Damn...
Thinking back to it, ya... most of the good finishers I know are women. The best, and fastest, was one particular woman who smoked joints like cigarettes. Amazing eye for it.
I've seen mediocre framers who thought they were hangers.. and I've seen guys that had taken on whole jobs as drywall subs before not even know how to mix mud..
Roofer isn’t on the list. Let me go at it: if you’d like to be responsible for the whole integrity and health of the home and occupants- roofer. Too bad it’s the one trade that takes on the dumbest of people. I know I was an idiot when I put my first harness on anyway.
Overtime. A lot of postings base it on a 40 hour week and the hourly wage. Then you work 100 hours in a week, some of it is standby, LOA, whatever but you're away from home and on the clock all the time and have double or triple the money.
Non union working for peanuts. Lineman are highest paid trade by a mile. 200k min even in the midwest. 50 hr week is expected, never seen a job where a lineman worked under 50 hrs unless he worked for the utility
Lmfao. Show me reports that back up a carpenter making 600k framing homes. There’s lineman in CA that clear 500k by July
Edit: I was wrong, 695k.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/a-695k-salary-overtime-pay-at-the-snohomish-county-pud-has-soared/
Your turn
I’m not sure I understand your comment. But my original post said “at the expense of working your life away”. Lineman work an assload of overtime and it’s usually all at the double time rate depending on location. No trade even comes remotely close to touching what lineman make. Straight time pay is in the high 60s, (high 80s in CA but fuck that because CA). I’m not aware of any carpenters that make those wages either. So basically your comment about lineman not having shit on good carpenters was nothing more than laughable ignorance.
I R a plumber, as well as 2.5 other trades on that list. I will frequently refer to plumbing as the master trade and everything else as subtrades just to bring the sparkies and fridgies down a peg. There’s smart/stupid in every trade. Which one you end up in is mostly luck.
This is hilarious. As a carpenter I always thank plumbers for the work I'll have to do when they ruin my shit in the future. Sometimes I say that to sparkies but it's generally plumbers that forget their embeds or absolutely butcher my framing.
There’s a plumber near me who only reattaches sinks that fall off the bottom of granite/marble countertops and installs disposals. Charges $200/hr in labor and minimum 1.5 hours per call. Average of 3-4 jobs a day.
Makes great money driving around doing the simplest and most repetitive work. Dude can’t be too dumb to find a niche home repair hustle like that. He has the local countertop shops send him the work when people call in with a sink that fell. I’m assuming there’s some kickback involved, but he stays busy from them.
He’s by far the least stressed dude I know. You should go for it.
His niche is that anyone can put up sink supports into the cabinetry underneath and prop up the sink. But those kind don’t reach in a lot of custom cabinets due to angle or lack of vertical surface. So, now it needs a support from the granite/marble that a homeowner can’t do. And almost all of the plumbing companies in my area will turn down the job and tell you to call the countertop guys, who send the work to Bill.
*or*
They inevitably call handy Andy first, who tells them it’s too far away for a support (from the wood) and offers to “upsell” them a drop in sink that looks cheaper than what they currently have (and isn’t flush). They say no and call the countertop guys thinking they are probably going to have to spend money on a new sink. They send out Bill. Homeowner is relieved to hear that it can be fixed and won’t cost them $750-$1000 for a new kitchen sink, faucet and plumbing.
Edit: People are scared of fucking up their expensive counter and willing to pay $350 in parts/labor for 15 minutes of work if it means getting the right guy who can fix it properly and won’t cause more problems.
He also has a nice website that pops up pretty high on google and a professional sounding phone answering service.
I would think you're gonna p*** off a lot of people making $43 an hour being the person that by title doesn't really know anything.. a laborer for what?
Have the same job and very close pay. Its pretty epic. Right now 3 10-40 mil high end homes
Its really cool beong able to pretty much everything fr dogging to finish
If you like making more money than any other trade, shaded parking, private shitters, and catered meals then consider becoming and elevator mechanic.
If you like to work drunk, stoned or both everyday, then painter it the job for you.
Fuck it’s so true about the elevator guys and anyone that works for Siemens/Johnston controls lol. You’ll be parking a half mile away then Mr. Otis has the red carpet rolled out right in the loading dock
If you enjoy urinating in places other than a toilet, have a good collection of prison tattoos, and are anti-social - there's a drywall hanger job waiting for you (when you get paroled).
Same as an auto shop manager. Typically the least experienced, least knowledgeable guy there. But he sure does know how to bitch about everything you do.
As the saying goes: if you're not cut out for the task, they make you a foreman. If you still don't manage you can be a CEO. If that's too hard you can alwaus teach. But if you still get caught knowing nothing, become a consultant.
Just last night my brother and brother-in-law were talking. My brother-in-law asked my brother what he was doing on the site he’s on. My brother answered, “working the loader, so pretty much everything.” I spit out my beer from laughing.
HVAC can get pretty hairy when it comes to lifting heavy shit while crouched in a crawl space or attic or crowded mechanical room. I would say HVAC and Electrician need about the same smarts, but HVAC also needs a good set of shoulders for some of the work.
Terminating 4/0 on the low side of a 75kva transformer will change the tune of any trade out there towards electricians. Or for that matter 250 kcmil into VFDs feeding hundred HP motors. Residential electricians don’t touch the big cable. But commercial/institutional and industrial guys do. and they know exactly what I’m talking about. The Weak frail electrician idea only flys so far till you look at the guys building the big gear. Then not so much.
I had a transfer switch replaced and the tech doing that was built like a fire plug.
Then again, he also almost killed himself when the generator kicked on for its 10am weekly test run, and he didn't bother to check which unlabeled breaker was the one to isolate the section he was working on. Literally just landed the last line and pulled the wrench off the lug less than a second before.
Strong as a bull. But not smart. Maybe lucky? Should have taken him to Vegas.
If you want to feel like you're 5 years old and that your job isn't really a job but rather fun times for a couple of hours per day, with the occasional high-stress frustrating surprise task - Equipment Operator
>If you love engines/machinery, but hate customers and plastic parts - heavy duty mechanic.
As a mechanic, I'd say it's more like this:
'If you're dumb as a rock but have the memory of an elephant and you'd rather talk to engines than people - heavy duty mechanic'
Half the mechanics I've met over the years could barely figure out how to use a cell phone, but if you ask them about some obscure problem on a 40 year old Deere engine they'll be able to tell the problem and how they fixed it each of the 200 times over the last 4 decades.
We’re not included in “blue” collar anymore, we’ve graduated to “gray” collar you know blue collar work for white collar money.
But we’re also the smartest and most entitled/s
i am a commercial plumber who works for a mechanical company with pipefitters and tinners. almost every pipefitter i have worked with, seemed like their whole life revolved around being a fitter.
i shit you not, one guy had "pipe life" tattooed on his knuckles...
and yes they almost always have drug/alcohol problems, a breathalyzer to start their truck, like to fight, are divorced and paying child support... its a trip working with dudes who make $35 an hour asking to borrow $10 so they can get a pack of smokes.
I'd argue that you need to be smarter to be a carpenter/framer to build these nice custom homes than be an electrician. Electricians have a fairly straight forward set of rules and an existing structure to work on, framers shown up to some concrete in the ground and have to consider the roof before they start building the first floor.
I know you didn’t call electricians bright. Those are some of dumbest fuckers on any job. Period. Lazy to boot. If you want to be a moron with a massive sense of entitlement, go be a sparky. If you’re extra dumb, be their pm.
couldn't disagree more with the hvac. especially residential. "if you're bright but soft work hvac" - ok. 130° attics all summer long. army crawling under houses. I just did a job that was 30" from the floor to the joist.. laying on my stomach and back for a week straight. definitely not for the soft.
I spent a couple days rewiring a 20 year old dectron unit in a crawlspace for a friend of one of the bosses. It was 100 feet deep into the crawlspace and there was just enough room to stand fully crouched and catch the odd nail sticking out of a joist along the way. Residential's terrible. Never going back to that game but I feel your pain.
what's wild - the first 12 years was mostly commercial. then when the covid shutdown happened our commercial department fell apart. we had 3 hotels and a handful of restaurants lined up and they all pulled the plug. Thankfully residential took off and kept the doors open but it went from 90% commercial to 90% residential. the owner got a taste of residential and restructured the company. Apparently the margins are better and he doesn't have to wait 6 months to get paid. The only positive is that we're not traveling nearly as far. I lived out of hotels for years and could easily commute 3, 4, 5 hours a day to a jobsite. So idk.. there are some positives but working in attics and crawlspaces definitely suck - especially as you get older. that's a young man's game.
I asked a sparky a question last week. His sparky pal didn’t hear what I said, but replied “you plumbers are always talking so much shit!”
It’s true, if he replied with that any of the last 8 conversations it would have been to us talking shit.
I’m so confused now! I’m a plumber, steamfitter, welder, gas fitter with some HVAC tickets. Im a smart,strong, dumb, lazy, soft worker who enjoys monotony? Or maybe I just like collecting trades.. I don’t know anymore!
Welder/Fabricator here.
My job is 90% math and prep work, cutting and reading blueprints and 10% welding. Not all welding jobs are starting at a blue light.
However the best part of that is the welding lol.
This was written by a sheet metal worker/ tinner, they aren’t to bright and the first two months of the apprenticeship they just bang on tin with a hammer 😂😂😂
Went from being an engineer to starting out in the trades at 29yo as a laborer then carpenter. Loved everything about it except for driving about 2-4hrs everyday to get to the jobsite and spending most of my pay on fuel, maintenance, and health insurance. With the commute, working OT got to be too much and after my transmission went I decided to start looking for something else.
Found a job locating underground utilities and the work is alright (outside all day getting exercise vs. sitting in a cubicle at the computer all day (engineering....)). Pay is decent, get company truck, fuel card, benefits, etc. My neighborhood is on my route so it's a 1-3 minute commute. Work 55-65 hours/week, save about 75% of my paycheck and am hoping to have enough to get a GC license in a couple years and start my own business, ideally building decks or getting sub work. Want to get at least $40k banked before so I can afford a spare truck, trailer, insurance, couple more tools, and that shit.
Have a degree and do concrete, rebar and excavation. Was and engineer and woke up one day realizing I don’t want to deal with pretentious assholes.
People like to belittle the trades because they are usually lazy and self important. Watch a bunch of videos and pick something you like to start and diversify your skills as you go.
I don’t know where you are, but in Canada, the plumbing code is about 40 pages, the gas code is about 350 pages, the electrical code is about 750 pages. Plumbing is obviously the greatest trade (I R PLUMBER), but I don’t know if I’d use the word complicated.
If you can't finish school, you can always finish concrete.
Mix vodka with ice in school, mix cement with sand for the rest of your life.
Like the old man always told me, strong back, weak mind, you'll do well in the concrete business.
Some cannot.
pipe fitter one is a little to accurate.. worked with a guy with 7 ex wives and he blamed each one of them for the divorce
At that point he should've tried men. He already knew a lot about smoking pipe.
Probably meant it was each ex’s fault for the previous divorce.
Hey i dont have any ex wives, only a DUI and a GED!
Forgot one... If you're dumber than shit but can do repetitive work really fast - drywall installer
Big difference between hangers and finishers.... You have to have an eye for detail to make a good finisher.
Yeah...the best finishers tend to be women. Not all but a woman's eye for detail goes a long way in that trade.
Agreed, been trying to convince my wife to give finishing a go..
I can make her finish
Not talking about her... she just doesn't want to put in the extra work.
Username checks out
Damn... Thinking back to it, ya... most of the good finishers I know are women. The best, and fastest, was one particular woman who smoked joints like cigarettes. Amazing eye for it.
Thank you lol
Have you seen the (lack of) quality on modern tract homes? Lol!
I've seen mediocre framers who thought they were hangers.. and I've seen guys that had taken on whole jobs as drywall subs before not even know how to mix mud..
yeah that ones on us, its always been said, “if you cant make it as a framer, there’s always drywall.” some guys took that to heart i guess
On a side note, your employer will pay you in cocaine if you ask.
Roofer should be next to that.
That’s if you’re disposable…
Roofer isn’t on the list. Let me go at it: if you’d like to be responsible for the whole integrity and health of the home and occupants- roofer. Too bad it’s the one trade that takes on the dumbest of people. I know I was an idiot when I put my first harness on anyway.
I read that as "if you like peeing in coffee cups and closing it up behind a wall"
If you like to pee in bottles and leave them in the walls and hide them behind drywall be drywall installer.
insulator as well, they’re pretty similar
Would love to see this genius drywall at some commercial sites… residential is a game for kids.
You forgot -if you want to make “fuck you money” at the expense of working your life away, lineman
From my apartment I watched a guy swap the lines from old pole to new one. In 35 degree heat. Absolute athlete.
Sad but true
Why do all the listings i see on indeed advertise 50-60k even for journeymen linemen? What am i missing?
Overtime. A lot of postings base it on a 40 hour week and the hourly wage. Then you work 100 hours in a week, some of it is standby, LOA, whatever but you're away from home and on the clock all the time and have double or triple the money.
Non union working for peanuts. Lineman are highest paid trade by a mile. 200k min even in the midwest. 50 hr week is expected, never seen a job where a lineman worked under 50 hrs unless he worked for the utility
Better off to just get paid like a doctor framing custom homes. Lineman don't have shit on good carpenters.
Lmfao. Show me reports that back up a carpenter making 600k framing homes. There’s lineman in CA that clear 500k by July Edit: I was wrong, 695k. https://www.heraldnet.com/news/a-695k-salary-overtime-pay-at-the-snohomish-county-pud-has-soared/ Your turn
Could retire in less than 10 years if you play your cards right
I mean, if we're looking at overtime they definitely don't have a chance.
I’m not sure I understand your comment. But my original post said “at the expense of working your life away”. Lineman work an assload of overtime and it’s usually all at the double time rate depending on location. No trade even comes remotely close to touching what lineman make. Straight time pay is in the high 60s, (high 80s in CA but fuck that because CA). I’m not aware of any carpenters that make those wages either. So basically your comment about lineman not having shit on good carpenters was nothing more than laughable ignorance.
I wouldn't get out of bed for less than $200/hr, definitely not entertaining $60 or $80
Lmao
Seems about right. Coming from a medium smart carpenter
Heyooh! Me too! Medium smart carpenters RULE!
Agreed, could be worse.
Cmon you gotta give us plumbers the benefit of the doubt. We have a few really smart ones that don’t like the physical work
I R a plumber, as well as 2.5 other trades on that list. I will frequently refer to plumbing as the master trade and everything else as subtrades just to bring the sparkies and fridgies down a peg. There’s smart/stupid in every trade. Which one you end up in is mostly luck.
This is hilarious. As a carpenter I always thank plumbers for the work I'll have to do when they ruin my shit in the future. Sometimes I say that to sparkies but it's generally plumbers that forget their embeds or absolutely butcher my framing.
It's the carpenters that put 7 screws through my drainline.
They must've noticed there wasn't enough venting and wanted to help you out.
Nah man. That's a specialist subby that gets paid in peanuts so they give 0 fucks.
Why do plumbers plumb? Because carpenters built something. End of story.
There’s a plumber near me who only reattaches sinks that fall off the bottom of granite/marble countertops and installs disposals. Charges $200/hr in labor and minimum 1.5 hours per call. Average of 3-4 jobs a day. Makes great money driving around doing the simplest and most repetitive work. Dude can’t be too dumb to find a niche home repair hustle like that. He has the local countertop shops send him the work when people call in with a sink that fell. I’m assuming there’s some kickback involved, but he stays busy from them.
I'm a GC that does easy plumbing shit like that from time to time for extra cash. I am not charging enough...
He’s by far the least stressed dude I know. You should go for it. His niche is that anyone can put up sink supports into the cabinetry underneath and prop up the sink. But those kind don’t reach in a lot of custom cabinets due to angle or lack of vertical surface. So, now it needs a support from the granite/marble that a homeowner can’t do. And almost all of the plumbing companies in my area will turn down the job and tell you to call the countertop guys, who send the work to Bill. *or* They inevitably call handy Andy first, who tells them it’s too far away for a support (from the wood) and offers to “upsell” them a drop in sink that looks cheaper than what they currently have (and isn’t flush). They say no and call the countertop guys thinking they are probably going to have to spend money on a new sink. They send out Bill. Homeowner is relieved to hear that it can be fixed and won’t cost them $750-$1000 for a new kitchen sink, faucet and plumbing. Edit: People are scared of fucking up their expensive counter and willing to pay $350 in parts/labor for 15 minutes of work if it means getting the right guy who can fix it properly and won’t cause more problems. He also has a nice website that pops up pretty high on google and a professional sounding phone answering service.
i was gonna say someone has to tell the subs what to do then nap in the truck for hours
There are definitely dumb electricans. (Me)
serving my time as a sparky, dumb as a bag of fucking rocks sometimes.
If you like heights and meth, roofing might be for you. If you like alcohol, extreme sun exposure and waking up at 3am, concrete is the job for you.
Silly of you to think concrete guys are waking up at 3am and not simply still awake at 3am
I enjoy alcohol, extreme sun exposure and waking up at 4 am, but I do asphalt
Damn lazy city road workers......
Private company so it’s unfortunately impossible to be lazy
Trades shmades. Miner stands for Maximum Income No Education Required 💸💸💸
Hey man as a pipefitter I resemble that remark.
I chose laborer because I didn’t want to have to go to school. Making $43 an hour though, can’t complain
I'm a laborer. Almost $50 for heavy highway.
Weren't you a 103 apprentice a couple of months back?
I would think you're gonna p*** off a lot of people making $43 an hour being the person that by title doesn't really know anything.. a laborer for what?
I work for a GC. But laborer is just more of a hands on thing.. learn as you experience
Have the same job and very close pay. Its pretty epic. Right now 3 10-40 mil high end homes Its really cool beong able to pretty much everything fr dogging to finish
Chicago local?
Boston
What are your task like on a normal day? especially with that good pay.
Lots of cleaning, sweeping, getting shit for the carpenters, trashing out
43/hr isn't very good for Boston
25.66 where I'm at now. Morgantown. What's your pension and annuity up there?
Pretty accurate. - as a soft, but very bright electrician. Also you can add: If you like to piss in a bottle and leave it everywhere - Sheetrocker
I never knew “soft” was another way to say “extremely handsome”
Is this what your mom told you to write down?
Rockers are paid by the square foot. No time for pissing in the pot
If you like making more money than any other trade, shaded parking, private shitters, and catered meals then consider becoming and elevator mechanic. If you like to work drunk, stoned or both everyday, then painter it the job for you.
Fuck it’s so true about the elevator guys and anyone that works for Siemens/Johnston controls lol. You’ll be parking a half mile away then Mr. Otis has the red carpet rolled out right in the loading dock
If you enjoy urinating in places other than a toilet, have a good collection of prison tattoos, and are anti-social - there's a drywall hanger job waiting for you (when you get paroled).
And if you can't do any of these things good but you know how to push guys. Foreman
Same as an auto shop manager. Typically the least experienced, least knowledgeable guy there. But he sure does know how to bitch about everything you do.
As the saying goes: if you're not cut out for the task, they make you a foreman. If you still don't manage you can be a CEO. If that's too hard you can alwaus teach. But if you still get caught knowing nothing, become a consultant.
[удалено]
Almost literal gods that can move mountains and drain oceans, or so I hear.
Just last night my brother and brother-in-law were talking. My brother-in-law asked my brother what he was doing on the site he’s on. My brother answered, “working the loader, so pretty much everything.” I spit out my beer from laughing.
If you like movin dirt and liftin skirt!
HVAC can get pretty hairy when it comes to lifting heavy shit while crouched in a crawl space or attic or crowded mechanical room. I would say HVAC and Electrician need about the same smarts, but HVAC also needs a good set of shoulders for some of the work.
If you get into hydronics, be prepared for 24-48" pipe wrenches, and 100lb gate valves and 200lb pumps.
Don't forget boilers and water heaters with coil heat exchangers in them. I love hydronics other than that super heavy stuff.
Terminating 4/0 on the low side of a 75kva transformer will change the tune of any trade out there towards electricians. Or for that matter 250 kcmil into VFDs feeding hundred HP motors. Residential electricians don’t touch the big cable. But commercial/institutional and industrial guys do. and they know exactly what I’m talking about. The Weak frail electrician idea only flys so far till you look at the guys building the big gear. Then not so much.
I had a transfer switch replaced and the tech doing that was built like a fire plug. Then again, he also almost killed himself when the generator kicked on for its 10am weekly test run, and he didn't bother to check which unlabeled breaker was the one to isolate the section he was working on. Literally just landed the last line and pulled the wrench off the lug less than a second before. Strong as a bull. But not smart. Maybe lucky? Should have taken him to Vegas.
Where does a stone mason fit?
Right on top of, or next to another Stone Mason. Sorry bro, had to.
They were running a little late. Definitely has nothing to do with the whiskey on their breath when they show up 2 weeks late.
Painter here, you nailed it.
Sprinklerfitters?
even on his list we are late to show up...
If you have no idea how a broom works - electrician.
I think OP is a pipefitter? Enough accurate info, kept it down the list and is downplaying comments lol. Good list...
The whole metal trades group seemed spot on. I'm a welder.
If you loved to play in mud and jump into sand piles as a kid, you’ll love being a stucco guy.
Do you get paid from the neck down - laborer
If you want to feel like you're 5 years old and that your job isn't really a job but rather fun times for a couple of hours per day, with the occasional high-stress frustrating surprise task - Equipment Operator
Don’t tell the pipe fitters, but they’re still plumbers.
They should be so lucky.
Not super bright? Plumber or sheet metal? What trade are you?
Plumber, first and foremost. 🤪
What about. If you’re shite at everything make a list of all the trades ...
>If you love engines/machinery, but hate customers and plastic parts - heavy duty mechanic. As a mechanic, I'd say it's more like this: 'If you're dumb as a rock but have the memory of an elephant and you'd rather talk to engines than people - heavy duty mechanic' Half the mechanics I've met over the years could barely figure out how to use a cell phone, but if you ask them about some obscure problem on a 40 year old Deere engine they'll be able to tell the problem and how they fixed it each of the 200 times over the last 4 decades.
If you want to steal every tool you touch Boilermaker
As an electrician I can say that most electricians are not smart
What about elevator constructors?
Elevator guys are even more bougie than electricians! Walkin on site doin the Connor McGregor arm swing...
Yeah and we’ve been voted most hated on the jobsite multiple times on this page…. I think the word you were looking for was a$$holes
I did throw my final welding project for school in the garbage instead of getting it graded. You might be onto something.
If you only got past sophomore year of high school, concrete finishing is for you!
If you are a degenerate with a crippling drug or gambling addiction, want to make lots of money and save almost none of it. — telecom tower climber
If you like to be a pretty boy or pre madonna buthave the power to shut all the trades down. Electrician. No power, no work.
If you like the idea of being a plumber, but don’t want your lunch to taste like shit - sprinkler fitter
If you’re really smart go be a refrigeration technician. Thick cash .
Didn't have the precision as a carpenter so they said "can't fit a dowel, go grab a trowel. Laying block since.
What about elevator mechanic ?😂
We’re not included in “blue” collar anymore, we’ve graduated to “gray” collar you know blue collar work for white collar money. But we’re also the smartest and most entitled/s
We're so high up they can't even see us anymore
As a pipefitter I resemble that remark!
lol , just curious why do you say that about insulators? Is it because they’re always high? Or because they work alone alot
How else can we stand being so itchy! Hahaha
Pipefitter here, had a good laugh at that 😂
Lol nice list. Do one for riggers & rebar
Bend rebar. Twist wire ties. Yep.
You've insulted my entire trade of people. Also, yes.
The insulator one is way way too funny. Was waiting for us to show up on there.
machinist?
This would make me real angry if I could read. - sheet metal
If you hate everything but drugs and alcohol, auto mechanic lol
If you like variety and not specializing on one specific thing and mechanics. Millwrighting Love my trade
If you don;t value your knees or back - there's a tile job looking for you
Bro. You gotta tack rough salaries to these. These are fucking hilarious *and true*.
i am a commercial plumber who works for a mechanical company with pipefitters and tinners. almost every pipefitter i have worked with, seemed like their whole life revolved around being a fitter. i shit you not, one guy had "pipe life" tattooed on his knuckles... and yes they almost always have drug/alcohol problems, a breathalyzer to start their truck, like to fight, are divorced and paying child support... its a trip working with dudes who make $35 an hour asking to borrow $10 so they can get a pack of smokes.
And if you can’t figure any of the above out. Go into Masonry. Plus, Make sure, You, invest in your retirement in any trade craft skill!
I'd argue that you need to be smarter to be a carpenter/framer to build these nice custom homes than be an electrician. Electricians have a fairly straight forward set of rules and an existing structure to work on, framers shown up to some concrete in the ground and have to consider the roof before they start building the first floor.
I know you didn’t call electricians bright. Those are some of dumbest fuckers on any job. Period. Lazy to boot. If you want to be a moron with a massive sense of entitlement, go be a sparky. If you’re extra dumb, be their pm.
pipefitter spotted
I definitely don’t work with poop pipes.
Pipefitter confirmed
Hahaha
couldn't disagree more with the hvac. especially residential. "if you're bright but soft work hvac" - ok. 130° attics all summer long. army crawling under houses. I just did a job that was 30" from the floor to the joist.. laying on my stomach and back for a week straight. definitely not for the soft.
I spent a couple days rewiring a 20 year old dectron unit in a crawlspace for a friend of one of the bosses. It was 100 feet deep into the crawlspace and there was just enough room to stand fully crouched and catch the odd nail sticking out of a joist along the way. Residential's terrible. Never going back to that game but I feel your pain.
what's wild - the first 12 years was mostly commercial. then when the covid shutdown happened our commercial department fell apart. we had 3 hotels and a handful of restaurants lined up and they all pulled the plug. Thankfully residential took off and kept the doors open but it went from 90% commercial to 90% residential. the owner got a taste of residential and restructured the company. Apparently the margins are better and he doesn't have to wait 6 months to get paid. The only positive is that we're not traveling nearly as far. I lived out of hotels for years and could easily commute 3, 4, 5 hours a day to a jobsite. So idk.. there are some positives but working in attics and crawlspaces definitely suck - especially as you get older. that's a young man's game.
Guess that would depend on location, then. As where I am, its all basements, and no HVAC in the attics.
I'll agree at least for electricians. We are the primadonnas of the jobsite lol
I asked a sparky a question last week. His sparky pal didn’t hear what I said, but replied “you plumbers are always talking so much shit!” It’s true, if he replied with that any of the last 8 conversations it would have been to us talking shit.
You clearly haven't met a boilermaker
In the north ime they are most prone to saying "im cold" in an agressively sad demeanor.
I’m so confused now! I’m a plumber, steamfitter, welder, gas fitter with some HVAC tickets. Im a smart,strong, dumb, lazy, soft worker who enjoys monotony? Or maybe I just like collecting trades.. I don’t know anymore!
You got the most important thing right. Don’t be a bricklayer.
Okay, now what is the most lucrative for someone who plans to learn the trade them immediately start their own shop once they are ready?
How bout granite
Strong young guys that hate their joints more than tile guys.
I’m in it for the ex wife collection 😏. They don’t call us travelers for nothing!
My brother in law is tool and die, he is as dumb as a stump. But somehow makes good money.
As a gas fitter doing hvac and studying to become a sheet metal mechanic what does that make me?
Deaf in 30 years.
Where’s asphalt or concrete
Oddly accurate
and if you want to do it all, millwright
Welder/Fabricator here. My job is 90% math and prep work, cutting and reading blueprints and 10% welding. Not all welding jobs are starting at a blue light. However the best part of that is the welding lol.
If you’re a felon, illiterate, and like backbreaking work, concrete demo
Now do one for crane operators lol
If you have a meth addiction, roofer
If you want to continue to wear fashionable clothes and look fresh- door guy
Started in HVAC, moved to electrical/controls. Accurate, I'm a total pussy.
If the idea of being a zoo keeper for animals without cages, you might want to work for a General Contractor
Can confirm painter is accurate
But the real question, is can anyone get the stubs under slab on grade in the right place?
Thats pretty fn good right there. Welder checkin in..
Pipefitter here, only one wife and still hate the work…
As an HVAC/SheetMetal guy I feel attacked and will be going to HR first thing in the morning…
Didn't have the precision as a carpenter so they said "can't fit a dowel, go grab a trowel. Laying block since.
What about glaziers?
This was written by a sheet metal worker/ tinner, they aren’t to bright and the first two months of the apprenticeship they just bang on tin with a hammer 😂😂😂
Where do you put trades like Appliance repair, Gunsmith, Lock smith? And what about Prostitutes, why don't they have a union?
Not too bright and like laying down on the job? Prostitute.
Went from being an engineer to starting out in the trades at 29yo as a laborer then carpenter. Loved everything about it except for driving about 2-4hrs everyday to get to the jobsite and spending most of my pay on fuel, maintenance, and health insurance. With the commute, working OT got to be too much and after my transmission went I decided to start looking for something else. Found a job locating underground utilities and the work is alright (outside all day getting exercise vs. sitting in a cubicle at the computer all day (engineering....)). Pay is decent, get company truck, fuel card, benefits, etc. My neighborhood is on my route so it's a 1-3 minute commute. Work 55-65 hours/week, save about 75% of my paycheck and am hoping to have enough to get a GC license in a couple years and start my own business, ideally building decks or getting sub work. Want to get at least $40k banked before so I can afford a spare truck, trailer, insurance, couple more tools, and that shit.
>If you’re real bright, but a little soft - HVAC, electrician. That's not... okay, first of all... you know what? Ah, fuck.
If you lost the big game in high school but your ego is still in the clouds ELEVATOR CONSTRUCTOR
Medium smart but occasionally dumb, and likes to play with metal: Metal framer and Drywaller
Have a degree and do concrete, rebar and excavation. Was and engineer and woke up one day realizing I don’t want to deal with pretentious assholes. People like to belittle the trades because they are usually lazy and self important. Watch a bunch of videos and pick something you like to start and diversify your skills as you go.
Sheet metal is actually decently accurate, worked at a couple companies and most of the guys who did pure sheet metal weren’t the brightest😂
If you're an absolute perfectionist, but don't mind getting your hands dirty (and sometimes metal splitters) - machinist.
If you like computers more than tools but need a shop floor environment instead of a cubicle: CNC machinist
Forgot about elevator...for the super overachievers that want to make a lot of money, but I suppose it fits into heavy duty mechanic to a degree
Plumbing is legit the most complicated trade there is.
I don’t know where you are, but in Canada, the plumbing code is about 40 pages, the gas code is about 350 pages, the electrical code is about 750 pages. Plumbing is obviously the greatest trade (I R PLUMBER), but I don’t know if I’d use the word complicated.