Why America Is Running Out Of Carpenters - Cheddar Explains

Be honest it's because of all the illegals

Most of construction is a big nothing burger full of drug addicts, drunks , and over inflated egos of jealous bastards who don't play well with others

Some of this people always talking about capitalism, well in capitalism it makes loser of individuals and corporations, but they all want handouts when they failed to stay afloat.

I was a carpenter on the west coast for around a decade. Started out repairing foundations and substructures, moved on to floors, doors and walls. Rolled trusses on cabin sub-developments up in the sierras. Worked on framing crews and one crew builds.

I left the trade for two reasons and only two reasons: I don’t speak Spanish, and I can’t work for $12.

I’m sure that various parts of the country have differing circumstances but out west immigrants took over the trades and they work for cheap. This nonsense about them only working in the fields doing agriculture is a lie. They completely took over the building trades. Americans were systematically replaced and we had to get in where we fit in. Most guys who stuck with it either started their own business or went union and ran the rabbit through the feast or famine.

Not much ill-will towards that outcome but the lie sold through a political narrative is much different than what really took place for a lot of people. It is what it is.

Edit: carpentry is an excellent skill to possess, but if you have the opportunity and aptitude to educate yourself, become an engineer or an electrician or something that requires brains and brawn and you will be less likely to encounter a similar experience. Wish I had more guidance as a young teenager/adult. A few more years of work & education going hand in hand early on can make a huge difference in the long run. Entered the workforce full time earlier than my peers and it can set you back depending on the route you take.

37 year old carpenter on the home repair side. This is my 2nd year making over a six figure income fixing homes. Downside… I work alone and only getting older, and I wasn’t going to make this amount if I stayed on a crew. Which I left four years ago.

I made a good living as a lead. But you’re working all the time. I still work all the time. But at least I’ve tripled my income.

Horrible environment, horrible bosses (though some are great), putting yourself in harms way for bullshit pay. Not to mention old timers are conditioned to chase anyone who isn't already a carpentry god off the job. It's an industry that predates on people who have no other options. It breaks their backs and then sends them on their way.

If construction wants to attract a new generation, the culture and practices have to change.

I'm an old carpenter in Mississippi and right now if I could speak spanish I'd rule the world !

UBC (United brother hood of carpenters) 713 union first period apprentice, here’s my advice join a union or get into a training program to join a union. 34 an hour for first period in the Bay Area with benefits and 60 for journey men.

Unions are a barrier to entry too. They push out competition and distort market realities.

I want to go learn how to be a carpenter but I don’t know how it works when building houses and stuff like how big a team is or even if there’s teams

Take some from India, we have lots of them, and they are underpaid.
Its a win win for everyone.

The Carpenters Union offers legitimate apprenticeship where you can receive four years of training and education absolutely free and work while doing it. These days, most Union Carpenters will be involved in commercial work. However, there are still residential union carpenters as well. If you're considering carpentry, I highly recommend contacting your local Carpenters Union and entering into an apprenticeship. You will receive higher pay and benefits and have a lot of valuable opportunities in your career. I am a union carpenter, and was a nonunion residential carpenter for a couple years before I joined the union. We will always need carpenters of all kinds. I highly recommend joining the Carpenters Union where you will be represented and protected from being exploited and underpaid.

I fiddle with carpentry as an art form on my spare time. I work as a software engineer because it pays the lifestyle (very average lifestyle) I require. I struggle to understand how anyone with less than 6 figure salary to live a completely average lifestyle nowadays. Average lifestyle to me is paying an average house, a car payment and pay the bills. Maybe a couple of bucks for movies here and there. And a couple bucks for savings. As a software engineer, I barely even manage to do that. I’m puzzled at how laborers make ends meet.

You need to learn a specialized trade in carpentry like building stairs. That’s where the money is. I’ve been a stair carpenter 29 years and I’ve trained 3 people all of who are successful.

Carpentery is the best trade I’ve done. I’m 19 n this is 199% my passion and career path

If you find the right company who appreciates its workers this profession can be great. Would take this over most other jobs any day. Get specialized and you can make more money, siding framing carpenters don’t get paid as much as finish carpenters. Been trimming 5 years and make more than I ever did in the service industry, 401k insurance and 30 an hour, not bad although I did have to buy all my own tools I actually don’t mind because once I get enough knowledge I will branch out and remodel on my own and make even more. I don’t care what others think this trade is satisfying and I really am passionate about carpentry. If you like what you do it works out it all depends on motivation and passion. I do agree with others though. Blue collar jobs in all areas don’t pay enough for a healthy middle class and this is really the problem in America right now, it’s not the trades it’s the cost of living and the lack of respect our modern world places on blue collar jobs and people. A healthy economy should be able to build a substantial middle class where a man working in carpentry can provide for his entire family which is no longer the case and that is very sad. I hope things change.

Just like software engineering, low entry barrier, no certification.

Call up some local carpentery companies and tell them you are looking for a job, lie and say you are the most skilled carpenter of all time....
See if they care or even are interested...
The reality behind 99% of the companies is this...
Brazilian owned and only hires other Brazilians by word of mouth, at an offensively low rate.
One guy is getting paid and the rest are gonna be stuck in a cycle...
You only hear things like "i make 55$ an hour".
Thats either a lie or an anomaly..it just isnt true..

Entry level is 14-16$ an hour.

Skilled and experienced(which means years of 15$/hr) is about 18-22/hr

Absolute professional about 25-30$ if you are incredibly lucky.

So 25-30/hr if you are flawless and willing to fight your way thru years of underpayment.

Im at 40 an hour right now, gas card, and bonus… making like 85-90k a year, im in northern cali 26 years old

There is quite a few carpenter apprentice positions near me but I have passed them because the other trades interest me more

My father is a carpenter and the number of times he's been screwed out of a payday was my biggest motivation for not following in his footsteps. I love building things and seeing my designs come to life but I would probably hurt someone if I had been screwed over as many times as my father has.

I’ve been a carpenter for 45 years. I’m basically an expert at my trade. I can barely walk some days. All of the comments I read are spot on. We get paid crap and the builders and developers live like royalty.

This is my story. Come to USA in 97. from former Yugoslavia at age 33. I knew I'm good at math and did test and was allowed in EE program. Finish entire math with grade A and electrical physics too. However, I was too old and at age 36 gave up on that and started work as a carpenter in 2002 or so. Good at math should give me some advantages. As soon as I started and two years after I was doing the most complicated roof framings at high end homes. Bogh tools and pickup and start like self-employed 2004 I was like self-employed 25$/hour. Today I'm at 45$/hour. And I'm broken, I think it is definition. I have money to pay for food and rent and for small car and my pickup for work and it is all. Never had money to start family and never had money to start flip houses. Today I'm 3 month short of 60. Was in same apartment for 21 years and they kick me out when I asked if they can paint it after 21 years. Now live in a duplex that my biggest customer offer me for a while. I do all that exist in carpentry, handrailing, crown molding at cathedral ceiling, roofs with irregular hips, stairs frame and trim. Only good that I did is I didn't stay working for companies because would be disabled now how much they used me. Would drive across city and do framing of roofs 14/12 for months. Or would carry 3/4 plywood for weeks. I would do better if would go for trucker, would have a small house. If someone need I will connect with my cl page so you can see my handy work. Yeah get tons of glory but like everyone else I'm not into glory I'm into green. My friend said to me recently "Ok you tried it for say 3-4 years and see there is not money for you but you needed 20 years to figure it out?".

This video is just flat out wrong. Join a Union or a huge commercial company. You'll make very very good money

You need to send recruiters to Canada and hire Canadian construction workers. There are THOUSANDS of unemployed construction workers here in Canada who would be willing to relocate to the U.S.A. Just advertise a job fair in Canada's local daily newspapers. Rent a conference room over the weekend at local Canadian hotels. Put employers in the conference rooms at the job fair ready to hire tradespeople and apprentices. As long as you are willing to pay their relocation and Visa expenses, you'll have THOUSANDS OF applicants. It's so easy.

Christ is lord

Welcome to everyone, my name is Hassan Al-Sing, 33 years old from Egypt. I work in the carpentry profession and I have great experience in all its works. I want to travel and work. Can anyone help me?

Maybe if you gave them scaffolding to work off you might get more

Carpentry pays really poorly in my area. Pay more and you'll see more carpenters

Fuck the trades and go do something else

im 7 years into carpentry. trained by my father. i dont mind the work but the pay just aint it for me. im sticking through because im hoping to maybe become a contractor one day when i can scrounge up the pennies. thats the only way someone who pursues carpentry will make a decent living

Because people are lazy and worthless they never learned anything but playing video games growing

I tried working as a carpenter 3 times. Each time I've been scammed. 1 boss advertised higher pay than he actually paid me. 2 customer refused to pay. 3 boss decided that rather than pay me he up and left for Mexico never to be seen or heard from again.

Three different times, 3 different companies. I'll stick to factory work.

The biggest problem I had with working in the trades was getting sent home the minute you weren't absolutely necessary and trying to survive on anywhere from 20 to 50 hours a week depending on the needs of the company. The pressure to ignore safety issues, rush through substandard work then take the blame for mistakes, plus the expectation to provide your own tools and truck, turned $20 an hour into more like minimum wage in reality, but I couldn't even rely on getting enough hours to pay bills and rent during bad weather or work shortages.

They teach kids about lgbtq and homosexuality in school ?? but dont teach you any TRADES that support our infostructure ??? hahahahah thats why lol

pay up or shut up

Pay sucks, your worked to your core, incredibly long hours, on call 24/7, toxic coworkers, and subpar benefits, no protections for workers.
HUH I WONDER WHY THE TRADES ARE DYING 🤣
My suggestion? Don't do trades, you'll be treated like a shit. Unions are only moderately better you still deal with half of that I've listed.

I guess the free market hasn't solved the problem.

Carpenter here in the UK, do pretty much everything from cut roofs to kitchen fitting. What rates are available in USA??

Would LIVE to be a carpenter. Would leave my steel mill job in a instant. Problem is pay, I got a wife and 2 kids I gotta take care of. Pay is horrible around here

As someone who’s been in the trade for 50% of my life I can tell you, I’ve had built peoples homes yet I don’t own a home… not even a shack. Until that changes I don’t think their will be a meaningful change

i paused the video as it started and why so few carpenters so little pay was my first idea USA / UK are the same was worked out if you want to earn more than a shop worker running your own business this is working in peoples houses not site work you needed to earn around £36 an hour most carpenters earn £18 or around its going up at the moment
the items you need are van,van insurance tools tool insurance liability insurance fuel phone, money set aside to have breaks which is 28 days in the UK sick pay 2 days the items not included where pensions and injury that could add 10% more than the £36 concluded it worked out you would be £5000 better of at £36 than a shop worker.

I HAVE BEEN ACARPENTER SINCE 85, THINGS HAVE CHANGED A BIT LOL

Maybe if you quit paying them basically nothing and offer insurance and benefits, they'd come back. You ask people to break their bodies for the contractor, the homeowner, everyone benefit besides the people doing the building.

Get all the strong independent feminists to be carpenters.

And I thought carpentry was running out of work 😈😈😈 more work for me

Join the union

i would love to have this job but nobody wants to train or nobody can afford to train,