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2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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1578802 No.1578802 [Reply] [Original]

What would you choose & why?

Heard plumbers can go solo and make decent money but that more often carpenters can go to supervisors on construction sites more often.

>> No.1578811

Electrician

>> No.1578814

>>1578811

Dont have the high school quals.

>> No.1578818

Plumber Pro: Gets reliable work even in bad economy, since already-built houses still need plumbing fixed.
Plumber Con: Works with shit.

Carpenter Pro: Gets to work outside.
Carpenter Con: Gets laid off as soon as the stock market crashes.

>> No.1578822

>>1578818
>Carpenter Pro: Gets to work outside.

depending on where you live, this might not be so great much of the time. worst case is when you have to cut outside in 20 deg F then go inside where it's heated, over and over all day long. plus carpenters deal with noise and dust a lot more than plumbers. plumbers on the other hand might be gluing PVC in a craw space or up under a sink, which burns through a few brain cells.

bottom line, construction or maintenance jobs tend to have their upside, but they all have a downside or five. like back to the electrician, if it's new construction it's pretty civilized, but the good money is doing residential jobs on existing houses, like a ton of money to add a ceiling light, but you wind up in a suffocating attic or in a damp crawlspace.

So, when they talk about how office workers (meaning women) aren't paid fairly, they probably don't factor in that AC and cushy chair compared to the blazing heat and hazardous situation on a roof.

>> No.1578823

>>1578822


I'm an Australian living in Canada (recently moved over) the winter is a HUGE thing to factor in.

>> No.1578890

Plumbers lay big hard pipe down dirty holes, carpenters just stroke other peoples wood all day. The choice is clear.

>> No.1578903

>>1578802
>carpenters can go to supervisors on construction sites more often.

IOW, they spend more time dealing with other people's shit than plumbers.

>> No.1578908

Plumber some times you just have to snake a drain. I've done three a day at 75$ a pop work 4 days a week for 65k a year. No heavy lifting can work alone.

>> No.1578912

>>1578802
carpenters are fags

>> No.1579122

Carpenter here.

I would go for plumbing. Anyone can carpent. Plumbing usually requires a license to be done legally. It’s amazing how much more you can charge for something if it’s illegal to do it yourself.

>> No.1579129

>>1579122
Just about everywhere in the US it's perfectly legal for the homeowner to do his own plumbing. They don't advertise it (more a union issue than a safety thing, or so I've been told) but as long as you pull the permits and get it inspected you're good.

>> No.1579131

>>1579129
Legality varies with region, but pretty much all over the civilized world, you’ll be fucked by insurance if anything goes wrong. Which is fair, don’t get me wrong.

Also, remember that sometimes shit like this isn’t directly illegal, but is indirectly. If you are legally obliged to be insured for something, and a stipulation for the insurance to be valid is you don’t fuck with the plumbing, and you fuck with the plumbing, then you are uninsured, which is illegal, hence fucking with the plumbing is illegal even if it is legal.

>> No.1579132

>>1579131
Also, it’s rarely free to get shit inspected, and oftentimes, plumbers and electricians will not approve anything if you so much as touched it. Won’t install components you have bought, won’t connect cables you have run. But that’s where I live.

>> No.1579148

>>1578811
Hello, sparky ! Living every day like it might be the last one ? Well, you should !

>> No.1579161

>>1578818
only in residential and service sectors outside of sewer tie-ins, repairs to a live waste line, etc for commercial. im a plumber working commercial construction and i have never once worked around shit, but it does happen rarely

id say plumbing because carpentry is devalued by metal framing installed by mexicans and plastic shit, but with plumbing any way you look at it a plumber is still gonna putting it in (or at least in a licensed state like texas)

>> No.1579189

>>1578814
>High school determining your opportunities
>Not easily avoidable

Leave whatever dystopian place you're in that holds 14 year olds accountable for anything important.

>> No.1579190

>>1578822
Pretty much anywhere save for the southern tips of the US it sucks working out side. If you're north your fucking fingertips freeze off. If you're in the south you die of heat stroke in the summer.

>> No.1579236

>>1579131
Not sure what you mean. You're covered regardless of who does the work, as long as you got the permit and passed the inspection.

>>1579132
And I really don't know what you're talking about here. County/city inspectors get paid to do inspections by the county/city. They don't charge you, and they don't even have to know who did the work.

>> No.1579609

>>1578802
Carpenter here. I would probably recommend plumbing. It depends a lot more on where live than you think. If you live near a high end market with a strong local economy far enough from Mexico, then you can make a lot more money as a carpenter than a plumber and won't have to worry about recessions putting you out of work. Think Boston, NYC, Chicago, Seattle, Honolulu etc. These places are few and far between though. Plumbers can make good money anywhere in the country. No matter the economic climate.

>> No.1579632

>>1579609
How about commercial carpenter?

>> No.1579666

>>1578823
>recently moved over
how ya doin m8? keep seeing more and more aussies with red seals on my sites.

>> No.1579754

Carpentry isa much more varied and skilled trade. The directions you can go in are many nd varied. From house fit outs, kitchens, refurbs to bench joinery making doors, windows or furniture. Also carpenters can move onto site management positions or running their own construction company as the trade offers a broad knowledge base of construction. Plumbers on the other hand are plumbers. Yes it pays well and work is plentiful but it is a narrow field. You dont often see plumbers in management positions in construction companies as their knowledge of general construction isn't great. Carpenters get to create plumbers essentially just fix pipes of one sort or another

>> No.1580843

>>1578802
My sense is a plumber is more secure job. Many things carpenters used to do are now prefab (cabinets, shelving, closets, doors) where as the same cannot be said for plumbing.

Also, there is supposedly going to be a massive need for pipe fitters in this country because of extreme expansion of infrastructure done around a centruy ago is now begining to rapidly degrade. That is, if the country doesnt fall to pieces it is expected that lots of public works projects will be underway over the next 40 years.

Again, it would pay to go do research on the geo areas, look at salaries, talk to older and younger people working in both areas.

>> No.1580845

>>1579131
>Legality varies with region, but pretty much all over the civilized world, you’ll be fucked by insurance if anything goes wrong

No this is not how this works. In the US, if a permit is required, you need a permit. A professional does not determine wheter a permit is needed, that determination is made by the local government (usually county) in accordance with their building codes. ANY job, no matter the difficulty can be undertaken by the homeowner regardless of their skill so long as they secure the permit. The license only comes into play when engaging in doing someone elses work. For instance, you can cut peoples grass for profit but not their plumbing without out a license.
>>1579129
>Just about everywhere in the US it's perfectly legal for the homeowner to do his own plumbing.
Correct. License only come into play when engaging in a profit making enterprise. A homeowner can do any work he chooses on his own property, provided he obtains building permits.

>> No.1580847

>>1579754
A cynic could read that as carpentary provides no guarantees and its up to you to make it big in management. and an optimist could read it as plumbers have a strong guild that will help guarantee at a minimum a respectable wage.

>> No.1580964

>>1579666
>how ya doin m8? keep seeing more and more aussies with red seals on my sites.


not bad - the winter was BRUTAL (i'm from somewhere really hot) and not seeing the sun was a pretty big impact.

so far most canadians have been good - few guys i play sport with have been to aus and understand my slang which is great.

>> No.1580966

Most contractors I know started out as carpenters.

Every field has its ups and downs but if you want to make money in residential shit you want to be as high up as you can get.

If you want to make money and not be the boss look to commercial or industrial

>> No.1580967

Plumber gas fitter here.

You will can earn more and work less being a plumber. You need less cash invested in tools also.

You must work for yourself though as most secure employed positions pay shit money or work you like a dog. In the UK anyway.

>> No.1581230

>>1579632
Pays far less than high end residential, unless you go union, which again depends upon your location. Also requires a lot more everything to run your own jobs and is subject to far more government oversight. Would not recommend outside of union in nyc, chicago, or boston.

>> No.1581235

>>1578811
>Electrician

This

I'm a Network engineer but I'm learning what I can from our in house electrician so I can eventually spin it off into getting a License in the future.

>> No.1581238

>>1580847
Ignoring your moronic "guild" wording, both statements are factual. Carpentry is not even a trade any more. It is a field of trades. Form carpenter, framer, roofer, sider, trim carpenter, finish carpenter, etc. If you want to make money as a carpenter, you need to contract. It can be a trade where you put in 40 hours every week for someone else and that's that, or you learn how to do a job by yourself and either do it alone or supervise others. You get back what you put in, more than any other trade.

>> No.1581267

>>1581235
you need an apprenticeship with confirmed schooling and hours for a few years to become a licensed electrician - you can't shadow or learn here and there from an electrician and become one yourself.

>> No.1581600

>>1581238
>Ignoring your moronic "guild"
That word was used long before Xena princess warrior and WoW and he used it correctly here

>Guild: def. (noun), An association of people with similar interests or pursuits especially : a medieval association of merchants or craftsmen [emphasis]

>> No.1583279

Get into HVAC

Become a boiler guy