As a DIY’er, I dabble in a lot of different areas such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall, etc.. In doing so, it’s not uncommon at all for me to find myself facing a difficult task and thinking, “I’m sure glad I don’t have to do this for a living!”
That got me to wondering how you guys feel about the advantages and disadvantages provided by the various crafts of the building industry. With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting to solicit some opinions on this issue. So, in the spirit of professional discourse (and the excitement of a really good food fight), which trade do you think has it the easiest?
New knowledge is priceless.
Used knowledge is even more valuable.
Replies
which trade do you think has it the easiest?
All the others have it easier then carpenters!
Doug
Here, here, sir! Carpenters risk blindness, dismemberment and even death every day we work. And we are expected to work for way le$$ than plumbers, electricians, and even auto mechanics.Best to you and yours, Chris.
Building as thou art paranoid never harmed anyone.
And we are expected to work for way le$$ than plumbers, electricians, and even auto mechanics.
I think thats the deciding factor right there!
Hell man, I have to work just as hard to learn my trade as they do but they still get the big money. Whats up with that shid.
Like others have suggested, if my son was going into the trades I'd stear him into electrical or plumbing - plumbers making the biggest money.
Doug
What we carpenters need is a national campain to raise our standing. For every 10 new guys (and gals) that enter into carpentry 14 retire or expire. If we're becoming more scarce, shouldn't our compensation rise to match the other trades?
BTW, my auto mechanic charges $85.00 / Hr.Best to you and yours, Chris.
Building as thou art paranoid never harmed anyone.
BTW, my auto mechanic charges $85.00 / Hr.How much does the mechanic doing the work get of that? Maybe $25 to $35 an hour. The shop he works for makes the big bucks. But they also have high expenses.Martin
Have you ever heard of any business that didn't have overhead? You need an 17'-0 box truck to haul 16'-0 material and keep it high and dry in bad weather. A good job site table saw is over 20 cu. ft. A good chop saw with a support table is 16 cu. ft. $100 for a fillup. $100+ x 6 for tires. For carpenters, any thing smaller is a real squeez.
Phone, fax, tools, time spent doing estimates, advertising/marketing, insurance and the rest that goes into running an office.
"But they also have high expenses."
So do I Martin, so do I. Best to you and yours, Chris.
Building as thou art paranoid never harmed anyone.
Hi Chris
I do believe every business has a large overhead. Some have large one some other have a small overhead. Automotive Dealerships have to send their certified Techs all over the country for upgrading to the new models and technics that are out there.
Anyhow.. Getting away from the topic- The Techs are making good money but not as big as everybody assumes. I believe in most high priced trades the ratio is: $100 charge to the customers pays the tradesman who does the job only $30. Martin
Good post. So if I read you correctly, a master carpenter like myself who charges the most the market will bear for my services. ($70 / hr.) I'm left with only $21 at the end of the day? Hmmmmm.... That explains a lot.Best to you and yours, Chris.
Building as thou art paranoid never harmed anyone.
Hi ChrisUnfortunately that's the way it isMartin
Yeah, way back in the 70s I recall an article in an engineering magazine that figured that a company hiring an engineer for maybe $30K back then was paying a total of $100K when you figured in secretarial support, office space, employment taxes, health bennies, etc. And this was before engineers needed expensive computers, etc -- their "tools" were a sliderule and $50 worth of drafting equipment which they generally bought themselves.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
hiring an engineer for maybe $30K back then was paying a total of $100K
Most overhead nowadays at eng. firms doing engineering on gov. contracts is on the order of 4:1. e.g 30K salary = 120K according to eng. society studies. That includes lab & office costs, complying with regulations, etc.
Avg starting salary right out of school is well above $30K now, up from there.
Yeah, I would hope that starting salary is over $30K now. Average starting salary for an engineer back in the early 70s was around $10K. Now it's about $50K -- like most salaries it's just kept up with inflation.Hard to say how well a "multiplier" applies anymore, though -- there's been a big push in most companies to hold down the perks for senior engineers, so they have very little additional office space, secretarial support, etc, than do juniors. They do travel more, but no one travels as much as 30 years ago. Secretarial support in general is way down, relying more on email and word processing software. Medical insurance is up, of course, but employees now pay the bulk of that. Retirement bennies have been cut across the board.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I know a volvo mechanic who makes over $100K a year...
I've never thought that my plumber charges too much.But last weekend, his daughter got married and I'm pretty sure he spent much more on that affair than I could ever afford to get mine hitched
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
mwgaines,
You should be awarded the pot stirrers award of the year for this post!!
Do You hand out helmets and body protection ?
Whatever trade worked just before me cuz now I have to deal with their stuff.
Painters.
It's so easy to do, they drink on the job. And before and after.
Expert since 10 am.
When I painted, you always had to
listen to "anybody can paint".The answer was "yeah, but not
everyone can be a painter".
Applying and spreading isnt
as easy as it looks EVERYDAY
ALL DAY.Sure, there are drinkers. But
the ones who are for real don't.
Same as with any trade.
There are very few things in this world I hate more than painting.
I would hang myself if I had to caulk and fill nail holes all day long too.
"I never met a man who didn't owe somebody something."
I used to paint for a living. Did it for four years. I didn't drink, but painters and beer go together like chocolate and peanut butter.
Found a vodka bottle behind the sheetrock in my house last month, about 20 plus years old. Some things never change.Expert since 10 am.
>> found a vodka bottle behind the sheetrock in my house last month<< If the bottle was behind the sheetrock, it couldnt have been the painters....right?
Considering the sloppy sheetrock work, and slapdash painting, it could well have been the drywallers, not the painters.
I know drywallers need to be more careful than painters cause of the use of sharps- knives etc, and accuracy in general. But rehabbing an old house to "fine homebuilding" standards requires a sober approach.Expert since 10 am.
onder, in all seriousness I definitely respect the profession and the good painters out there who are trying to make a living.
I imagine that it is one profession with a great number of questionably skilled individuals out there undercutting the guys who know what they're doing it.
"College student/painter for hire cheap this summer to paint your house".
Ed
Mortician. I mean, whats the worst that can happen?
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
DIYers. If they mess up they have an excuse.:+}
http://grantlogan.net/
If doing any of it right was easy, everybody would do it.
And for darn sure nobody would pay to have it done.
electricians, hands down but plumbers make the most money they are gods
I say mason, reason, once you made the grade, you have common labor that hauls the bricks,cement, sand, wheelbarrow. They just pick up a block, set it down, make a dollar.
they can carry all their tools in a bucket. one pickup can be the whole company. and there is side work everywhere.
UNION PIPE FITTERS, end of discussion! It's the way their contract is written. Around here they are not allowed to carry their own tool boxes around the job without a cart because they weigh more than 50lbs. Those same boxes are fully furnished to each fitter with around $5000 in tools from their employer. They are allowed to finish their day a 1/2hr before the other trades for clean up and time to walk to their cars. Yes, it's actually in the contract that they are to be in their vehicle at 3:30. I've never seen a fitter's brake area empty before 9:50, (morning brake-9:30) 12:45, (lunch 12:00) or by 2:20 (afternoon brake 2:00). You'll also never see them actually working with tools in hand before 7:20a.m..
There is also a difference in terd hearders and fitters, so these guys are not messing with waste lines of any kind. They are one of the highest paid trades, why I don't know but as a collective group they can not be pushed to perform they'll just lay down. They are the only trade that will stand in a group and discuss what ever for a 1/2hr. even if the owner of their company is on site.
It goes on and on but there is no doubt these guys have it the easiest. Their the ones that can "work" all day and go to the bar right after without even having to re-tuck their shirt in and still smelling like the after shave they put on that morning.
The tool cart is a pretty good idea. I don't want to pack 50 pounds around everywhere I go. I don't think I'd like handling all that black pipe either. Nasty.
I'm Huge in Japan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4
Hey what kinda nonsense you writing here....Im calling my steward :>)But if I wanted my kids to get into a trade it would be service plumbing or service electrician.Come o a house at night swap a breaker and charge about $300-$400 bucks. Got to a persons house fix a leaking faucet, sweat a couple of leaking copper pipes 450-500 bucks....
at least here. "We fight not to enslave ,but to set free"Thomas Paine
Edited 6/16/2007 8:58 am by Sancho
You don't have a clue what service plumbers run into!, its not a gravy train. The fees you are quoting are the company rates; the plumber makes a lot less than the service charge. Have you ever seen Sears charge to come out to your house to fix your lawn equipment?, $99.00 just to show up, then it goes up if you want it repaired, this is daylight!!
The guys I know are self employed. They dont work for sears, HD,blowes, mike diamond etc they work for them selves. The Clients no pay they no stay. No free estimate call they show up you pay for their time. Much like carps who wont give a free estimate. "We fight not to enslave ,but to set free"Thomas PaineEdited 6/16/2007 9:25 pm by Sancho
Edited 6/16/2007 9:27 pm by Sancho
I was self-employed for years and I stopped giving free estimates most of the time because too many people wanted you to tell them how to repair for free. Grant you, there are rip-offs in every trade, but being a one-man plumbing company is not an easy job; easy was the criteria of the original post, right?
Kinda sorts but as with all jobs there are easy and ones that make you drink the Kool Aid.. But if my kids wanted to get into a trade I think you get more bang for your buck in service. "We fight not to enslave ,but to set free"Thomas Paine
Edited 6/17/2007 10:12 am by Sancho
I couldn't pick one. They all have their highs and lows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4
The late great Sam Kinison said the only good job is pornography star. It is the only job no one ever called in sick.
"Hey, I've got Aids, but I'll be in anyway!" yeah, great!"...an open mind is a powerful thing. The ability to listen to others is invaluable."
Jim Blodgett
Your secretary.
I'm Huge in my pants!
Fight fire with water.
Yea. That's a fact! LOL
I'm Huge in Japan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4
Ask a cannibal........
A cannible goes to the meat market. Behind the counter he see's a sign that says, "Carpenter brains- $3.40 pound"
Next on the right he see's a sign,"Mason brains- $4.00 pound"
Next on the right he see's a sign,"Electrican brains- $4.25 pound"
Next on the right he see's a sign " Painter brains- $45.00 pound"
Disturbed by the difference he ask the man behind the counter why painter's brains are so expense??
Do you know how many painter's brains it takes to make a pound!!!!!!!!!
this is actually a good question.
I think about it often ...
but along the lines ...
which trade would I want my son/daughter to go into.
the boy already knows that being an electrician and/or plumber is "better" than being a lowly carpenter like Dad ...
simply because here ... those trades are licensed. So less competition off the bat ...
HVAC might not be a bad gig either ... but there's all those old basements and attics.
personally ... I hate plumbing. If I had a choice of either plumbing or wiring all day ...
I'd take wiring 10 outta 10 times.
but then ya gotta figure ... who's charging more on a consistent basis ...
and around here ... I think it's plumber.
in the end ... it all sucks.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
very well put !!! especially the licenseing part,,,,,,
Easiest?
corner bead application specialist.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
UNION corner bead application specialist!!!.
.
."First thing I would do is shoot the carpenter"
"corner bead application specialist."Don't know if you're joking or not, but in the plasterers union we worked with the lathers and in their section there was such a job...setting the corner beads. I would agree it's not that hard a thing but boring as all get out.
Not joking at all.
called a drywall guy in for a big basement remodel ... tons of curved/angled drywall all over the place .... all to be bullnose.
he said no problem .... he'd run all the drywall associated subs.
one day I'm there .... guy shows up as the hangers are finishing up ...
can of spray adhesive in hand ...
he was the corner bead application specialist!
I must say ... he did a nice job. Trimmed a bit here and there ... got it all set in a coupla hrs ... and seeing as how there were bulkheads and miles of inside and outside corners ... he did have his work cut out for him.
turned out another buddy knew him ... and that's what he did ... all day ... everyday.
ran corner bead for a million other drywall contractors.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
"he was the corner bead application specialist!"Didn't really think you were joking. It's just that the name sounds like a friggin' joke."Oh I got my degree in corner bead application...fully certified I am"
I may have made that name up ...
just couldn't think of a better term.
then again ... my buddy Joe got me hooked.
for years Dave, the painter ...
has been , David ... The applied coating specialist!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Actully one time i was a carpenter on a big job where we did the metal studs and sheetrock, The foreman had me put the metal corners on, we had a pincer thingy you hit with a mallet so no nails, i never saw this before or since and after useing it i know why, It did not work very well, At any rate do that for 8 hours straight and you can go crazy
Yeah, I've used those hammer things -- don't work worth carp if the DW isn't real tight to the corner. Never tried the papered corners, but they have to be a lot better than the old all metal stuff.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
carpenter. I look forward to work most days, I'm doing something different all the time, and work isn't a mindless trudge- It keeps me thinking, and moving, and outside a fair amount of the time. I wouldn't last for a month running wire everyday, or gluing pvc, or sniffing paint.
zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
Sparkys, do you notice there always clean?? have a lot of perfume on?? look in there vans, there always organized with bins and even headache racks?? Ever notice there holding a little bitty light fixture and start getting all huffy cause they gotta pretend somethings hard, dont even let them near the radio you will listen to some kinda strange music must be on for only sparkys, They have 100 dollar screwdrivers and fancey ladders then leave the breaker on when they work on something.
ROAR!"...an open mind is a powerful thing. The ability to listen to others is invaluable."
Jim Blodgett
HAHAHAHAHAAAA very good..you forgot about the early quits100 dollar screwdrivers....bobbys, you're just too damn funny..and do you how hard it is to keep these things from getting scratched ???.
.
.
., wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
I gotta get me some of that stuff!
My Kliens have been laying in the box so long they are reall tarnished baaaaad.
Dave
I have several pair of Kleins, and I use the shiny ones to get the rammy guys all fired up and ticked off that I'm just standing around cleaning them up. its all just good clean fun, trying to get a guy to have a blue veiner..it works pretty good too !.
.
.
., wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
Very finny, you're cracking me up.......we're always clean, listen to weird music. The $100 screwdrivers is great.
But you forgot: we get to the job at 10 am and leave at 3.30 but get paid for a day's work. Everyone has to stay out of our way when we're working on a job or we can leave.
We can turn you off if we don't like you.
Ed
"We can turn you off if we don't like you."Don't get me started - I got storeys...Dare I mention inspectors in this thread?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
shovel holder-upper
they come out in the warmer months
you can spot them by their bright orange plumage
All of'em except surveyors, masons, and roofers.
Of course, surveying is the most intellectual....
>>>>>>>>>>>>>All of'em except surveyors, masons, and roofers.I must be a real dumbass 'cause those are three of the four careers I've had. Chimney sweep was the other.http://grantlogan.net/
electrician
"I never met a man who didn't owe somebody something."
DIY's have it easiest!!!
cause they have no professional standards to adhere to.
.
.
.
"First thing I would do is shoot the carpenter"
Residential building inspectors.
All they do all day is drive around in their new city owned trucks (mind you this truck has a heavy load, flashlight, laser pen, code book and some forms) and stop at job sites and point out how you screwed up and then write on one form or another. They never have to climb a ladder or crawl around a muddy crawlspace. They always work 8 to 5 and their first hour of work each day is spent at the office 'getting paperwork done' ie drinking coffee. They never work evenings or weekends and get all federal holidays off.
If they encounter new thinking or technology that they don't understand, do they need to try to learn it? Nope, "That does not conform to code because I haven't seen it before." or "I am going to need a stamp on a detail drawing of this before you can work any further."
Heck I have found that I often know the code better than they do because why should you try to remember it when you have the book right on the front seat of your truck and you can play post-game QB instead of making sure it is followed as the work is being done.
In the last city I lived in the hardest part of their job was figuring out how to spend the grease money they got each day from the developers.
-Day
Well, if it's a matter of how much you need to know it's being a judge: A citizen needs to know all of the law, a lawyer, some of the law, a judge, none of the law.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Painters have it easy. Anyone can do it and can you even call it work? I guess moving ladders around can be tiring but other than that, popping the lids off the cans and brushing it on. Or even easier, spraying? "course it kills brain cells by the millions to be breathing that stuff. And all the old lead dust in remodels.......I wouldn't want to do it.
Tile guys seem to have a cushy job. They're always 2 weeks late. They show up when the project is almost finished, so it's nice and clean and quiet, they rope off the work area so no-one can walk thru and do their thing. Then everyone ooh's and aah's about how great it looks.
But in terms of job satisifaction, it seems to me the HAPPIEST guys around are the excavators. What's not to like about diggin holes with big toys?
Ed
Good point about excavators. They are usually overweight which tells you something. The problem is that the equipment is expensive (excavator,float,truck,attachments) and parts wear out very fast.
roger
"terms of job satisifaction, it seems to me the HAPPIEST guys around are the excavators. What's not to like about diggin holes with big toys?"
Thats the only thing that has made any sense.
Tim
The down side of being the painter is that they show up after the client has already run out of money
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
the Sprinkler Fitters have the best job,
they don't dig,
they don't deviate,
they don't care,
they work through everyones breaks and dinner
they make more noise than everyone else and they get to open the old systems and stink up the place
they are courteous exactly once
if there is only one hallway, they will work in there all day long
the job never changes
their hardware never changes ..
they WILL wreck whatever is in their way, ..... but some of the more conscientious ones will merely bend the crap out of obstacles
.
.
.
, wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
It's largely a matter of attitude; every trade requires a different frame of mind.
For instance, I'd much rather run pipe for wires, than pipe for water. I can't say why it matters - it's the same pipe!
Likewise, I need a different attitude to pull wire, than I have for bending pipe. Troubleshooting? Better take a break first, so I'm 'thinking right.'
So, I can see every day that the painter has a different way of looking at things than a roofer.
In some ways, the painter has the hardest job. Not only is every flaw visible ... but every customer who has ever painted their bedroom thinks they're an expert.
> For instance, I'd much rather run pipe for wires, than pipe for water. I can't say why it matters - it's the same pipe!I doesn't usually matter if the wiring pipe leaks.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
In the union commercial/retail job market, I would say the commercial sparkies have it the "easiest". Union residential guys are held to a different standard and bust their butts.
Sprinkler fitters would be a real close second. Their stuff is already made and numbered in the shop, they rarely coordinate their shop drawings with other trades, show up on the job early, slam the pipe in the air and stick it to ya.... "Nope, I ain't moving it".
Pipefitters are up there, too. Yes, the pipe can be heavy, but they usually have the tools to move it fairly easily. They are paid well, and they will stick together and slow a job down to get the OT. I have never seen them start at starting time, take less than an hour lunch, and not leave early. That said, it can be a dangerous job with the heavy materials and welding fumes.
New construction plumbers usually have a decent gig. I would not want to do service plumbing work.
The trades I mentioned above have licensing requirements and stringent inspections.
Non-licensed trades like HVAC, carpentry, drywall and masonry are usually a free for all- union or not.
>>Non-licensed trades like HVAC, carpentry, drywall and masonry are usually a free for all- union or not.
HVAC isn't licensed in IL ?
Takes a minimum of at least 3000 hrs just to become elligable to take the journeyman test in KY, and we are considered a "hick" state.
Dave
HVAC is not licensed in Illinois.
easist trade, porta let cleaners, till the pump breaks, then they have to sipon that sh$%^
> Sprinkler fitters would be a real close second. Their stuff is
> already made and numbered in the shop, they rarely coordinate
> their shop drawings with other trades, show up on the job early,
> slam the pipe in the air and stick it to ya.... "Nope, I ain't
> moving it".I worked as an engineer for Grinnel. Every drawing was coordinated with the other trades; we had prints of how the HVAC, electricians, and carpenters were supposed to put in the ceiling stuff. None of them ever did. Our people rarely, if ever, got there first, but you'd better believe they would say they "aren't moving it." They followed the architect's prints, the rest of you clowns can damn well do it too! When they didn't get there first, a lot of stuff had to be recut in the field, usually because of the HVAC idiots. Those guys didn't know what a blueprint was.George Patterson
I have not worked on a Grinnel fire protection job.
I have not worked on a Grinnel fire protection job.
I used too, but then Grinnel went non-union, & are not allowed on most of my jobsites.
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.
-- Albert Einstein
That explains it.
I was the project coordinator on a job several years ago where the archys and engineers must have had a chimp review their drawings. The mechanical guy had a duct running through a wall just below a bond beam (good), but forgot the roof elevation changed on the other side of the wall. the bond beam was supporting the top cord bearing bar joist on the other side. Cutting a steel bar joist is not and option. Lowering the duct was the only solution, but then the sprinkler system had to be lowered, then the drop ceiling, then, oops. the equipment going in the room was going to be to tall. It took almost a week to get everyone's screw ups straightened out, and then the firm wanted to charge us for "field changes, and drawing modification."
The archy planned two new restrooms right across the foyer from two existing restrooms. He had standard wall hung sinks in the new, dut the existing had laminated tops and drop in sinks. I made drawings of the existing and faxed them to him. The firm later tried to bill us for the drawing I made, and the change in plans for something that was suppose to match the original.
Point being, everyone makes mistakes or just plain ole screws up. You bid a job by a set of prints, with blind faith, that they are going to be right. They seldom are 100% of the time. You make your field adjustments, then the inspecting archy, GC, or owner, or someone in authority expect you to change it. Who pays for someone else's mistake, that you were doing your best to correct, stay on schedule, and make a little money? I, if I'm a sub, will work as closely with them as I can, but I will fight every step of the way to keep my cost down and my profits up.
Dave
I've been a plumber and the pvc fumes and solder fumes trashed my lungs but I love the work and planning the installs like dungeons and dragons in 3-D with all the intricate codes.
Wiring leaves my knuckles all achy and messes with ability to play guitar. Data wiring is fun but the wires have all these little color codes that I need tri-focals to get straight at 50 yrs old.
Copper smithing is lots of fun, a little hard on the hands but worth it. Work tends to be feast or famine though.
All in all being a builder is the best. Like conducting an orchestra with all the trades working together towards a bigger outcome than any of us can do solo. I get to take on a few cool carpentry or plumbing projects on every job but spend a lot of time helping other people figure out how to solve problems. I do have to spend a lot of time managing clients and doing the marketing and estimating and dealing with taxes and insurance but the pay is good most of the time and I get to choose who I want to have on my team and I do have a great team. In thirty years I have worn out two nail aprons and I finally found my ideal hammer.
------------------
"We DON'T build 'em the way they useta."
I've pretty much done it all over the course of a half-century. Was a long stretch there where I couldn't figure out how anyone who wasn't a carpenter could possibly be happy. These days, I really like my gig of just drawing the silly stuff. Sure, there'll occasionally be multi-over-nighters, and you have to develop a thick skin against blame, but I can go pet the dawgs whenever I want, don't necessarily have to sober-up or wear clothes to work, and don't even have to live on the same continent as my projects. Yep, not bad at all -- now if I can just figure out how to make it pay minimum wage so that I can afford a new $10,000 CAD station...
}}}}
I figure hot mop roofing. What could be easier than standing on a black roof in the hot sun when the temp is 98 in the shade (and there is none), trucking around hot tar?
Yeah,
RIGHT!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Play them guitars on that MTV
Money for nuthin' and yer chicks fer free . . .
Forrest - we got to move these . . . refrigerators
I didn't read all the posts... but based on what i've seen and had to pay...
I tell kids if they are looking for a trade
Elevator Mechanic about all of it is computer controlled and i'm not sure anyone bills more per hour... $275hr around here
I'm sure there is grunt work and I'm sure guys get dirty... but last guy i was talk'n to at his service van... he kept his golf clubs in the van with him...
p
I'd consider it if I didn't have to lug around those proof weights.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Easiest job? The Hod Carrier!
It is empty on the trip back to the mixer.
Works only half the time.
Most everyone's answerAny job that's not mineAKAYours
Barry E-Remodeler
Or re-sleave a hydrulic cylinder, or re-cable a a car, replace a drive motor, replace doors, or any number of other heavey, greasey, dangerous stuff that goes with a rebuild and repair.
Dave
I won't say who has it the easiest, but I will say who has it the worst.
Not necessarily in this order.
1. Roofing (the kid that has to carry the bundles up the ladder)
2. Drywall (the guys that have to carry it up stairs or down)
3. Brick laying (the kid that runs the brick and morter for the brick layer)
4. The ceramic tile delivery guy that will bring the tiles inside for you.
5. Top of my list. Tile and carpet guys. Simply for the amount of abuse there body's take. Inside of ten years they are pretty much crippled.
Dave
In heavy construction it's the rod-busters that have it the worst. They usually destroy their backs in less than ten years.
I'm not familiar with that one. If I were to guess, I would say it sounds like the guys that tie rebar. am I close?
Dave
Yep. I did a concrete bridge job in Vegas. Five of those guys were picking up bundles of 60-ft #5 & 7 bar, and walking it out across the stuff they had already tied. I have a hard time walking across a 12-in on center grid, little lone carrying to 70 to 100 lbs on my shoulder.
Having just spent father's day in the yard, I have to say -
YARD WORK IS THE WORST OF ALL!
Can't imagine how much I hate it. Thank god my dad down the street mows it. I've mowed it twice in 15 years.
Forrest - itchy and hot
when I was a teen, we bought mama a riding lawn mower, she would hook the wagon to it. put all her weiny dogs in the wagon (7) and cut the grass, every weekends for years. My only chore was to keep the mower full of gas.
I like my remodeling jobs best, because I don't have to do the same things everyday.
I actually like to finish drywall, but I wouldn't want to do it EVERYDAY!!
I like to wire, but that would get old EVERYDAY!!
Tile is ok. But I couldn't live through it EVERYDAY!Well, Guess I have to learn how to do THAT, now!
Seven dachshunds? Well, I wouldn't exactly put "Wiener Dog Herder" at the top of the easiest job list... the greatest danger is stampedes.
That and being slobbered to death.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
they was alway the change of getting a cold nose in the wrong spot at 3am
Easy? how about the yahoos who install media rooms. High priced equipment with electricial wanabee installers who can't read a print or a ruler. Where do they FIND these guys? The only thing that could make it more painfull to watch is if they were colorblind.
which trade do you think has it the easiest?
Fee collector at the Building Department, especially P&D.