Is it just me?

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by flippin heck, Oct 24, 2009.

  1. flippin heck

    flippin heck New Member

    I ended up working for a couple of local building companies in recent years, and found that after being self employed for more than 13 years how bad things now are for joiners. The last company I worked for was price work. The amount of work we had to do in a day was challenging, more so if you wanted a bonus.
    An electrician on the other hand, could earn something like £25 for fitting a battery powered fire alarm, and could earn about £800 a week and needed to do very little work to get it.
    Personally I think that being a carpenter and joiner requires the most skill compared to other trades, we need to spend a small fortune on tools (my van resembles a hire shop) an is more physically demanding, but despite this we seem to have little value or respect.

    Would you agree, or is it just me?
     
  2. jenros

    jenros New Member

    hi there,
    agree 100%.mate of mine got a joinery shop,he laid off his machinist a few weeks ago,he was paying him £9.50hr.the rates now for machinists are down to £6.50 hr.
    carpentry has always been a hobby craft,by this i mean that the majority of people will dabble with it and will be quite happy with there outcome,while we would look at it * our selves at there outcomes.
    all the best.
    any problems.....................
    keep em to ya self!

    [Edited by: admin]
     
  3. lamps

    lamps New Member

    it must be no other chipie is saying anything
     
  4. chippie238

    chippie238 New Member

    I agree with the fact that we are highly trained, tooled up and bagged with quals, but not regarded as an emergency trade such as the sparks, plumies/gas fitters.
    The recession hasnt helped either, putting rates to an alltime low. Im in the North West, and lucky if I can get more than £10 per hour on construction site work, self employment isnt much better has everyone seems to be madly undercutting each other at the moment.
     
  5. flippin heck

    flippin heck New Member

    A heating engineer that I worked with went to great lengths to tell me about the new doors that he had fitted without encountering any problems. Didn’t think too much of it unit I later saw the doors in question; they were a total mess. Everything that could have been wrong, was, in fact the only thing that he had done right was to get them to open and close. Despite this, he actually thought that he had done a good job, as did his wife because neither of them knew any difference. So jenros is right, woodwork is something that people will have a go at, but because they cannot recognise the difference between a job well done and one that is not, it follows that the value of the tradesman is diminished.
     
  6. Guest

    Here's a picture of my neighbour who's just installed a new mixer in his kitchen, he's a joiner.
     
  7. MattChip

    MattChip New Member

    Something that annoys me too

    Plasterers and brickies could get the bus to work and essentially do the same thing day in day out - materials are an absolute minimum too

    Plumbers are akin to a car mechanic in my eyes - just pull out a dice when pricing; roll it, times the figure by 5 and add a few zeros

    Don't get me started on the people who turn screwdrivers for wheelbarrows of cash

    A chipie is by far the most skilled, has the most tools and will have to be adept at a very wide variety of work from roofing to solid wood flooring to fitted wardrobes to hardwood doors

    I had to take out a stud wall and reinstate it recently and the plasterer let me down. Did it myself and though it took a bit longer the end result was a clean smooth wall

    Made me wonder if i should jump on the trowel
     
  8. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

    My brother is a chippie. He is extremely busy and earns very very good money, He is self employed (although he does a lot of kitchen work with me)

    Stop whinging about other trades.

    We are all different.

    "Vive la difference" I say!

    Concentrate on what YOU can do to earn more money.
     
  9. dunc

    dunc New Member

    There was a time when a carpenter had a lot more to do. There was more responsibility in the details and finishings. But now the trade needs them to do a lot less. What they are needed mainly for now is installation and fitting.

    I worked for one agency/company for one week where most of the time I was labouring all the doors and linings etc. In between there was the most mundane fitting of units and cutting sheet materials etc.

    Also there's always a schedule on these site jobs, which is relentless. Getting up to the speed of work they would like; could take a few weeks.

    However there is hope. Since becoming self employed and advertising; many challenging and fun jobs have come my way. So the work is out there if only it can be found. Most of which will be found in the domestic area.
     
  10. Dick Puller

    Dick Puller New Member

    Plumbers are akin to a car mechanic in my eyes - just pull out a dice when pricing; roll it, times the figure by 5 and add a few zeros.................Ah, I so wish that was the case.

    Like the Skipper, I know 100s of Joiners, most are the same, Passy wielding, chop saw semi-skilled monkeys, that find it hard to clime a stair - let alone make one!!
    Joiners around here are lucky if they can make more than £9/hour!!

    The best Joiner I've known, had an old sack of half a dozen tools & could do everything!! Ended his working life as a bench hand, turning out very high end work.
     

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