Hard to find anyone who wants to work, much less does quality work. I'm a DIY guy, but just don't have the time right now.

Had a 30x50 pad poured for an outbuilding last week. Hired some guys who work for a commercial concrete company to do a side job on the weekend. They both have 10+ years in the trade. I was getting nervous when it took them two hours to square the forms. I said your hypotenuses is 58.31'. One of them asked "whats that"? Then I got REAL nervous.

Poured the next day. Paid him in full at the end of the day, and was charged $1500 more than quoted.

I took the forms off myself so he wouldn't have to make another hour long trip the next day. Put a tape on it. 5 1/2" out of square.

No one around wants to work. The few that do are older (60's+) and have work bid out 6+ months. If a kid would learn a trade, and be good at it, he'll be set for life.

ol' dad

Should have hired the company the goons work for

Trying to back door it for a deal can backfire

yup . my son decided he wanted to be a Machinist after trying a few things, went to school for a CNC machining program a year and a half into it he is working 40 hours a week four ten hour days in the tool room making and repairing molds and tooling for thermal forming and finishing school one day a week.

he should never have a problem finding work being able to run manual , do hand work , CAD and CAM on a few different machine brands and software types. he also says for being not a welder , they like his welding so much in the tool room they bring him all the stuff they want welded.
he is 22
everyone likes his work ethic
he worked for a cheese plant
ag equipment manufacturer 2 years where he picked up welding and fork lift and crane operation
then went back to school at 20 and did about 18 months at a hardware store while doing school full time
then got this job in the tool room
youngest guy they have and they like him a lot most of his co-workers are 45+


while not a construction trade , it is all trades that are picking up and have room for good people.

You are sort of right but there are a few young fellas that do an elephants share of the work that I have met. Some real go getters BUT way more slouches that I can imagine ever existed

You should have measured the forms before you let them pour, but I guess you know that now.

I was lucky and found a guy here that used to build houses in the Hamptons. He retired to this area and decided he missed working. He knows his stuff and has a couple of good guys that work with him, None of them are under 50.

I wasn't aware of it until they showed up. I was my understanding he had his own concrete business. I wrote the check to his business. The truck and the equipment he used had a different name on it. This was a referral from a friend who they had done work for and did a good job. I wasn't looking for a deal, I was looking for quality work.

ol' dad

I did. They formed it one day and poured it the next. I measured it after it was formed up. The day of the pour he removed one side so the concrete truck could back up to the rear end form. When he replaced the form, he didn't square it. Dimensions are correct width by length, but are off 5" corner to corner, in other words its racked.

This is going to have a metal "versa tube" style building on it. I hope the crew who puts them up can hide it. I'm sure they run into it quite often. We shall see.

ol' dad

Guy at work is building a barn... his dad is building his barn... he went home from work the other day to help hang the trusses on his barn... threw a tape on it and it was 18" off square.

I too am a do it yourselfer, but as I get older I have more money than free time so I decided to enlist the help of a contractor for a 22'X30' concrete pad with some minor excavation.

I ran into a similar issue as you. The work quality was good, but it was the 3rd contractor that I contacted that finally showed up. I started in Aug of 2023 and got 3 competitive bids. The one guy middle of the road bid, had great references, etc. Said he would start no later than Oct 1. We had excellent weather for concrete, but that Oct 1 date came and went. I contacted him and he said he was behind, but would get me by mid Nov. In the mean time a coworker was telling me about a pad he was having poured when I asked by whom it was the same contractor I was dealing with and I told him my story and wished him luck. Well the next week the contractor showed up and poured my coworkers pad who accepted his bid a month after mine. I never contacted the contractor and mid Nov came and went and to this day he has never contacted me. Fortunately no money had exchanged hands.

I waited until spring 2024 to start the job again due to winter. Found another contractor that showed up when they said they would and gave a competitive price, great references (even some I knew) so he took the job, but was 6 weeks out (No big deal any contractor worth anything in our area is booked) Again great weather 6 weeks came and went no contractor. I contacted him and same story he was behind, but he contacted Miss Utility to come out as part of the agreement and was to start work no later than July 1st. Same song and dance July 1 came and went no contractor.

On to contractor #3. I had been following a contractor on social media that was a go-getter working 7 days a week if weather permitted. He had his stuff together. I contacted him he provided a quote. Although higher than the others prior he was eager and performed excellent work so I awarded him the job and he set a drop dead date of 30 days. Well 2 weeks into the 30 days he contacted me and had finished some work early and wanted to start mine. Contract signed money down etc. Those guys showed up and busted tail and completed the job. Excellent work form the concrete side, but the finish work left a bit to be desired IMO and he tried to charge me for 50 ton of "extra" gravel. 25 tone was figured into the job quote, but he claimed that he used 75 ton. When I let him know that i had security cams and was confident that 75 tons of gravel were not delivered. asked to see scale tickets, then he back pedaled. Happy with the overall concrete work, but not the excavation finish work that I was comfortable and had the means to complete. I told him if he would forget the 50 tons of gravel that weren't used then I would do the final finish and plant grass.

So in the end I was almost 2 years getting the pad poured, but the quality was excellent minus the attempt by "slim shady" (The name my wife gave the 3rd contractor) to charge me for additional gravel not used.

Why would it be $1,500 more than quoted?

Great opportunity for youngsters that will work. My Son in law is a union electrician. 26 years old and Vice president of the union!

We ended up needing two more yards than he originally figured. However, weekend rate for concrete is $200/yds. I would have been fine with paying for the extra concrete.

I had another project I was going to have him do that he had given me a ballpark quote on at the same time as the slab pour. (A shortwall foundation for an addition). His quote came in about $3,000 lower than another quote, so I was ok with making up the overrun on the slab on the shortwall job. That was until I pulled off the forms and put a tape on the slab and saw how far out of square it was. Needless to say, he's not getting the shortwall job.

I haven't reached out to him yet to tell him how out-of-square it is. I'm going to wait and see if the company who is erecting the steel building can make it work. If not, than he's going to get call. These steel buildings require a 1.5" tall by 3" ledge. So a 30x50 building has a 30'6" x 50'6" pour, with a raised ledge 1.5 tall that measures 30x50. The exterior steel sits over the ledge and flush with the outer rim. Essentially a built-in rat guard. Don't ask me why they do it that way.

I'm hoping the building company can cheat the bottom plate (4" or 5" steel tube) and make it work.

ol' dad

I hired a guy that was a retired mansion To help me put in an underground gun room. He gave me an estimate I figured ain an extra 3 k above it and back just incase. I ran him off before the 2nd course of block got started.

He keep wanting to change the design I wanted, His figure was about 6 k low and I was geting the feeling he was trying to take me for a ride. That was confirmed when he made a comment about me going to be getting a big settlement from the wreck that killed my son. When infact the kid didn't have enough Insurance to even cover half of one of my son's hospital bills,not including life flights, the two 2 week says in icu for my wife and I and month's of follow ups.

at one point It looked like we're may declare bankruptcy, but after a few years the hospitals toll a settlement that was about where everyone got about 9.8% of what they billed for.

And this guy was wanting to take advantage of me thinking he could string me along and milk it out for a nice chunk of cash. I finished it myself with no issues and its done how I wanted.

This guy was about 70 and lady up the roads father. Its not just the young guys that are useless trash.

Call the company who's name is on the trucks and complain about it being out of square, betting the boss will be plenty ticked when he learns where his trucks were this weekend.

No one is wanting to do manual labor, hurts too much. But it's not even construction, my brother and his wife have gotten too old and health problems to clean their pool and can't even find anyone to do that! 5 pool cleaning companies where they live but they all have maxed out their client list. And you can jump from one type job to the next and it's all the same. Just wish it had been this way when i got out of school! Id be retired now!

Donnersurvivor I wouldn't be so sure. I used to toss my general Forman some cash and he would hand me the keys to one of our line clearance trucks on the weekend. General it was only when I had several large removals with a lot of brush. I had the trees down and brush stacked ready to chip and just spent the time running it through the chipper. The amout I saved on gas not halling the brush more than paid for what the GM put in his pocket usually just 100$. Not to mention the time Befues I alway had someone close that wanted the chips.

O to be 19 again. I was making 3 x more on the weekends than working during the week. But the during the week line clearance exposure got a large amount of business. People walking over and asking what I would change to do this or that during the week. I would give them priced on lunch or after work. Sometime it it was a fast job could do the job on lunch.

Not all bosses will care

The time to measure for square was before the crete showed up!

I am 35 years old and run a crew for my dad 5 days a week and run my small business on the weekends. We do underground utility pipe work. Water, storm drain and sewer. For a long time I was the youngest one on the crew. Could not find any young guys that wanted to work. We finally did get a 26 year old but he moves like a turtle on valium and it ticks me off to no end. Like my father I have a very good work reputation and plan on keeping it that way. It sure would be nice if we could find some more quality help though.

Roger that......if they are legit , you should be able to hold him accountable , and have him redo it

Not sure what the contract laws are in your state though

You are right, and I tend to hold myself accountable because I do most things myself. However the reality is, I hired someone to do it for me and paid good money. I shouldnt have had to worry about it. And in fact, one of his workers showed up 2 hours late so I was up at 5:00 a.m. helping them drive stakes and lay wire so it would be ready when the concrete truck showed up.

Ol dad

When I was in high school in the mid-90s, trades jobs were looked down upon. Shortly after I graduated high school they took away shop and ag class. And this was in a small, rural, Missouri town of about 1500 people. The effects of that are showing up now. I'm a big fan of Mike Rowe, who promotes the trades. Our country needs to get back to it. It's what made us so great! Yes we need microchips, but without a roof to live under, running water to flush your toilet, or electricity to use the electronics the chips need, they're useless.

Ol dad

There was a reason that I was the GC on our new house as well as doing a bunch of work myself. Obviously, some jobs have to be farmed out, just too much for one guy to handle. You can't find anyone around here to do new construction plumbing, everybody seems to want to play in someone else's crap and charge an insane house call fee. Fired my plumber after he laid the plumbing for under our basement. I figured if he couldn't do something that simple correctly I sure as (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) wasn't letting him touch the rest of the house. Waited 2 months for the guy to come trench in my water supply line for rural water and dig the septic drain and the hole for my lagoon. One of his employees I would guess to be over 80, the other was in his 50s. The owner was probably in his 30s. I asked him where the young guys were? He said they don't exist and this world is in for a hurtin' in a few more years when the old guys are finally forced to retire, there is basically no one to take their place. Another new house went up down the road from ours at about the same time, I saw at least 2 major construction issues as they built it. Cheap, cutting corners work, that house won't be standing in 50 years and I am willing to bet on it.

When they opened the borders in the 90's the non licensed trades such as carpentry and masonry experienced a wage freeze. The south of the border folk would work for a lot less and work a lot more. Younger guys lost interest because the wages for the work expected didn't pay for citizens. It didn't effect the licensed trades such as plumbing or electricians as bad. I recommend any one getting in the trades to practice a trade that requires a license. It is inevitable that democrats at some point and take control and open the borders once again. To be fair, the chamber of commerce type of republicans enjoyed the cheap labor also.

For the younger folks wanting to get in the trades learn GPS as soon as possible. What a game changer.

I work at a trade school and believe the trades are becoming a trend now …. Kids are starting to figure out college isn’t for everyone,,, our programs are pretty much all full this year, 500 kids a day come through our doors ….

That's great news!

ol dad

I am 56 and learned a bit of GPS dozer this year, if the company has good surveyors and engineers, it will make them money for sure.

So the 24'x28' garage we framed today that was 1/4" out of square was okay? My boss is 25 , he will be a good carpenter if he sticks with it. He says I can't retire til I'm 82. His phone rings off the hook with new work.

There will be a big influx of hard workers coming into the workforce after all the nonessential Federal workers get fired.

I figure I can pick on the Federal workers since I was one for 30 plus years. I worked 12 years in the real world excavating business and tried to work just as hard while working for the Feds doing the same type work. I used to look forward to these shut downs because we always got our back pay, this time might be different.

I hate to say it but for most Crete guys 5 inches off isn’t bad, the form deal is one reason we always use a pumper truck even if we hire someone else to lay it we make them use one.

My oldest son is a master plumber and he stays covered up with work. He has alot of nice tools and equipment. He said he hears it all the time from people saying they can't get anybody to show up or answer calls. My middle daughter is a HVAC journeymen tech. She works for a company and is doing really well with it. My youngest son graduates from high school and we have been trying to convince him into going into the trades as well. He works for my oldest son and seems to like the plumbing trade

That's surprising if true. I would be embarrassed to be that far off even if it was just for a driveway. For a structural pour 1/2" would be bad.

But then again it's a sign at the times. Quantity over quality. I've measured out some new construction homes lately that are 8" out of sq.

Ol dad

Good for your kids! Best of luck to your youngest!

Ol dad

Yeah we’ve hung cabinets in new construction houses and they can’t be hung without blocking behind them to get close to square, we’ve even had to modify the face frame so we could install them, the best one is when contractors won’t put cabinets into an inside corner because it’s too far off.

When pot is illegal again, no cell phones on the job and the liberal mind set goes away, or until pride in our country returns and the 60 year old construction guys keep working into their 80 and train the up and comers it won't change!

Ive laid tile for decades now. Talk to me about out of square. Its out there. Im in total agreement that pride in a job well done at a fair price has been in the rearview mirror for some time now. I run across lots of younger superintendants that couldnt drive a 16 without bending it over but are experts at staying clean and operating a phone to tell any lie that will keep moving the job forward.

I run across lots of younger superintendants that couldnt drive a 16 without bending it over but are experts at staying clean and operating a phone to tell any lie that will keep moving the job forward. [/quote]

There is a name for those type superintendents, SUB BUSTERS!

I am dealing with one right now but a phone call changed it for now and when its over a letter.

Lol good luck Snap

Thanks JOCO Not my first rodeo.

Construction in Alaska is a small group of contractors in comparison to other parts of the country and those types get a reputation and aren't around long. Just painful until gone.

Ive got where i tell them i was here before you and if im gone before you i will be ok with it but this is how im going to do this and it will probably take longer than you think

Good one Joco

Any trade is a good way to make a living. It’s the individuals that can ruin it! The worst are the supers that were contractors and couldn’t make it.

Just had a 20x70 put up for my honey extraction room for the bee keeping business I’ve started this year. What surprised me was the cost of the concrete and gravel versus what the building cost. Concrete 250$ a yard for a total of 20 grand formed and poured. Gravel was 650 a dump truck load for 1300$ total. Building cost erected ( verse-atube) 13500.00$. Like you mentioned the building company wanted inch and half free board all the way around on the slab. Hired a concrete crew that consisted of 3 guys in their 30’s to dig footing and pour it. They poured it in 2 separate pours and ended up within an eighth of an inch of being square. Was pretty happy with the job they did.
When the building company showed up they called their office and told them it was an eighth out of square and some additional charges might apply if the crew encountered a problem while putting it up. Received another call from their office the next day saying the slab was not level and that a cut off fee was gonna apply. Had about enough of them trying to nickel and dime me so I told their office I had some fees that I was gonna apply also. The one for the new asphalt shingle roof on my house and the repainting of my pristine 1996 dodge trapping truck that their crew had seen fit to throw metal sparks all over while using a cut off saw. Never heard another word out of them and the building was completely done in 14 hours. Had a little trouble communicating with that 4 man crew until that last phone call from there office, then they spoke English pretty darn good. Turned out the concrete was level and their shop and misfabbed a couple rafters.
Get ready for a fight with your building company Ol Dad for your concrete being out of square or anything else they can try and dream up. Might want to bone up on your Spanish too.

Made a living doing siding, roofing repairs, window installs and window wraps. Few little odds and ends that come along with being a GC. I like to think im prettyngoodnat the wrapping side of things. I switched trades, but kept my siding brake just for side work.

There have always been people who do hack work. That is nothing new. We get plenty of young people working for us that I'd put up against anybody ever!

We need these folks. It takes a special breed