Sheet Metal foreman here Local #162.Been in the trade 11 years.My current job involves installing under ground PVC coated duct at a high school.
Parish you should come to california the winters are much more pleasant to work in.Actually I would say its perfect working weather most of the time.Plenty of work here too!

 

from what i understand the pay isn't much better out there. not nearly enough to cover the increased cost of living. the weather would be nice. i hope to get a nice shop up and find a way to make money out of that.

 

What journman scale by you? A plumber's scale is 34 around here

 

i am not union so it is kind of hard to compare "scale" without knowing exactly what all is included. i can tell you i make around $60k/year without overtime and on top of that there is some holiday pay, vacation pay, and the entire familys health insurance is paid 100%. also some 401k matching but from what i can tell our pension is the weak part compared to the union.

the cost of living is the kicker. you can still get gas around here for around $3.00/gallon. i live in a 2400sq/ft house and got it for $130k and it is in a decent area. everything from groceries to car insurance is suppose to be cheaper but i am not sure of that stuff. my wifes family lives in and near san diego and we looked into moving there. if we had a house 45min or more from the coast just our housing costs would be about $1k/month more. that would eat up any increase in wages right there.

 

The cost of living around here has just about been cut in half within the past year.I live in Manteca and there are a **** pot of houses in forclosesure.Like 500 just in my zip code.This is driving the housing market down You can pick up a 2000 sqft. home for around 200,000 .
The Journeyman scale for a electrician is about $40 dollars an hour + benefits.
The thing I am getting at is while the cost of living is still kind of exspensive the opportunity to make lots of money here is a very obtainable goal.If you wanted to go for a change now would be the time cause the housing market here will not be this low for long.

 

I work for my father who has his own General Contracting business. We do interior commercial construction but, have done a few outside jobs. I do everything from hanging drywall, finishing, to writing up proposals. Pretty much if you see it in a building we/I can/have done it. We do leave the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing to those trades though.....................most of the time.

 

and he is a liquid nails PRO

 

im a residential electrician working for the family business. it will be handed over to me in the near future

 

Master Plumber here.....build labratories for chemical plants, oil companies, and so on. They pay me good money, benefits are great....medical, dental, and disability insurance; payed holidays; payed vacation; truck allowance; easy tag for toll-roads; company credit card and phone. I work when I want basically, they don't care as long as the job is done on time. I don't have someone breathing down my neck, so little stress. When it's slow on the plumbing side, I work with service doing easy stuff like installing fume hoods, cabinets, duct work, and exhaust blowers. I'm learning the ins/outs of the lab business. Work is suppose to be rising for us in Texas due to our business with oil companies.

 

Good to see another plumber on here besides me. Im a journeyman plumber local 118. I do alot of school, jails and hospitals. Work is great up here now. Never a shortage of work.