can someone estimate to me what a fair wage in your area would be for a carpenter{framer} with the following skills. wall layout and framing, floor layout ,framing ,and decking,door setting, window setting, very good at the horses, competent with hardi siding, icf construction skills,drywall{hang,tape,float}1&1/2 years experience and owns all tools required to frame including guns and compressor.NOT proficient in roof framing{but can cut one quickly if given a pattern} good people skills, and very polite to homeowners.I know that there are many variables but just an estimate would be great. THanks. RTC
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no ... but I'll guess in your area ... $12- $14/hr as an employee ... if even that much.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
Well-tooled, ambitious, and proficient, by your own accounts, but with only 1-1/2 years of experience you have the basics of thsoe skills without being truly GOOD at all of them. You'll learn to layout and cut a roof in good time. Meanwhile - guessing fifteen bucks
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Where I am now, Baltimore- 8 to start, 10 or 12 in a year.
Two years ago in Jackson, Mississippi- 7 an hour if you could find the work.
My area maybe 10 bucks, more like 8-9 starting. I think that would rise fast depending on attitude and willingness to kiss the bosses hiney!!
ADH Carpentry & Woodwork
Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
i started a year and a half ago in south Texas @ 7/hr. in a year i went to 12 then moved to Houston when i get a chance i go back to Corpus and work for my old contractor for 15. he said if i move back he'll do 18. my wife thinks it's only fair and i say he's doing me a huge favor i know lead framers down here who make 15. not that i'm complaining just trying to recognize someones generousity.thanks
Get it in writing. Talk to him reasonably about it, but ask for it in writing so you can consider the whole package, if there is one.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Actually, tell him that your wife would like it in writing before making the move. That showing lack of trust could be a deal breaker in some cases, blame it on the wife.Around here, a handshake is just as good as a contract, just like it used to be. If i don't trust you, I don't want to work with you."Those who do not trust, can not be trusted"
15. he said if i move back he'll do 18
Get it in writing. If you can move, Corpus is not a bad place to make money. Here, $15 is leads & expereienced hands.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I use to live in corpus on Everhart Blvd.
thanks for all the posts! it's really interesting seeing what you all have to say. i have had an excellent mentor for the past year and a half that is why i am not afraid to call myself a carpenter with only this much experience. i have ate,slept, and breathed homebuilding for the past year and a half and spent about $3000 building my tool collection. i know what looks good and i don't stop until it does. that's why i think i'm worth that 18/hr. plus you can't beat the veiw from the roof of a three story frame on Mustang Island looking out over the Gulf of Mexico. i love my ''office''
RTC
keep up the good attitude and good work
good luck to you
ad
on Everhart Blvd
Wish I remembered more of the town (or had seen a few more of the non-tourist areas).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
If you can get $18 in Texas framing you better jump all over it.
I'm over in Austin and I dont hear that kind of money for any kind of framer.
You do speak Spanish dont you, didnt see any mention of it.
Doug
no actually i don't speak spanish i'm a TEXAN CARPENTER. do you know what Davy Crockett said when he saw the Mexican army charging the Alamo?
are we pouring concrete today!
FWIW, even here in Columbus, OH... speaking Spanish (being able to translate actually) will get you an extra $2-5 an hour. Also will get you promoted faster.
You mean Spanish AND English, right?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
LMAO... yes... Spanish AND English... and the cogitative ability to translate.!!
Well hell, your first post didn't say you were a TEXAS carpenter!
So whats the deal? Are you looking to take your skills and tools and move where the grass is greener? And more english? Or did you walk off another job because they paid the Mexicans, who worked harder and know more, two bucks an hour more than you?Let me generalize here for a sec, its guys like you, who know everything and are willing to tell you how good they are, who feel free to share their wonderful sense of humor and politics, who rather be on the dole than learn a little espanol, its guys like you that make me despise jobsites.Pick up the pocketbook "Jobsite Spanish" for a few bucks, work hard, keep your mouth shut, grow up and learn something. Be a leader.
-billdavis
Lighten up dude. That joke really didn't even insult anyone. Where was the insult anyway? Is it insulting these days to be stereotyped as a hardworker?
What's with everyone's panties wound so tight nowadays? It's like you're just waiting for someone to toe the line so you can start yer P/C ####.
He's a kid....just like you were once. He'll learn.... just like you did once. At least he's hungry for work and shows an interest. I'd take him on tomorrow at $20 as a W2. He can leave his tools at home and make nice with my Brazilian guys. Too bad he's half a continent away.
Seems like people nowadays are looking for something to be offended about.I don't have the time.
What's a W2? Is that a reference to being an hourly employee?What the HECK was I thinking?
In WNY that would be around $15 based on a weeks proving. In the company I am in, our guys are all disgruntled because they are less than that monetarily and are almost as well versed and similarly compensated. The problem is that not one of them is the whole package. Seeing the entire picture as this kid does says something for him. When I took my job, I was told that I was over qualified, so I told him that I would gladly give him two weeks at $12/hr to give him an option of keeping me at $15 or sending me packin'. That was 2 1/2 years ago with alot more $ since. Dude, keep the faith and keep learning. Find something and someone you're comfortable with and exploit your skills and ask to be involved in educational training, ie:roof framing, stair building, complex floor systems. Make it known that even though this is a business that you want and need to understand the parts that make it all a whole. From my first and second carpentry employers I learned more about what not to do.
you in the Queen City?
12 bucks for a green horn. and thats generous.
Here in Tulsa on high end trim work min. $16-$20. Everything else $12-14 at best.
At 1 & 1/2 years experience this person is not a carpenter
apprentice or helper maybe . Carpenter is a title to be earned with much more axperience. At 10 years full time I am just now becoming comfortable calling myself a Carpenter.
Where have all the standards gone?
Source: WordNet ¯ 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
carpenter
n : a woodworker who makes or repairs wooden objects v : work as a carpenter
With all due respect he sounds like a carpenter to me. Yes, I remember being that young and feeling like a knew a lot more than I really did, but it sure sounds like this kid has motivation and at least he's putting the effort to learn more from his mentors online while at home.
So many here complain that it's hard to find young help that wants to learn the trade and here is someone with a true interest and you try to cut him down for calling himself a carpenter... he didn't say he was a "master carpenter".
With that said, I will say that I found the Mexican joke to be in poor taste. As many here will honestly tell you being able to speak Spanish would be a great skill set to have... especially for someone in construction. for an extra $2 - $4 an hour ($4,000 - $8,000) a year that would sure make me want to learn Spanish in a hurry, especially at your young age.
Good luck in your new profession; you have a great attitude and that will take you far. I know it's hard when you are young and trying to make a living, but don't always take the highest paying job, make sure you are with someone that that can and will spend the time to mentor you.
"In the cities the carpenters would be Greeks, and skilled workmen; the carpenterof a provincial village could only have held a very humble position, andsecured a very moderate competence." - Mark 6:3
Sounds like you should move to the city
If you can really do all that , I'd be happy to give you 25 -35 an hour . With only 1.5 yrs experience I doubt you're very proficient.maybe you're an exceptional case.I pay my young helper 12-15 an hr.I suspect you could get 15 to 20 here in the dc area.
$14 to $18 as a W-2 employee
"$14 to $18 as a W-2 employee"
South/east of Houston ...
no freaking way.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
you dolt..... didn't sister mary joseph teach you how to read ?
here's what tex asked ..
<<<can someone estimate to me what a fair wage in your area would be for a carpenter{framer} with the following skills. >>>
do i have to underline "in your area " for u ?
'sides.... in his area they probably aren't W-2 employees... mos' likely "independent contractors"... what a joke
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 2/16/2005 8:40 pm ET by Mike Smith
Hey ya bigger dolt ...
can't ya click his profile and see what area he needs the info for?
man ... all that OutBack food is making ya sleepy ...
the only thing I could add is some mexican guy already has the job and is thrilled with $10/hr.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
And he's probably sending 6 of each 10 down to someplace in the central highlands, to help feed his kid sisters.
the only thing I could add is some mexican guy already has the job and is thrilled with $10/hr.
Bingo.
What a screwed up system. Kid is in the trades and actually happy about it, eager to learn, willing to work, has a wife...... and he gets "outsourced" in his own dang country. Would that be considered "insourced"? Meanwhile some yahoo paying cash to his "subs" is the only one making any coin. Pathetic.
y , ya double dolt, i thot he was axin 'cause he was thinkin of relocating to PGH..
'er Rhogues Island..
he didn't WANT to know what the rate was in Texarkana.. or he wudda axedMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
"$14 to $18 as a W-2 employee"
South/east of Houston ...
no freaking way.
He ain't southeast of Houston. Maybe south WEST (toward Corpus).
In my neck of the woods, Southeast Texas, if he was good, he'd get about $15 bucks an hour to start, and work up to about $22 (with a good company). But with 1 ½ years experience, he'd only get about $10. Business is booming here, and they are short handed for framers.
Trim carpenters can pretty much name their price, but they better be good, and quick.James DuHamel
He who dies with the most toys.... Still dies!
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?" MARK 8:36
http://www.godsfreemusic.com
then this time I'm coming back down to trim!
10 or so years ago when I was in Houston ... I couldn't get anyone to even consider me. All laughed when I asked even a low hourly amount ... like $12/hr. It didn't help that I was a Steelers fan back when the Oilers still existed ...
at first I fell back on bartending ...
that's when I truned to telemarketing .... I could actually make more money telemarketing than I could working as a carp.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
Jeff
I look in the adds all the time, want to see what other places are paying.
I have never seen an add in the Huston area that is paying more then $10-$12 an hr. Obviously I'm not going over there for a job so I probably dont see all the adds but..........
That 10-12 is for experience too, and dont forget all your tools!
Doug
"I look in the adds all the time, want to see what other places are paying.'
Me too ... always have. Every Sun Carp's wanted ad gets read ...
I also call the one's that sound like they "just may" be considering a sub for the work too ...
99% of the time it's No, employee only ...
but I have made some good contacts and have landed a job or two in the past.
what's the trouble of a call?
I'll keep trolling the wants ads ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
I guess it's my fault wages have been going backwards in texas.It's 'cause I left.'71 at $4.00/hr
'72-1/2 at $7.50/hr
'76 at ten bucks an hour with some benefits
told'm I was heading for CO and they offered eleven to stay. Turned it down and haven't been back.Considering all the inflation since then, the same job oughta be paying thirty bucks by now, but then I left and took my charms away...
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
James
No offence but from what I understand about the finish carps near Huston has nothing to do with weather or not their good and fast, only FAST.
Now I know that your not in Huston so maybe your area is much better.
I'm in Austin and I see it as a world apart from Huston, sounds like your area is as well.
Doug
Hello Doug
Yes, Houston is world away, and is quite different from my area. We like to say that there is Texas, and then there is Houston.
Houston has way too much cheap, skilled labor. My area does not. The home builders and commercial contractors in my area are really hurting for quality skilled people to do the work. Most wind up having to bring in outside labor to get a job finished.
Average wages are mediocre for an average carpenter or trim person. If you are good, and your work ethics and habits are good, then the wages are high.
I had two guys working for me, and I paid each of them $15 an hour. They were not stand alone carpenters by any means, but they each earned me way more than their wages. They were good, quick, reliable, and their work standards were very good. They were worth their pay, and I wanted to keep them around.
One went to Baytown (near Houston) to work, and they started him off at $8 an hour. He figured he would get a raise as soon as they found out how much work he could produce. Afer a year, he was still making $8 an hour, so he left and came back to this area. He is now a Pastor of a small church, and happy as he can be.
Work here is unbelievable. New commercial construction is going on everywhere. I see commercial contractors advertising for experienced help all the time. Home building has tapered off somewhat, but is still booming. Framers here are in high demand, but quality, highly skilled trim carpenters are getting very tough to find. When a contractor finds one, they can pretty much name their own price. I know one right now that is making $25 per hour, but he is worth every penny. His skill and knowledge is unbelievable. James DuHamel
He who dies with the most toys.... Still dies!
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?" MARK 8:36
http://www.godsfreemusic.com
He ain't southeast of Houston. Maybe south WEST (toward Corpus).
Port A (present location per profile) is east of Houston, most of the way to the Sabine on the TX-LA border.
True, that he's not SE of Houston, only thing SE of Houston is Golfo de Mexico. (Although, the Ship Channel, & the nearby towns are, technically, SE of the Houston city "center," if anything shaped like an amobea can be said to have a center . . . )Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Port Aransas is SouthWEST of Houston. It is just outside Corpus Christi.
You may be thinking about Port Arthur. That's my neck of the woods. It is on the Louisiana border, and borders the Gulf of Mexico.
James DuHamel
He who dies with the most toys.... Still dies!
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?" MARK 8:36
http://www.godsfreemusic.com
Edited 2/17/2005 11:10 am ET by James DuHamel
Port Aransas is SouthWEST
Yep, clean dropped into seeing Port A and not thinking (or over-thinking, and getting stuck on the golden triangle--or maybe it was a thumpetathumpetathumpeta I-10 memory <g>) . . .
Might have helped if I had actually clicked on OP's profile, rather than just 'memberin' it, too.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
James
I work with a guy that grew up in Port Arthur, he said when he was growing up there that pay stunk! Mind you he moved away 20 years ago so I'm sure things changed.
I believe that he was actually from Louisiana, just a few miles across the boarder, mothers family still there, his mother died and he and his father moved to P.A. when he was very young.
He always says that he wouldn't mind moving back but was afraid that he couldn't make enough $.
He is very skilled, one of the best cabinet maker/furniture makers that I have seen.
He will be interested in this thread.
How close to Port Arthur are you?
Doug
We came down here to TX to visit and see if we wanted to live here(San Marcos) the same week that you had the Texfest. Cant remember where it was though, knew that it was somewhere near Houston.
Edited 2/17/2005 8:47 pm ET by Doug@es
Hey Doug,
Tell your friend to drop me an e-mail and I'll give him some names of quality homebuilders and commercial contractors that he can talk to. Maybe he can get a line on employment before he decides about moving.
I live about 40 miles due north of Port Arthur. My brother lives in Port Arthur, and I have done lots of work in that area. This whole area has seen a very large increase in building (both residential and commercial). Tell your friend that he would not recognize Beumont, or Port Arthur. They have grown, and the retail establishments have migrated out of town. Beumont and Port Arthur are almost linked now with businesses. James DuHamel
He who dies with the most toys.... Still dies!
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?" MARK 8:36
http://www.godsfreemusic.com
Port Arthur ...
that's what I had on the brain.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
Before I moved over to Santa Cruz, I called a couple of ads in the Santa Cruz newspaper to get a feel for the wages here. I was living in Reno at the time. Talked to a guys wife who told me that with my 30+ years experience, and all my tools, I could get $30 an hour when I hit town, and $35 or more after I'd been here and learned my way around. Next guy I talked to told me the same thing. So when I got here, I asked for $30 and got it, and I started asking for $35 after a year, and still get it. Funny thing is, I meet guys all the time who've lived here for years, and who make less than I do. Drank a beer with a guy in a bar one night who drives over the hill to San Jose and works as a carpenter foreman for $28 an hour. Lived here all his life. I told him I just got to town and was working a block from the beach in Santa Cruz, on my tools, for $30 an hour. He wanted my job!It seems that what a lot of guys here do is have their contractor's license, and carry their own insurance, and "contract" themselves to other builders for hourly cash wages. The going rate doing it that way seems to be $50 an hour and up. I understand good finish carpenters in high-end areas like Woodside get more than that. Some others here could help on that. For a guy with the original poster's 1 1/2 years of intense "education" and a full assortment of tools, a good attitude, and willingness to bring donuts occcasionally, he could $25 an hour here if he talked it up right. But the cheapest, most dilapidated house you can find to buy here will cost you close to half a million dollars, so you have to consider that, too. On the other hand, a good meal in my favorite Chinese restaurant is under $10, just like everywhere else.Allen in Santa Cruz
Thank you God for Life, Love, and Music
I started in Santa Cruz as well. What a difference than the rest of the world. I would get accosted at San Lorenzo by people looking to hire a 'contractor'. SC is a remodelers paradise. With good knowledge and a little ambition you could go far in that town.
Now in Alaska on my own and the situation is simalar.
Allen
I've talked to a couple of good finish carps who are making $50-60 in Marin and Sonoma counties. $30 is about max for a lead carp in my area $18 - 25 more likely. (Northern Cal, Humboldt Co.) I pay my laborer $10 and carpenter with about 4 years exp $16.
Tom