Are carpenters a dying breed?

[Julie Moriarty]

They don't teach it in school anymore hardly, which makes me wonder if this industry is in high demand. I've always kept this as a hobby, but I've been using power tools since I was 12. I'm 26 now. Is there good money in this industry?

In the building trades, no, carpenters are not going away. Work will always fluctuate with the economy, and that scares some people, but the pay is decent enough to keep attracting new hires. My SO's son just got into the carpenter's union as an apprentice. He loves it. He started at around $16/hr. Journeymen make around $35/hr. Foreman make a few dollars over that. All of his schooling is covered through the union.

He was working with a non-union company for about 1-1/2 years and topped out at $13/hr. The foreman made around $20/hr.

[jack duren]

Please define "good money".

Unions have a scale. Not sure what it is anymore.

[jack duren]

In the building trades, no, carpenters are not going away. Work will always fluctuate with the economy, and that scares some people, but the pay is decent enough to keep attracting new hires. My SO's son just got into the carpenter's union as an apprentice. He loves it. He started at around $16/hr. Journeymen make around $35/hr. Foreman make a few dollars over that. All of his schooling is covered through the union.

He was working with a non-union company for about 1-1/2 years and topped out at $13/hr. The foreman made around $20/hr.

Pay can depend on location and company.A non union carpenter here in Kansas City with solid knowledge can make $20+

[Andy Booth]

Money pays the bills, but first you have to like what you do!

[Dennis Aspö]

What are you looking at??? Your potatoes??

I like you kid, you got spud.

[George Gibbs]

Two of my sons are self employed carpenters. We built the house I'm living in now and we did everything except the concrete work and installing the heating system. They have to turn down 1 - 3 jobs a week because they are so busy. When the economy is fairly good, they mostly build houses. When it is bad, they do a lot of remodeling. Bottom line is that they can't handle all of the jobs that are available to them. They don't hire any help except for setting trusses because they can't find the quality of workers that their reputation demands.

[jack duren]

My stepfather was a retired union carpenter . To put in his words....If a so called carpenter can't lay a roof out on the ground without custom fitting every joint in the air he is nothing more than a grunt in his book....

[guy knight]

not enough skilled workers in Portland i keep raising my prices hoping not to get some jobs hasn't been working tho lol

[Henry Kramer]

In the building trades, no, carpenters are not going away. Work will always fluctuate with the economy, and that scares some people, but the pay is decent enough to keep attracting new hires. My SO's son just got into the carpenter's union as an apprentice. He loves it. He started at around $16/hr. Journeymen make around $35/hr. Foreman make a few dollars over that. All of his schooling is covered through the union.

He was working with a non-union company for about 1-1/2 years and topped out at $13/hr. The foreman made around

$20/hr.

Julie,
As a Union Bricklayer/Stone Mason for 40 + years in the Chicago area I would tell your SO's son to stick with it. Being a Union Carpenter in the Chicago area is a good trade. Very good health and retirement benefits and actually the current Journeyman's scale is $43 an hour. They have great training facilities in the Chicagoland Carpenters Union. Hopefully he takes full advantage of it. If he learns his trade properly and takes pride in his work (and shows up every day of course) he will make a good living. I hope that it works out for him.