I didn’t know how big the furnace room was when my apprentice and I showed up to work on a furnace.
The last time I was at this house, I remembered it was a bit cramped, but my apprentice was petite and I didn’t think the two of us would have a difficult time working there together.
Either I remembered wrong, or they had shrunk the amount of space they had for the furnace. I had a difficult time getting in the area, and although the HVAC tech was barely 5 feet tall, and weighed less 100 pounds, I didn’t think she would fit in there with me. She told me she would do the work as long as I was there to guide her if needed, but it was her first time working since getting her certification. I hesitantly agreed, and let her in the furnace room. She asked a couple questions, but it had nothing to do with the job. They all pertained to wondering if all furnace rooms were this tight? We talked while she was working, and she was doing a wonderful job. By the time she was done with the furnace, I was ready to give her the go-ahead to work on her own. The only thing holding me back was that we insisted they had at least six weeks training with a mentor, before going on HVAC job by themselves. I told her what I was thinking when we got into the HVAC service van. She thanked me for my confidence in her, but she said she wanted a little more training before going out on her own.