$275 per hour

For years I have been telling people to consider plumbing as a profession. There is a serious shortage, which will not change in the next 30 years. 

Everybody E36 M3s. 

Standard reply- “I don’t want to be a plumber”. Whatever...

The standard call rate for a plumber to show up and clear a slow sink drain in my area right now is $275. Less than an hour’s work.  I have paid up to $450 per hour labor, just to swap faucets. 

I’ve had 4 quotes on a small bathroom remodel in my home that are $3000 for the ROUGH IN only- no fixtures, no trim out. No permits. That’s about 6 hours work for a decent plumber, and less than $200 in materials. 

The plumber who just came to my building to clear a drain told me he made over $90K last year on his day job, and has cleared $64K so far this year. He’s an employee, not an owner. That’s his salary only, no expenses. 

He also told me he made an additional $50K in side jobs last year. 

For 20 years I’ve seen this coming and recommended this career choice for hundreds of people.   Total number of people who have done it that I have referred- exactly zero.

Seriously??  How can anyone NOT consider this as a tremendous career path?

Some of you need to go get your license.

In reply to SVreX :

do you make more than that?

Damn. This is one trade that I would be happy to consider, if not for the golden handcuffs that I'm currently in. 

I had a friend in college talk about how he had the chance to go into the union and become an apprentice--I think he had worked part time with one through high school. He regretted it a little bit, but knowing him he'll be CFO of a Fortune 500 before too long so I don't think he made a poor decision, but for someone of his caliber to be considering that should have made me stop and think. 

DANG!

AngryCorvair said:

In reply to SVreX :

do you make more than that?

Nope. Golden handcuffs. 

My age, health insurance, and needs as the sole breadwinner of my family prevent me from taking the risk.

Anyone want to buy a wife and a couple of kids? 

The only drawback (and reason I have not done it in the last 20 years) is the experience requirement. 

Getting a license requires (in most states) 2 years documented experience as a plumber.  That means working as a plumber’s helper for 2 years. 

I was never able to go 2 years on a smaller entry level salary (because I was supporting my family). 

But 2 years is a very small price to pay...

I have suggested plumber, electrician, welder (especially a specialty welder) as career paths for young people.  No one has followed my advice either.  I'm used to it.  It is difficult to outsource a plumber.  The English managed to do it, devastating that section of their working class as well, but they had to work at it.  I don't see the US joining the EU to import cheap highly skilled blue collar labor in the foreseeable future, so I think those careers are OK here for now.

Is $275 what the company charges, or what the guy gets paid?  Because those are very very different things.

In reply to ProDarwin :

It’s what the company charges. 

$90K is what the guy got paid last year. 

So, it doesn’t matter. An employee can earn $90K, or a business can build a business model on a billable rate that would enable labor revenues of about $400,000 per employee. 

I see no problem with either of those. 

If i was able to go back in time, i would've listened to my grandfather and gone to a trade.

No doubt it's a great career, I have a couple of cousins making great money in plumbing. But how safe is that healthy income? It seems like a bit of union-busting and deregulation could bring those paychecks right back to earth very quickly. I don't have to fear that in IT/software development, we're already at rock bottom

In reply to GameboyRMH :

There are no unions within 500 miles of me. 

How safe is the likelihood that people will continue to E36 M3?

And, unlike IT, there is absolutely no way it can be outsourced, shipped overseas, or automated. 

It's often assumed that I'm earning major $ as a veterinarian. My reply for years has been that I earned about the same as a good plumber.

Apparently, the plumbers had been doing better than I thought.

IT's pretty safe from automation (safe from job losses, but also safe from job growth...), and software development is as safe as any job can be from automation outside of the C-suite (at least until I tape a magic 8-ball to a golf club testing machine and power it with a generator that runs on Chablis ).  Both IT and software dev. are incredibly vulnerable to outsourcing of course.

The regulation issue is still there though. Say, hypothetically, a hypothetical country X suddenly elects a corporatocrat who would remove the licensing regulations for plumbing work (which I have confirmed Georgia does have, but apparently some states don't!?), allowing any rando with a wrench to do plumbing work. Would your faucet not be installed for minimum wage by a guy from Lowe's the very next day?

Floating Doc said:

It's often assumed that I'm earning major $ as a veterinarian. My reply for years has been that I earned about the same as a good plumber.

Apparently, the plumbers had been doing better than I thought.

I have 5 or 6 veterinarians in my family. They make a comfortable living for sure. The only one who I would call wealthy also works about 100 hours a week and didn't get married until he was 31, or have kids until he was about 40. 

One of the things I envy about a job like that is that the work is everywhere.  Every town, county, etc.  Grass is always greener of course but working in aerospace is a great way to find out how many places don't have a job or employer that is local.  

Being able to quit and find work again and not have to consider moving as part of the process sounds quite nice.

I design water treatment plants for a living, so I come into contact with quite a few people in the trades.  Plumbers can make good money, but it's hard (and sometimes nasty) work, and like any other career it takes some years before they're making the big bucks.

Trades are very good money

Where do you live? That is literally the most insane price I've heard for work............ever. There is plumber/electric/HVAC shop about 3 miles from my house. Plumber is $95/hr, no fee for showing up. That's crazy to me you paid $450/hr for someone to replace some faucets. 

I just paid them $300 to install a mid-grade garbage disposal. And that INCLUDED buying the disposal from the plumber. Granted the plug was already under the sink and ready to go, but still $175+tax for the disposal, a few misc parts, 45 minutes of labor.

I've seen close to that level of stupidity with garage door companies. I had to replace the fried logic board. They wanted $175 to come out and do that, another place wanted $89 for showing up and another $75 for doing the work. 

It literally took me roughly 6 minutes including grabbing the ladder to change it.

SVreX said:

I see no problem with either of those. 

I see no problem with it either.  There are many people who may make $40-50/hr who would turn down that opportunity for something they think they will enjoy more.

Now if that guy was getting paid $275/hour... berkeley it, I'd go sign up for that right now.

GameboyRMH said:

 

The regulation issue is still there though. Say, hypothetically, a hypothetical country X suddenly elects a corporatocrat who woild remove the licensing regulations for plumbing work (which I have confirmed Georgia does have, but apparently some states don't!?), allowing any rando with a wrench to do plumbing work. Would your faucet not be installed for minimum wage by a guy from Lowe's the very next day?

Zero chance in the US. 

The industry has been moving in the complete opposite direction toward increased regulation for 30 years.  Virtually every state now requires a plumber’s license.

Plus, unlicensed plumbing work is too big a risk to property values (which mortgage lenders care about), life safety (which always over-regulates), and public utility infrastructure.

Any lawmaker who tried to reduce the licensing requirements would be accused of “hating the children”.

Plus, the fees are too big an asset to the public coffers.

And Lowes makes more money with more expensive licensed plumbers too.

Zero chance.

z31maniac said:

Where do you live? That is literally the most insane price I've heard for work............ever. There is plumber/electric/HVAC shop about 3 miles from my house. Plumber is $95/hr, no fee for showing up. That's crazy to me you paid $450/hr for someone to replace some faucets. 

I just paid them $300 to install a mid-grade garbage disposal. And that INCLUDED buying the disposal from the plumber. Granted the plug was already under the sink and ready to go, but still $175+tax for the disposal, a few misc parts, 45 minutes of labor.

I've seen close to that level of stupidity with garage door companies. I had to replace the fried logic board. They wanted $175 to come out and do that, another place wanted $89 for showing up and another $75 for doing the work. 

It literally took me roughly 6 minutes including grabbing the ladder to change it.

Yea this, even when we were hiring commercial plumbers for commercial construction, never more than $150/hour for the crew of 3-5 people. 

z31maniac said:

Where do you live? That is literally the most insane price I've heard for work............ever. There is plumber/electric/HVAC shop about 3 miles from my house. Plumber is $95/hr, no fee for showing up. That's crazy to me you paid $450/hr for someone to replace some faucets. 

I just paid them $300 to install a mid-grade garbage disposal. And that INCLUDED buying the disposal from the plumber. Granted the plug was already under the sink and ready to go, but still $175+tax for the disposal, a few misc parts, 45 minutes of labor.

I've seen close to that level of stupidity with garage door companies. I had to replace the fried logic board. They wanted $175 to come out and do that, another place wanted $89 for showing up and another $75 for doing the work. 

It literally took me roughly 6 minutes including grabbing the ladder to change it.

Columbia SC.

But I have been doing general contracting work in a dozen states for over 30 years, and the trend is the same in a lot of locations.

In reply to RevRico :

You and Z31 are referring to the hourly billing rates. Those are not that relevant. 

Most plumbing companies now charge by the task. New construction is contract price, clear a drain is a fixed price, install a faucet is a fixed price. 

The hourly rate is much higher than you think. 

ProDarwin said:

SVreX said:

I see no problem with either of those. 

I see no problem with it either.  There are many people who may make $40-50/hr who would turn down that opportunity for something they think they will enjoy more.

Now if that guy was getting paid $275/hour... berkeley it, I'd go sign up for that right now.

Well, it’s very close to $100 per hour net (and a large portion of that is cash). 

He only works about 6 hrs per day.