Confused between plumbing and cabinetmaking

[GoFlames]

Thanks for all the replies.

[The Cook]

Sewer line decided to get choked off with roots on a Sunday. 3.5 hrs for the journeyman 2 hrs for the apprentice=$1,000.00. It's the old saying "your sh%t is my bread and butter". Wasn't really expecting that touch but hey, everybody has bills to pay. Carpenter could have waited until Monday.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by The Cook

Sewer line decided to get choked off with roots on a Sunday. 3.5 hrs for the journeyman 2 hrs for the apprentice=$1,000.00. It's the old saying "your sh%t is my bread and butter". Wasn't really expecting that touch but hey, everybody has bills to pay. Carpenter could have waited until Monday.

Same problem happened to me last year.

Called village foreman, asked to borrow village power snake, he delivered it in the bucket of the tractor, told me he'd pick it up the next day, I did what needed to be done, and things flowed so to speak.

That doesn't work in larger municipalities.

Took me about an hour to ream through the roots.

[Wes_G]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

My wife is a cabinet maker, a darn good one, and I would disagree with some of the statements here. Cabinet makers are about the lowest payed of all trades, despite the cabinets being one of the most expensive parts of the construction process. The only way to make good money is to contract or sub contract, and at this point you are more or less just doing installation and other misc finishing work (probably about half of my wife's work is re-hanging doors and fixing up trim that carpenters have screwed up).

Furthermore, the actual construction of cabinets and doors is becoming more and more limited to commercial applications. CNC built packages are cheaper and that's where homebuilding is headed... finishing and installing pre built stuff. Most of the custom work my wife does is for the offices of large corperations.

If its just money you want the I would say plumbing for sure, cabinet making is a trade you do because you love fine wood working, appreciate better working conditions, and as a bonus I would say cabinet makers seem to be about the most decent of crowds in the trades. If you enjoy joking about you're co-workers sexual orientation or other spirited banter then the plumbing crowd might be a better fit.

This!

Cabinetry has become a cutthroat trade with every hardware store now selling cabinetry including big box Ikea, it is incredibly competitive. You will never see $100 000+, unless you are at the extreme high end of the trade and your work is in multimillion dollar homes.

That being said I have worked in a custom cabinet shop for 10 years next month, got my carpentry ticket 2 years ago and love my job. All the regular boxes are built by other staff as I build the very most custom cabinets, range hoods, fire place mantels, etc. Working conditions are great, home every night, and my work is appreciated by everyone that walks into the houses it's in. As of yet we haven't slowed down at all and didn't in 2008-9 either.

If you have pride in your work and an eye for details then I would say go for it, its very rewarding. But don't expect to make millions doing it.