demolition of the old Uniroyal Plant that was nearly across the street. It took a relatively short time to get most of the structure torn down, but removing the debris took months. The huge pile of debris, with water squirting up, seemed to grow, flow into the street, first taking one lane, then two, and then I heard they got fined for having to shut down all the northbound lanes. The takeaway from this was, the hard part is not the initial work, but getting the debris out! You may have seen fabulously produced "building implosions" that take about 10 seconds for the building to come down, but months later they still are cleaning up the last of the rubble.

So, when it comes to your project, think about how you can get the waste material out as-you-go, and you will save time, save money and you will get credit (from those who appreciate well-built projects) for the great job you and/or your team did as the project was constructed.

I hope you find this thought-provoking and useful in your project pursuits--



Trivia question:
Which US President was famous for his parlor trick of writing in Latin with one hand while writing in Greek with the other, at the same time?