I got off the road warrior gig a year ago but my boy still does it. I quit because of the pay. I had gone from 50.00 to 35.00 and hour, 45 cent mileage + the extras. The other day some guy tells me he does Chinese Red Army Stores (Walmarts) in 41 states. Says he is willing to pay 16.00 and hour and 25 cent mileage. Are you kidding me. I know part of this is due to immigration.
So the construction industry is going to go completely to hell or what. I’ve had guys tell me the high end housing is going this way too. And from looking at some of the 3-500,000.00 houses I’d say so. (Thats 1-3 million for you in Colorado) And a friend of mine has been looking for work for 5 months that pays more than 12.00 and hour . He has 20 years experience and is an excellent carpenter
Replies
Your friend must have some other problem if he really is a good carpenter. I pay untrained helpers more than that and can't get enough of those much less skilled carps.
Where are you located. Your area must be one of the anomlies. I finished here in TN and cabinetmakers that can read prints are lookin at 8-10 and an ad for skilled carpenter (10 years) willing to pay 12.00There are four boxes to be used in defence of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Please use in that order - Ed Howdershelt
I wish I could get someone to work for those wages. An illegal alien laborer get's $15/hr. And carpenters are getting $40+/hr. Are we in the same country?
I'm proud to say I haven't been in a Walmart in well over a year, maybe two. Wher are you at. Welcome settle in and fill out your profile. We want to have a look atcha.
I travel some for work. Five or six days a month sometimes more, sometimes less. we're covered on meals and lodging from the time we leave the shop untill we get back. We drive company vehicles, so mileage isn't a problem.
"A problem cannot be solved by the same thinking that created it." Albert Einstein
I can give you my profile here :) i'm a 58 year old sour #### who has been doing this since 1962. Started building barns and corn cribs. Driving 20 penny commons with a 16 oz hammer while the boss laughed his #### off every time you bent one and asked you if your pecker was still growing. Nobody cared about your self esteem and the only way you learned was to keep your mouth shut, watch and pay attention. Carpenters kept what they knew to them selves. 25 I was general foreman of a res/comm construction co. High end homes, holiday Inns, Banks. Went on my own in 77 as a general but didn't much enjoy that so went the sub route as trim and cabinets.pretty much done that till now. Decided i wanted to do furniture a few years back so while I was running around doing Talbots, Pinera Breads, Cingular Etc. i put a shop together where I am now. Had nine kids so never got rich except for grandkids (16) Got three sons who started at 9 and are in the business now DA's. There good but tried to get them to go another route. ButI 'm glad to be gettin out of it. All the standards and ethics are about gone. There are a hell of a lot of good guys out there that know a lot of good stuff but there gettin screwed more every day. I know, made a lot of freinds and we talkThere are four boxes to be used in defence of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Please use in that order - Ed Howdershelt
Not bad. Sounds like you've done good. Just please tell me you didn't drill holes in your hammer and put beeswax in it. :) (inside joke round here)
"A problem cannot be solved by the same thinking that created it." Albert Einstein
No but the old guy that taught me trim did. He was so fast, never did see hime move.:) One move did ten things. His helper was an old guy that had no teeth. Always ordered two glasses of water when we went to the resturaunt. bout crapped when I watched him wash his teeth in one glass. Now i order tow glasses when I go :)(Not on your life) Use to tell us that he and Keppy had a lot of nice tools (he had a hammer and a fishing pole)There are four boxes to be used in defence of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Please use in that order - Ed Howdershelt
so you found "that" hammer in yur stash..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
NO BEESWAX!
"A problem cannot be solved by the same thinking that created it." Albert Einstein
K jelly instead????
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
You know it. LOL
"A problem cannot be solved by the same thinking that created it." Albert Einstein
Skilled blueprint reading carpenters make $20-25 an hour here. If you can lead a crew that's up to $80,000 a year plus benefits and a company truck..
I know more than a few lead carpenters who make well over $20.00 an hour and just laborers earn north of $15.00 if they are expected to show up on a regular basis..
Most guys start shy of those numbers untill the boss sees what you are capable of and then quickly earn those sorts of numbers..
Road warrior, Immagration isn't the big thing you make it to be, the license process pretty much keeps illegals out of the industry and as for legals heck they are the same as you or me, they just got here a little later that's all. (afterall, We're all a bunch of immagrents if you go back far enough)..
Frenchy
You probably are a nice guy (got no profile) but I don't know what rock you live under. Go to any home building site or commercial job and open your eyes. then holler "immigration" see whose left. We use to do that for fun in Colorado. As for 25.00 an hour that barely meets the median income for any state. Look it up. I was makin that in 1990. As for liscencing you must be in a blue state or a big power mad city. iknow a guy right now doing a 17 story building in the no1 area in the country. he's liscence. Know whos working for him. Can you say "immigration" It takes two to hang a door, three to sett cabinets. Then they call the foreman and ask him if its OK. They 'll be doing punch for a year in that place if they ever get done walking around the piles of shi* in the corners
There are four boxes to be used in defence of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Please use in that order - Ed Howdershelt
And a friend of mine has been looking for work for 5 months that pays more than 12.00 and hour . He has 20 years experience and is an excellent carpenter
What does a 3BR, 2BA, 1500sq go for in your area (rough estimate)?
jt8
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. -- John R. Wooden
John
3br 2ba around here goes for around 60,000 plus land. Most of the stuff that small is prefab. I bought 6 acres,11 year old story/half, 30x60 metal building, 4 out buildings : 119,000.00. a bigger place 4000 ft, mdf and caulk trim, brick outside 150,000-500,000 w lot. Haven't seen any houses with any wood in them. But HGTV is headquartered in this area. There shows preetty much reflect the crap around here. Of course there is always the exception.There are four boxes to be used in defence of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Please use in that order - Ed Howdershelt