Tradesman Puns

Okay, I'll start.

About 9/10 years ago I was a newly qualified chippy and was working in a small town in South Wales about 30 miles from where I lived. We were contracted to fit new kitchens and bathrooms on all the social housing properties in the area and usually set up in teams.

One morning, a Welsh plumber named Dave came in to work super hungover (as usual) and sipping a can of energy drink.

Luckily the family who lived in the house were staying with family while work was being done as Dave proceeded to explain how those energy drinks 'go straight through him' and promptly shat into a brand new toilet THEN took it upstairs and plumbed it in.

It was gross.

Why YSK; I hear a lot of people downplay school and hype up trades. While for some trades may be the best way to a successful future, this does not hold true for everyone.

I’ve trained dozens of people and watched at least %80 wash out after claiming they could handle it. Why? It’s hard, depressing, you’re going to miss your family get no thanks, and it’s out right demoralizing until you’ve mastered it unless you’re a true die hard country boy or handy man.

If you or your child considers trade work you have to be In perfect physical condition to even have a shot at the big bucks(some, or most tbh, forego that for hard drugs to cope). There is no I’m tired or hungry when you’re at the mercy of people that have done this for years.

I will not quit my trade although I am in the process of getting an education. I take pride in building. Aliens didn’t build the pyramids people like you and I did.

Concrete finisher here. The broken bones, missing time with my family and pissing blood from dehydration was enough to make me reconsider my choice. 2022 college freshman at age 28

TLDR; do your research before joining trade work. You may be in for a surprise.

You ever work for a company with a machine that no one really knows how it works, and when it breaks you have to call the guy to fix it. I want to be that guy. Maybe make a little company, don't have to pay tax on my cars, and just be a simple guy. Maybe buy some condos for some passive income. But no I'm here, doing winter classes in my parents house, anxious as shit, no girlfriend, and pulling my hair out because I missed an assignment. Why?

I know the in vogue answer to this will be the Bellshill Brickie himself but I saw a picture of Lee McCulloch today that reminded me exactly how much he looked like he should be ripping my wee Gran (rest her soul) off to the tune of thousands of pounds for fitting a handrail down the stairs in her house. Guy wouldn't look out of place on Rogue Traders or in any position in the UEFA Cup final under the watchful eye of Walter Smith.

There's a lot of players in the lower league that will literally BE tradesmen and there's fuck all wrong with that, just wondering if there's any other shouts for what folk look like they should be doing instead of playing football in Scotland in here that you're adamant are spot on.

I always knew how much it fucking sucked when I saw it happen to someone else, or someone I know. It’s happened to my Dad 4 times in his lifetime - yesterday I finished up a new job trial with a new company that I’ll be starting with in the new year, one of mates that works there and myself knocked off and went down to the pub for a celebration beer and some food. We were only there for an hour and a half..

As I always do I locked my toolboxes up before heading in there and made sure they were locked, had some lunch and a beer and headed back to my car.

I noticed straight away that the handles were on a 45 degree angle like they had been tampered with, I unlocked them and before my eyes, $4000 worth of brushless cordless tools all gone, all my 6amp batteries, dual chargers, paslode framing gun, All. Fucking. Gone. My toolbox is badly damaged from them using a jimmy bar to bust in, all in broad fucking daylight too..

I’ve been back at work for 2 weeks after being off for 3 months due to being in recovery from an ankle reconstruction, so money was already tight, and now this happens.. to anyone that this has happened too I am sorry, these tools are how we make a living and these scumbag fucking cunts don’t even blink an eye at it.. shit just isn’t fair man.

Edit: Cheers for all the kind words, really has meant a lot. It’s been a weird few days, felt kinda empty and numb especially waking and going to work today with borrowed tools.. am very fortunate that my Dad and a few mates were able to lend me some so I could keep working. The good news is my car insurance is able to cover it, I should get around $4,500 back to cover everything that was stolen, I’m still absolutely gutted and angry that my stuff is gone, but at least something good has come out of it. I just hope the cunts get caught eventually, once again thanks for the kind words, you’re all legends.

I’m having work done on my windows right now with just over half the job done so far and it’s already running at 1k over the estimate. It’s renovation work on original sash windows which have been in place for 140 years now so finding stuff you didn’t anticipate could happen but part of me thinks this should have been anticipated if he’s doing this as his only job.

Trying to work out if it’s worth saying something.

Just wanted some opinions and insight on which is a good career path or maybe doing a bit of both … any experiences or knowledge will really help !

I see the trades getting shilled as this great ticket to financial success.

As a tradesman myself I kinda want to dispel a lot of the BS I see shilled on some finance and career subs.

I’m a Apprentice Electrician with the IBEW union in SoCal but I’ve also worked other gigs before that and had about a little over a year of non union experience before I got accepted by the IBEW.

I love my work and the trade culture fits me but it’s definitely not for everyone.

1. I’m not sure where the 6 figures thing comes from but it’s not the norm.

Sure you can make 6 figures as a electrician without running work or your own shop but you’ll :

Have to be in the IBEW

Live in a expensive costal area where the pay isn’t all that great really because of the COL.

2. The pay is mostly bad unless you work alot overtime

The union pays decent but the non union pay is pretty lousy.

Each IBEW hall pays differently because each local market is different but it’s the same with non union.

The non union pay caps at 35/$hr and that’s in the mega expensive areas. The only outlier is the Seattle area.

3. There’s only a few that aren’t paid complete trash pay. Electricians , plumbing and HVAC. The rest I wouldn’t bother with if you want to make enough to take care of yourself.

4. No one will respect you- ties in to number 5. Everyone will think you’re a mentally deficient idiot with a tool belt. You’ll also be seen as extremely low status / trash. Also expect your dating/ hookup pool to drop in half. Sorry but it’s true.

5. People will think you’re overpaid - I just had this argument with my friend. He thinks unions are corrupt and force higher market rates and that electricians are already overpaid. Very outdated perception.

Most people, including employers will think you’re already overpaid and think you should be making much less but because you’re in demand they’ll pay such “exorbitant” labor rates while they rake billions and trillions in revenue every year on their projects.

Non union shops love to give the illusion of “negotiating” pay or just leaving for better pay but the truth is the celling is very low and you’ll never make close to what you could in the union. They know this.

A lot of countries outside of U.S. and AUS tradesmen are literally sleeping in on site camps while earning literal slave wages.

I would go on about some of the salt of the earth types you work with but it’s moot. I don’t think I have to explain that.

All in all I enjoy what

My husband owns his owns business as an electrician. He was hired to do a job for his step-sister and her boyfriend. It was a job that should've taken a few days. Husband's day rate is £200. After the first day they decided they were unhappy with the work and messaged him to come pick up his tools in the morning, they'd pay him for the day and let him know what they were unhappy with. They only paid him £50 Some of the grievances include: wonky sockets (husband used a spirit level), ruining their finishing touches (they had just painted knowing there would be electric work done and walls being drilled) and leaving some holes, where the brick had crumbled but he obviously wasn't finished. The boyfriend also says that husband was just staring out the window when he came by the property twice. We need that £150, do we have any rights to the full days pay?

*edit: we are in England

Hello all, not sure if it’s been asked.

Carpenter apprentice here wanting to get into the elevator trade. I keep hearing it’s impossible to get in unless you know someone. I’ve been looking in the NEIEP site religiously to see when the recruitment will be open again, and saw that it just opened up 200 spots. I just finished applying. A couple of questions though:

Is it really impossible to get in? 200 seems really small in the grand scheme of things.

How important is the resume? Is it a make or break.

Can I go out and solicit work like I did for carpentry and find a company to sponsor me and skip the interview process?

Anyone in the NorCal region I can pick their brains in?

I’ve waited awhile to have this opening turn up and I want to be as prepared as possible to get in the union.

Thanks in advance

You know, the stickers on the back of a van that says "How's my driving? Call 4523764590324"

Looking to get some building works done so I emailed (with pics/ dimensions etc) around 15 firms.
4 replied
1 stupid quote
2 are fully booked
1 quoted well

Agreed a time AND they actually turned up and did the work.

Besides a few cups of tea, no hidden extras.

So I'm still a bit confused on how these things work. In SAIT there are Certificates/Diploma classes and then there are Apprenticeship classes which consists of periods. To attend an apprenticeship class I need work experience with certain amount of hours correct? There are classes like Welding Tech which grants you a certificate and qualifies you as a 1st & 2nd year which you can use to get job experience and advance into your apprenticeship. But there are some classes like Heavy Duty Mech which SAIT does not provide certificate classes, only apprenticeship. How does one even get job experience if there are no classes that introduce you to that field? Let me know if i'm missing anything.

Edit: thanks for the (unanimous) responses. I sent the electrician an email (as friendly as possible)- I might also call him tomorrow.

TLDR- labelling error in electrical work

(a) fix it myself and be wary of hiring the guy again

(b) tell him

Long boring version

I got a new consumer unit fitted around 6 months ago. Today I discovered labels on MCBs for the two socket rings are the wrong way round. I always dead test before doing wiring work so didn't get any shocks. However, it was irritating as it meant I switched off the power to my mining PC (and other electronics) unnecessarily.

I consider mislabelling potentially dangerous. Also, generally when I'm paying for electrical work I expect high attention to detail. However, I feel petty raising it when I could just swap the labels myself quicker than arranging for him to come round. The chap is nice and actually someone I vaguely knew at school, which makes it more awkward (there was no mates rates discount or anything though- if anything I paid above market rate).

I was planning on hiring him for more work (I was otherwise happy with the installation, although I did have to chase him for the EIC and Part P certificates). Gut feel is that I should either:

(a) tell him and see if he offers to drop by and swap them (he only lives a mile away) OR

(b) just do that British thing where you tut, swap the labels yourself and then never speak to the guy again :D

If I was a tradesman and made a careless mistake like that I'd actually want to know rather than the customer blacklist me.

I'm erring towards (a) but it feels awkward and petty.

I order a 2022 Tradesmen 2500, it has the following options. 2500 TRADESMAN CREW CAB 4X4 (169 in WB 8FT O IN box) 2GA Customer Preferred Package 2GA ESB 6.4L V8 Heavy Duty HEMI MDS Engine DFX 8-Spd Auto 8HP75-LCV Transmission Diamond Black Crystal P/C APA Monotone Paint *TX HD Vinyl 40/20/40 Split Bench Seat -X8 Black/Diesel Gray JKV 115V Auxiliary Front Power Outlet JAL Cluster 7.0" FT Color Display TBE Add Full Size Spare (if Box Delete) GEA Rear Window Defroster LHL Auxiliary Switches - I/P Mounted DSA Anti-Spin Differential Rear Axle YEP Manuf Statement of Origin BAJ 220 Amp Alternator XHC Trailer Brake Control GPG Mirrors-Tow Pwr Adj Heat Black XEA Tow Hooks DMF 4,10 Axle Ratio UBD connect 5 W 8.4" Display (USA) AMP Chrome Appearance Group MDA Front License Plate Bracket XBC Delete Pickup Box LNC Clearance Lamps 5N6 Easy Order 135 Zone 35-Washington AEA Sold Vehicle YG2 5.2 Additional Gallons of Gas

I have a couple questions since it doesn’t have a bed will it still come with a rear camera I can hook up to the bed I put on it? I wanted to add fog lights but didn’t have the option, are the fog light pockets able to be popped up and fog lights plugged in? Also, how do I follow the progress on my order? That’s about it, I’m beyond excited. Thanks everybody!!!!