Is Being a Carpenter Worth it?

Is a carpenter a good career choice in 2024?
Questions I get asked a lot is if its worth being a carpenter? Does Carpentry pay well? Do you enjoy being a Carpenter? And I am going to try to answer all of them in this video

[NoetherPoint]

Yes. I left a lucrative career in aerospace R/D. The corporate world was stealing my soul. I became a remodeling carpenter and ultimately a master carpenter. Over ten years later, I’m making just as much money… best part? I look forward to going to work every single day. I’m one of the lucky people that can honestly say I love what I do for a living.

[jamesmckay]

I just started at age 41, and it's exactly as you describe. Each day is different and there's more difficult days than easy, but in the end when exhausted, you can look at the accomplishment and feel proud. However I really do feel we are all underpaid for the amount of work being done. I still love it.

[Tool_Addicted_Carpenter]

Remodeling/general contracting is such a satisfying profession. I can be selective in what I tackle and subcontract to the licensed pros. I always do the finish but sometimes I'll sub out the big frames. It works out well. In regards to income, versatility can pay more than a specialty, and it's far less repetitive. A plumber and electrician will make a solid stable income, but a GC will make more in the long run. I was always bouncing around projects until I finally treated my own house exactly like a remodel for a client. Put together a list of necessary tasks, a wish list of tasks, stock list, order of operations, timeframe, and did it one step at a time. It really leveled everything out for me and ended up exactly how I wanted. Prep is 90% but all tough days come to an end and the results are incredibly satisfying when you're finished. Hopefully more guys want to be carpenters because it's impossible to find help.

[PatriciaTomberlin]

Did a lot of house frameup help years back, hard hot work at times, but I always loved the feel, smell, and handeling of all types of wood!

[xXiiBet]

100% man. Ever since I started carpentry, I never look back. The scope of works carpenters do compared to other trades is second to none.

[petermortensen]

I would wake up in the morning and think about what had to be done on the job that day. I would look forward to getting to work and getting the tools out and getting into the job. I have no regrets about taking on carpentry. Don't forget that the carpenter runs a job.

[CPCarpentry]

my best advice for anyone joining the carpentry life is dont expect to make money every day and it take loads of time to invest in all the tools and getting the knowledge behind us

[EireGenX]

My dad was a carpenter retired now.
He asked me when i was younger did i want to become a carpenter i said i wasn't interested.
I know that he worked hard late nights early mornings etc people not paying him.
It just put me off its a shame he did teach me a lot so i do my own jobs.

[RoofCarpentryandFraming]

Carpentry can be looked at from many different angles! Good stuff 👍

[adrianspies]

I’m a 50 year old carpenter ex builder. I never wanted to be a carpenter because dad was a builder/ carpenter and I spent my weekends and holidays doing hardwood frames.
But I love it. I love the hands on so being a builder sucked. I just work for customers that I’ve had for 25 years. I hate having employees and just work by myself.

[ezekielgdk]

I start my apprenticeship on the 29th. Im looking forward to it.

[connorbakken]

I have been struggling with finding inspiration and feeling like it’s worth staying in carpentry. This gave me some good insight to remember why my skill set is valuable and how many opportunities there are for a skilled carpenter. Great perspective.🙏🏼

[Seqhael]

Something else that’s awesome is that, you could do like 7-8 years of carpentry and then go off into project management or something where the sky really is the limit, but you’ll still have all the fundamental skill and knowledge to be able to build cool shit or continually improve your house 😎

[brad]

Being a chippy or builder is really cool as you have many different skills including running the jobsite and tools to do whatever you want.
Worst thing is your less skilled mates like the sparky and plumber earn more and expect you to work on their house for half the hourly rate they charge. 😂

[colezee]

Great video, i tried to become an electrician, and it was so repetitive and boring that i had to give it up.

[nando]

Love your take on work. I was looking at learning to be a heavy diesel mechanic because the money is really good but Im much more drawn to carpentry and feel like it has lots of utility outside the job as well...

[nickksimo]

It’s an interesting topic Dave. I think carpentry should and will go the way of sparkies and plumbers where you need to get licensed. You look at all
the cowboy chippies out there ruining houses and the liability falls on the builder.. I think it should be harder to be a chippy and in turn we should get paid more. Another factor is longevity. It’s hard to be a chippy for 40+ years. People should look to get into management/supervision/ becoming a builder because you don’t want to still be doing hard labour every day when you’re 50+

[alessiomarin]

I’m interested in pursuing carpentry and have been wondering about this. I don’t want to end up with the wrong work/reward ratio. I know someone who came up with a good analogy for this. Cutting lawns with scissors. Some people bust their assess cutting lawns with scissors. Others use a hand-push mower. Others have a petrol mower. Still others use a ride-along mower. And then there are those who hire 5 people to mow 6 dozen the number of lawns as the guy with a pair of scissors in a third of the time. People often get upset when they see someone working half as hard as them and earning quadruple the money. I don’t wanna cut lawns with scissors!

[bradbarker]

I wish my son got to do his apprenticeship with you. Great video!

[DanTuber]

Two questions....
What's a good way for a novice to learn some building skills but NOT do a full on apprenticeship ?

And would you ever do jobs for a client an allow them to be involved in the work...ie. like an "apprentice" even if they had no building skills or experience ?