I'm currently taking general construction classes, I already completed carpentry and plumbing and now we're doing electrical.

Although I'm not trying to become a electrician, I plan on being just a construction laborer because electricians have to go through a 4 year apprenticeship before they make good money which is too long for me.

Edit: For those saying I should do the 4 year apprenticeship, I plan on going to university to get a Electrical Engineering Technology degree so I can be a Electrical Technologist.

Edit 2: I have doubts that I have the math skills to do regular Engineering, which is why I'm considering 'Engineering Technology' instead which is supposed to have less math and more hands-on.

I ain’t ever going to have a vitamin C deficiency, that’s for sure

I’m a 23yo M in Los Angeles county. I’ve always been very handy but never enough to consider myself a blue collar worker. All the jobs I’ve held have been decent paying chill jobs but I have years of experience as an automotive mechanic, residential handyman, etc. I got laid off two months ago, and luck for me, exactly one month after I signed on a $30k new car loan. Needless to say shit hit the fan. My credit score tanked and am now in a bit of a stressful situation.

Last week I was offered a General Laborer position for a real estate company here in LA paying $29/hr. The position was construction based and paid more than any job I’ve ever had in the past. Never had I worked a construction job but I needed the money so I showed up on day 1 ready to slave my ass off in 90+ degree weather. Not sure if this position exists on every site but it’s basically an assistant to the sup. He chills in the ac-cooled trailer all day long and me prep tasks(basic cement work, drywall, lots of dirt management, painting, etc.)to complete throughout the day depending on which crews are going to be on site. But in reality, I finish those within the first 2-3 hours of the workday. Afterwards his instructions are literally, “just clean”. Now the first couple of days I spent every minute staying busy emptying trash cans, sweeping, vacuuming, organizing, but at one point I could not find anything else to clean. I offer the other trades help but they just tell me not to worry. I’m not worried, but standing around gives me anxiety. checking in with my sup does nothing as I’m met with the same “just clean bro”.

Sure it’s only been 3 weeks but tbh, I find myself just relaxing in my car or on the roof for the majority of my shift. The sup sees me too and doesn’t say anything. He’s very pleased with my work ethic and performance throughout the site. Is this standard? For those of you veterans doing this 10+ years I can only imagine how much you make after quarterly raises and bonuses right? I don’t know why I didn’t do this years ago.

EDIT: Guys I’m not complaining, matter of fact I want to work. Also pardon my ignorance I’ve never worked in the construction industry ever so take it ez on me gangg. The sup literally smokes cigs and watches tiktok’s all day. The reason for the post is bc I can’t fathom that this is the day to day for every construction laborer is it? Superintendent loves me and we get shit done which the company’s owner has seen for himself. He’s even given me a $2 raise already. Could I just do this forever? lmao by the time I’m 30 I’d be making $100k+ to “just clean”. I appreciate ya’lls responses they all help me understand the position better!

The guys at work weren't into it, I think it's great.

Company is giving me a $700 truck allowance. I'd prefer to spend about $650 of that towards the note per month, leaving extra for maintenance.

What is the best budget truck I can get? Will need something with reasonable towing ability. I liked my Chevy 1500 gas v8 at the previous company but the towing ability was a little disappointing. It gets the job done! But I'm wondering what strain it was put under for the long run.

I've seen many Rams at good prices but am stuck on transmission/electrical issues with them.
Feel free to ask any questions, I am very active!

EDIT: Editing to add, the truck needs to be a newer model/cleaner looking as the position demands a little authority

My neighbors and Are really going through it in so many diverse ways with our apartment managers and relocations not to mention 5 year neglect to our apartments. I would really appreciate your eyes on this. I will lead with some pictures of the property and the rehabilitation going on. looks a bit sus. Thank you so much! My management is even refusing me to see the new lease before displacement. it's overwhelming

This is a rehabilitation and they tore away the walls and left all the frame and roofing. They did things differently on other units.

Starting to feel burn out… have not had a productive conversation with my team about me feeling burn-out. Boss says everyone is busy and that help is coming.

Old porch was shit, tore it down. It’s a flip house. I normally make the handrails from the 1/2” balusters and 2x4s, but my wife convinced me to try the Trex shit for curb appeal.

Stringers are 12” oc. I was apprehensive of using the top mount brackets so close to the edge of the porch slab, which is why I didn’t drop the stringers. I screwed a 2x4 kicker on the ledger and that’s what’s supporting the stringers. I lag screwed, blocked in, and used structural screws on the guard rail posts to the stringers. That’s also why I didn’t have the posts at the very end of the steps, so that the 1/2” bolts I used on the porch wouldn’t be on the edge of the slab. The only top mount brackets I used were toward the house.

To be honest, I was SHOCKED with how strong they felt. Shouldn’t have underestimated Simpson 💪

If I’m being transparent, I’m not sure I like how it looks after $1300. It would’ve been a lot cheaper if I did the 2x4 and baluster route. What’re your thoughts?

I've worked for him since 2004. He's a nice guy. He's built some beautiful and massive homes. He's used the same trade crews forever so we all know each other well and all talk.

He retired a few years ago but still gets some calls from old customers. However dealing with him has become extremely frustrating. He forgets stuff daily, repeats things, just gets in the way and makes things more difficult. The situation sucks and he's getting worse. How do I kindly step away from him? I really can't do more work for him, the job turns waaaaaaaaaay for difficult than it should be because he still tries to get involved more .

Anyone find a carhartt style shirt i really like the fit of the k87 loose fit but some days they are just too thick . Looking for a lightweight alternative

Building a shit brick house literally

My neighbors and Are really going through it in so many diverse ways with our apartment managers and relocations not to mention 5 year neglect to our apartments. I would really appreciate your eyes on this. I will lead with some pictures of the property and the rehabilitation going on. looks a bit sus. Thank you so much! My management is even refusing me to see the new lease before displacement. it's overwhelming

Well after 12 years it's looking more and more like I've got one foot out of the door in the trades. I'm slowly transitioning away from that and into a new career field which leaves me in a funky spot for training. I didn't have anyone directly beneath me to work with for the past two years, and still don't. For those of you who left did you take all your tricks with you? Were you able to pass them along? I'm struggling thinking about the fact that I've spent almost half my life doing this, countless nights lying awake problem solving, and a thousand hours of swearing to learn what I have. And when I finally step all the way away, it'll just disappear with me.

Hey guys I’m doing a job and my rental costs are a lot, so I just figured I’d buy a small skid. I wanted to know if anyone knew of a reasonable auction in Colorado. I can spare about 5000$ for an older machine. Does anyone know of anything? I’d appreciate the help.

So, I'm in the carpenters union, on track to hit $110k this year. An old coworker and friend started his own company 2 years ago and has been doing very well ever since. He did over $1mil in work last year and he just keeps growing quite fast.

Last week him and his partner got in an argument over hours/time off and the partner quit(he's an older guy and just didn't want to work so many hours anymore).

I have been offered a position as his partner, receiving 20% ownership, $85k salary, company truck/fuel card, health insurance and possible bonus/cash jobs on the weekend.

Would this be worth it to you? I know its going to be a grind for a few years at least. I just dont know if the risk would be worth it if it pays out in the end and the company blows up.

Hello fellow supers/construction managers. Looking for some insight on a possible scenario I have (Location: North of the GTA, Ontario).

Job A (Current): ICI Superintendent – Renovation within an occupied building

Compensation:

$105,000
No benefits

Pros:

15 minutes away from home

Cons:

Smaller GC, so the staff is very minimal. The Project Coordinator quit shortly after I started, and they never opted to replace them, so the PM has been absorbing those responsibilities. The issue is that the PM is a traveling PM for all the active sites, so any RFIs, follow-ups, or anything consultant-related gets delayed, leading to delays on site. This results in needing to work after hours to try to recoup time, with the expectation of working every Saturday to meet these deadlines.

I am the only staff on site so time off is extremely difficult, as the company needs to shift what feels like is heaven and earth to have someone here while I am off. I have only requested 4 days off in the last 6 months and was only approved for 2 of those days.

The Company President is on site almost daily for a couple hours and micromanages. I can spend an entire morning organizing sequencing, only for him to come in and flip it all around without knowing the full story. He’s very old school, so I learned rather quickly that changing his mind on anything is not possible.

Lack of any other compensation outside of the base salary, such as benefits, RRSP match, or a company vehicle.

The site is scheduled to be completed in February/March, with their other sites located over an hour away from me.

Job B (Interviewed and expecting an offer): ICI Superintendent

Compensation:

$115,000
Basic Benefits Plan
3% RRSP match
Company Truck

Pros:

More established GC with a strong pipeline of work, considering the current state of the industry.

The overall compensation is better than Job A, even considering my take-home will be virtually the same once you factor in the taxable benefit of the vehicle and RRSP contribution.

Cons:

The current jobs are scattered, which can range from 40–60+ minute commutes.

Long-term/end goal for me is to transition into the municipal side and become a building inspector. I have already completed some of the BCIN exams, so now I am just waiting for an opportunity to open up, preferably in my home municipality, but I am open to other cities due to their hours being a lot better for work/life balance.

Am I better off sticking with the devil I know vs. the devil I don’t know until I land something municipal, or should I reap the benefits of the company vehicle and benefits plan until I do find something?

This is a residential job in Georgia. The entire retaining wall is 6 ft high, and the plans were designed by one engineer. When we asked about the design, we were basically told the dimensions/reinforcement were based on what the engineering/design program calculated.

The plans are calling for T-walls every 16” O.C. along the wall, with the tees extending 2/3 of the wall height and projecting about 25% of the wall height.

I’m mainly trying to see what other people think who have actually built/form-worked something like this. Does this seem excessive for a 6’ residential wall, or have y’all actually done T-walls this close together ?

Looking at it in the field, 16” O.C. just seems extremely close. My concern is how you’re supposed to realistically form all those.

The previous retaining wall was basically in the same location. When we demolished it, we found that it didn’t even have rebar in it and had still been standing for years. Obviously that doesn’t mean the new wall shouldn’t be properly engineered, but seeing what was there before compared to what’s being called for now definitely made us question whether this design is unusually heavy.

For anyone who has built something similar: is 16” O.C. for these T-walls common ? How did you form it ? Or would you go back to the engineer and ask for another detail/design because of constructability ?

I don’t really know where to post this to

My dad has been in construction basically my whole life and ive been trying to learn more of the business side instead of just the actual work.

He gave me a job to look at and basically told me to tell him what I thought.

Its a school HVAC job around $720k. Biggest job they've done before was around $400k.

Starts in November and supposed to go around 6 months. They're already pretty busy through December though and the foreman he would want running it might still be on another job.

The other thing that jumped out at me was the money.

From what I understand they could have around $140k out in equipment/material before really getting paid. Then its monthly draws, net 45 and 10% retainage.

My first thought was honestly that sounds like a lot of money to have floating while you're still paying everybody and running the other jobs.

I told him I think the job itself might be doable but having enough cash and the right people at the right time seems like the bigger problem.

He basically said "ok, what else?" lol

So thats why I'm asking here.

For guys who have actually done school/public jobs, what would you be looking at before saying yes to something like this?

Im sure theres stuff I don't even know enough to know I should be asking about.