Quote:
Originally Posted by Rmarsh
Any trade, and especially carpentry, requires training.
You cant just buy a compound saw, strap on a tool belt. watch a few youtube videos and "voila" you're a carpenter.
It takes a few years of learning the basics as an "apprentice"....now there's a word you hardly ever hear...nobody ever calls themselves an apprentice anymore....they're a carpenter ...which is ridiculous. I'm not talking about shop class or vocational school. I mean on the job doing real work, under the close supervision of a "master carpenter".
If you start out your career working for a hacker you're not likely to become any more than that. You also need to accept criticism....sometimes harsh criticism....with a little cursing....to emphasize..... when you're not doing things correctly.....or taking too long to do a task.
I got yelled at daily by the best carpenter I've known to this day....but I was determined to tough it out and took it like a man.....and not quit over hurt feelings.....learned a hell of a lot from that guy while everyone else quit.
If you get your "feelings" hurt and take it personal and quit the first time you get yelled at, you'll never make it through said "apprenticeship".
In addition to that I've seen so many guys who fail at it due to the lack of basic math skills and reading comprehension. On top of that it is a physically demanding profession and will wear you out and takes its toll on your body.
My sister asked if i had work for her husband who was laid off from Shaws. I said sure he can help me with a roofing job I am doing.
I gave him the easy job. Later that evening my sister called and asked "what did you do to Peter".... "Why" I asked.
"Well" she said "he was so tired that he ate dinner and went right to bed saying he was worn out and hurting".
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A lot of good comments here, but this one really hits on the way things used to be done... When I first went out on my own I was able to team up with a gruff, ex-biker, Viet Nam vet who a lot of people did not care for in the trades and especially those who had worked under him at the construction firm I had been working for. He had the skills and experience. I had the education, contacts, and patience. I ran the business, but he ran the show. I learned SO MUCH from him. I was the paymaster every Friday, but I was his whipping boy for the rest of the week. I had hired the best teacher, even if he lacked some social skills. We lasted just over ten years. Not all relationships are meant to be forever, business or social. But we always overbuilt, had a clean/neat jobsite at the end of the day, every day, and did not ever say "that's good enough". I carry those with me today, on every job. I definitely don't have the largest bank account, or the highest profit margins. But I carry the pride in my work, that has MY NAME on it. I would love to have skilled, caring, neat tradespeople working with me every day, just like they show on This Old House. I just don't know where to find them... And the toll on the body is real.