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Whats up everybody!

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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Hey, I decided to start this cult to get to know other people involved in a trade or construction industry.

I have worked in various trades for 7 years now, since I was 15. It didn't take me long to figure out that I wanted to be involved with construction for a career, a desk job just seems so boring and dull.

After high school I did what I was best at and second guessed myself, I went to college to study business management. A year was all I could handle. I switched over to design drafting, this is nice because most of what I do directly relates back to my job and I can still work full time.

My first job was working for a small company that does polymer concrete coatings, epoxy floor coats, small concrete finishing, etc...

Now I work for a small plumbing contractor that also does fencing and steel buildings, it is my 5th year working there. Since I have been in school I haven't started on my apprenticeship but I hope to start soon. I am the fencing estimator there.

I hope that this cult will grow and be a place to come for information as well as a place to share stories.





So what do you guys do?
Feb 1 2010 9:02PM
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T-Holt
Posts: 5020 - Karma: 639
Well, my uncle's an electrician and my dad's does renovations. I've worked with my uncle a little. I'm 17 so I haven't done much work. I am gonna go to a conventional college, but after that I'll prob go to trade school.
Feb 1 2010 9:31PM
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skiminnesota
Posts: 9093 - Karma: 429
first off, great idea for a cult kip!


anyway, so far in life my jobs have always been "doing somehing" with my hands. as apposed to pouring coffee.

I have worked at a local park doing maintenance for 4 summers, going into my 5th.

I have worked on a farm / apple orchard for 5 years. (i can go on for DAYS about apples) lol.

My cousins also own a large hobby farm, so i have had many great experiences working out there. doing a variety of things.

Ill be honest i grew up in the city, but enjoy working outside with my hands.
Feb 1 2010 9:44PM
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Mr.Panda
Posts: 17711 - Karma: 564
Worked for the City of Bellingham 2 years a row in Maintenance at their Sewage Treatment plant.

First summer was essentially spent as a logger because we have a water pipeline that runs off of Mt. Baker (glacier water) and it was put in probably around 1965 and no one has cleared the brush at trees off of it. Cut down close to 100 trees that summer with a combo of axe cutting some, chainsaw for others, and an excavator or Bobcat to cut down and move some others.

Last summer I worked for the same people but at the plant making sure the pumps and everything else worked right and cleaning out the claryfiers:

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we drained them and then pressure washed, epoxy, and epoxy painted the walls and trenches of them. We had to clean out the airless paint sprayer with methyl ethyl ketone or MEK and we had to move the lines to the wands and stupid me ends up trying to unscrew it without releasing the pressure. I got sprayed in the face and right eye with MEK. Fucking blew.
Feb 1 2010 9:55PM
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Inbred_Redneck
Posts: 2776 - Karma: 28
I work freelance as my own business with residential and small comercial tree removal. I cut em down, occaisonally climb and also pull stumps with my buddy. Been doing that for the past two summers after failing to find a job.
I also worked in a repair shop for a year with this old dude. Fixed cars and did most of the bitch work, hardly got payed anything and got a free truck out of it.
Hopefully I'll still be cutting trees this summer and may apply at the Airport for plane washing/fuel boy.
During college I'll try and find something automotive related again, I'm taking mechanical engineering at Iowa state next fall and hope to have a career in the automotive or aerospace industry, but I don't want a desk job haha.
Feb 1 2010 10:45PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Right on man, Because of the apprentice to master ratio here in Montana I haven't been able to get on my apprenticeship either and when I was in the clear to start it we were out of work, hopefully we will be busy enough to get going on it now. Are you guys union up there?
Feb 2 2010 2:56PM
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Hermondo
Posts: 1244 - Karma: 52
I just work commercial construction during the summers while I study to become a CM at school.
Feb 3 2010 2:48AM
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bstuck1
Posts: 426 - Karma: 46
Started out working summers at a marina during high school, fixing up boats both cosmetic and mechanical. More recently I've been hired by a biotech company to work on and maintain aquaculture systems.
Feb 3 2010 5:30PM
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Aenigma
Posts: 11256 - Karma: 424
I'm working kind of the tail end of a superfund cleanup in northern Idaho. Because of questionable mining practices, there is an unhealthy or toxic lead content in basically everybody's yard in the Silver Valley, so the company I work for basically goes around and digs people's yards up, then puts down clean dirt and landscapes. I'm on the destructive end of the job. I spend most of my time either working with the truck drivers or operating a shovel, but I get some time in the excavators as well...although I don't want to get put on one because they get paid $4/hr less and I would have way more responsibility that I don't particularly care for right now.

So in a nutshell, $30/hr to destroy people's yards.

I also worked a few different construction jobs after high school, and although I enjoyed framing, that job fucking sucked in the winter.
Feb 14 2010 9:23PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Must be a Davis Bacon job? Kind of the opposite mentality as working on an air force base. Laborers (landscape, curb and gutter, whatever) starts around $27/hr and operators start around $32/hr. Now say you are a laborer but your boss tells you to move a skid steer or something and you spend 10 minutes in one you are required to be paid the higher wage for your entire time spent on the clock that day. Makes base work very popular in Great Falls.
Feb 14 2010 10:04PM
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geteducated
Posts: 6410 - Karma: 86
woah.  thats the same technique they used in chernobyl. 

except when they dug up the top soil, they just hauled it off and dumped it into one radioactive pile
Feb 14 2010 11:13PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Sam, what are you guys doing with the soil you haul off? I'm pretty sure on the super fund clean ups down here they just concentrate the contaminated soil and bury it in a sealed pit somewhere near the site.
Feb 14 2010 11:41PM
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Aenigma
Posts: 11256 - Karma: 424
It goes to a repository up Big Creek, although that one is pretty much full now. We'll be starting another in Cataldo this year, so we basically just concentrate the hazard to one area. It's far from a perfect solution, but there's only so much you can do when you're pulling up 1-2,000 yards of contaminated soil a day.
Feb 15 2010 2:18AM
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andersteeze
Posts: 1047 - Karma: 30
Hey im 18 still in highschool. Im not cut out for university or a desk job so i decided to get my welding ticket. im hopefull starting in sept and i like welding so i think its a good career choice. Plus i can come out with my ticket debt free plus whatever money i make apprenticing during my ticket. get money get paid!
Feb 15 2010 4:33PM
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.travis.
Posts: 1737 - Karma: 46
Cool idea for a cult. I will be going to school for masonry next year but have always had active jobs. I worked at a saw mill in high school which was by far the hardest work I personally have done but was pretty cool. I got pretty proficient driving forklifts and the like and throwing and sawing HUGE pieces of wood haha.  Then I took a job doing grounds keeping which involved a little of everything! Also, I'm looking to get a little more knowledge in auto body and mechanic type stuff.

Looking forward to seeing the cult develop! 
Feb 15 2010 8:03PM
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RudyGarmisch
Posts: 25443 - Karma: 13,844
I work 36 hour shifts at an upstart ski company. I go home once a week to shower. I have 100 + skis to finish before the end of the month.
Feb 16 2010 2:21AM
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ineedarealname
Posts: 2658 - Karma: 20
i've been around the block... not really sure yet what to do with my life as far as work, but thus far im mainly a drywall boarder for a year and a half. i'd like to get into something a little more precision and less rough and tough your way through it. my boss and i might be the only two boarders in my town that aren't strung out crackheads that can still work at a fast pace, so work is still pretty constant. anyone else around here have a hell of a time figuring out what to do with their lives at 20?
Feb 17 2010 8:17PM
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papasteeze
Posts: 12055 - Karma: 913
Great cult idea.  of course I am biased.   I know residential custom single and multiple family homes from acquisition and land development to marketing and of course physical construction and management of trades and personnel to warranty and customer service.

There is not any facet of construction that I do not know well.  While I am not an expert plumber like klazo, I can sweat copper pipe (gimme pex manifolds any day)  and count fixturing for vent and waste line piping with the best of them.

Currently I am doing renovations (mostly bathrooms) for neighbor(s) friends to keep some $$ in the till.

My advice and opinions are my own based on info received. On site recommendations can and will often change.  For example Caveman I just read your post on the 30" side walk and then read you got some schooling drafting experience?    ha!   30" fucking inches?  quit being a pussy, grab a shovel and sent the handle under the side walk to widen a hole large enough for the pipe.  put some glove on though, we wouldn't want you to get some blisters.  :)
Feb 18 2010 12:39AM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
I'm a Civil Engineering major now, but I build furniture and landscape for side cash and hobbies.  Also volunteer at a wood shop as a helper for customers.
Feb 22 2010 12:35AM
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papasteeze
Posts: 12055 - Karma: 913
You will appreciate this,  With the current extra time on my hands I found some old bookmatched slabs 36x36 I had ripped out of a tree felled for clearing for a house about 20 years ago!   I simply planed, belt sanded and threw in a creative flair for joining them together. Click on the pics.  the flame detail in the crotch isn't really captured in the photo

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Feb 22 2010 1:39PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Nice, that's good to hear! Unfortunately I haven't worked for the past two weeks and I am going to Banff on Wednesday. It looks like things are going to start breaking loose here as soon as the snow starts to melt.
Feb 22 2010 6:09PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Things are starting to get nice here, the snow is mostly gone from the flat lands and the mud is mostly dry.

A few weeks ago when things were still a muddy mess a semi got stuck in a field. He said he was in a hurry to get back to Kalispell and didnt want to wait for us to drive our loader back and forth from the road to our job site. Needless to say he sunk pretty deep. We pulled him around a little with a skid steer and had no luck. He called a wrecker which got stuck before it reached the stuck semi. We eventually got him to the road with me pushing in the skid loader and the wrecker winching him. So mud and snow can be a problem here haha.

Now that the weather is nice it looks like we may have a lot of jobs coming up adding city and water and sewer to houses that are currently on a well and drain field. Im pumped to start getting 40 hour weeks again, hasn't happened since last fall.
Mar 21 2010 6:22PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
What I've been doing the past few days:

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Mar 25 2010 12:28AM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Thanks man, its vinyl privacy fence. the material is about as thick and heavy as sch 40 PVC. Finished up last week, here are some pics. Super nice jobsite, wheat fields and nice view of the mountains. Got some plumbing next week then some more fencing haha.

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fence matches the siding
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Apr 2 2010 11:10PM
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Mr.Panda
Posts: 17711 - Karma: 564
I may be getting my old maintenance job back. Which means I am either gonna be at a sewage plant all summer working maintenance with a bunch of hilarious guys, or I will be out in the woods with a chainsaw cutting trees down. Can't fucking wait.
Apr 2 2010 11:33PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Either one sounds kick ass. I would prefer the woods and chain saws but being around cool guys can make any job kick ass!
Apr 3 2010 2:15AM
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Mr.Panda
Posts: 17711 - Karma: 564
The chainsaw one is awesome except I get to climb up the trees to top them.
Apr 3 2010 1:22PM
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andersteeze
Posts: 1047 - Karma: 30

So im stoked, im fully accepted and im paid and going to BCIT (british coloumbia institute of technology) In BC Canada anyone else go there?

Im getting my welding ticket

Apr 6 2010 2:17AM
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cornholio
Posts: 3952 - Karma: 3,057
I'll go ahead and make my introduction.  I'm a civil engineering grad (focus in construction/structures). During school I worked about 3 summers putting together mobile and modular homes and also doing general maintenance in a trailer park.  Since graduating I have passed my FE and LEED AP exams and have a few ACI certifications making me a smart-ass.  I work for a concrete subcontractor (3+ years experience) as a project manager.   We do foundations, slabs, and specialize in tilt-up concrete construction- mostly commercial work but the occasional retail store and more recently some government work on military bases. 

I'm not necessarily a blue collar worker in the true sense but I have some knowledge of the construction industry and consider myself to know a good bit about concrete.
Apr 6 2010 11:54AM
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Dirty_Griddle
Posts: 456 - Karma: 79
Im 21 and have been working summers and breaks from college for my families electrical contracting business that has been around since 1961. Ive done all kinds of work from; roughing in houses, installing new services, industrial work, running conduit, pulling wires, and recently have been doing alot of generator hookups. Ive been learning since i was 16 and it is a really great trade.
Apr 6 2010 1:53PM
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ECB
Posts: 6991 - Karma: 622
I work in the summers for a modular home company, and do all sorts of things with them.
Pour foundations, set modulars, take apart double wides, move trailors, etc

I'm going to college for business, but if I ever decide not to do something with business, I will stick with construction for the rest of my life, I love the feeling of doing something that you can be proud of, and see, like building a home. Also, I hate working indoors, so this really is perfect for me.
Apr 12 2010 3:53PM
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cornholio
Posts: 3952 - Karma: 3,057
Haha that's the exact job i had in college and the same way i got into construction, only i never started in business
Apr 14 2010 5:48PM
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ECB
Posts: 6991 - Karma: 622
Yea I enjoy it a lot, but I really have no idea what I want long term job wise.....
Apr 14 2010 7:58PM
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cornholio
Posts: 3952 - Karma: 3,057
the labor part is the fun part, although it's not always where the money is.  once you get into the paperwork side and having to juggle limited resources it gets into a bunch of pissing and moaning and nonstop arguments trying to keep clients happy when it's not always possible.  i'm debating whether or not i should go back into design and not have to deal with the day to day nonsense. 
Apr 14 2010 8:09PM
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Inbred_Redneck
Posts: 2776 - Karma: 28
Finally secured a job for the summer! There's a tree cutting business that is literally right across the road from my neighborhood called Noel's Tree Service. Went in to talk to the owner today and he said he needed someone to mow all his grass for now. So I got that gig, and then he said he will probably use me during the summer as a tree climber and demoing buildings, and he'll help me get my CDL. I'm pretty pumped!! This guy helped me with my eagle project and knows my work ethic, and says its hard to find good employees like me anymore. So i'm pretty stoked.
Apr 20 2010 10:18PM
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Biggie-Smalls
Posts: 259 - Karma: 10
Electrical apprentice for the past 4 years work in north eastern pa my father owns a commercial contracting company
Apr 25 2010 10:47PM
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twoplankerbean
Posts: 780 - Karma: 47
My brother and I own a small masonry business.... small being that it's just the two of us.  We do almost entirely residential work, with a little commercial thrown in here and there.  Brick and stone veneers on houses, fireplaces, retaining walls, outdoor barbecues/kitchens, block structures, you name it.

It's a bitch in the winter, and a bitch in the summer, but for a few weeks in spring and fall it is prime time!  Right now I'm stoked; not too hot, not too cold.  Plenty of work, and I get $20/hr.  When I say "we" own the company, he is 97%, I'm 3% owner.  Pretty much I'm his bitch.... he is 32 and I'm 23.  Been doing it for four years now, but we just went out on our own two years ago.

He got me Hellbents for my Christmas/End of Year bonus.  Not a bad gig.
Apr 26 2010 1:32AM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Got a job offer today... I could start as soon as I want. We got outbid on a project by a big commercial company. Basically it would be guaranteed full time work for the next 3 years and they would hire everyone in our shop (3 guys). We're going to talk to them tomorrow... I would love full time work again but I'm not stoked on starting on the bottom of the totem pole, taking a pay cut, piss tests, working for dicks.

Plus I am applying for a job in Portland, I probably wont get it but I have to try or I'll be kicking myself. I'm going to think about this hard, huge internal conflict going on. I'm basically at a major 3 way intersection of life now and I'm a little nervous..
/RANT
Apr 27 2010 2:18AM
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Mt_P0wDerJuNkIe
Posts: 1506 - Karma: 58
Got my job secured for the summer today. Working with the forest service in Wisdom MT in controlling noxious weeds. Its a pretty fun job. Basically get to hike around in the mountains all summer. We document new weed patches and how old ones have responded to the past years herbicides. Most days are spent with a spray pack strapped to ya hiking in the woods spaying weeds.
May 6 2010 1:10AM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
I start my job working with this guy in a little less that two weeks.
Jul 4 2010 9:11PM
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