Random construction question.

[BengalHawk62]

I recently had my siding replaced on my house last week. Well over the weekend I was outside walking around the house and noticed hundreds of nails laying in the rocks and grass that no one took the time to pick up. Now I'm worried about getting a nail or 12 of them stuck in my mowers tires. Does anyone know a good way of picking up nails and other loose metals laying out in the yard? Is there a big magnet I can purchase for this?

[StoneTheCrow]

You should tell the people that did the job to bring their big magnet and clean up after themselves.

[Millhouse]

Might try a Lowes or Home Depot to rent a magnet sweeper. If they dont then might try a roofing supply store to see if they rent them. Assuming the folks that put the siding up wont come back.

[HarleyDog]

Unless their aluminum nails, then your screwed. Get a set of kneepads and get to picking. It you have kids or grandkids, maybe you could make a fun game of it and give them 5 cents for each nail they find, just pray they dont start goofing off and run into the house looking like a cactus!

[SunsetBengal]

(09-11-2017, 06:38 PM)StoneTheCrow Wrote: You should tell the people that did the job to bring their big magnet and clean up after themselves.

^This.  I certainly hope that you withheld a final payment.

[Sabretooth]

I think northern tools and or harbor freight have the sweeper type magnets

[jfkbengals]

The sweeper magnets are what the contractor should be doing, but unfortunately it will not get them all.

We had our roof replaced in the spring. After they were done I found over a dozen nails around the pool equipment alone without even trying to look for them. Called the company back out and made them clean again. They did. The next day, same thing. The sweepers do a good job, but they just can't pick up everything over an uneven surface, especially if there are leaves, grass, etc. that can hold the nails back.

[Benton]

(09-11-2017, 07:13 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: ^This.  I certainly hope that you withheld a final payment.

Half now, half when the job is done. If your yard is full of shrapnel because they're lazy, I'd hold onto the second half.

[BMK]

You can get a magnet sweeper at most big box stores, but I would absolutely call the company back to do it. If nothing else it puts it on record that they left the nails laying around, which can be a dangerous situation.

I had a new roof put on a few years ago. After completion, there were nails everywhere, in the grass, gutters, some even dropped through the grate into the air conditioner fan. With 2 small kids, I was livid. Made them come out and clean up their mess. (looked to me they hired a couple of kids to come and pick up the nails, but whatever, it got done). That taught me that for any renovation project like that, I have it as part of the contract that one of the criteria for final payment is clean up per my approval.

[reuben.ahmed]

A landscaper I used to work with always said "need more money", so I kept cutting it in half in half in half in half, lol. Until I was happy, they could walk away from another thousand or they could fix it. At some point, he wasn't happy with me cutting it in half anymore so I ended up having to reseed a large portion of my yard myself - lol.