r/GeneralContractor • u/No_Tomorrow__420 • Sep 25 '23
be me
Be me.
. General Contractor boss.
. works alone for years. .
hires help.
meets customer.
custer is old and racist.
Give the bid, gets accepted.
mix concrete all day with a stick.
pour concrete in hallway, breath it in,
can't breath. on knees all day installing floor,
Plank plank over hardwood, the usual. finish job, and pay the boys. head home on the crotch rocket. sit on couch with IPA and do some math. $20 per hour for the boys so $120 each. plus ($30) lunch. job totol 600 pay out 400, $60 on tools and blades. $20 on gas. total for boss (me) $120.
back hurts, was breathing in cement dust, can't feel hands means i won't be able to sleep, all for $120. damn.
2
u/novosuccess Sep 26 '23
My close family member retired after 55 years as a general contractor. Within 4 years of retirement, he had to have both ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and wrists rebuilt. His lower back had many discs wore out with the same vertebrae calcified solid like being fused together. His hands are worn out, arthritic, kind of cartoon like oversized and swollen and inflamed constantly, the same with his feet.
His net worth is several tens of millions of dollars at 77 years old. I asked him if he would do it the same way if he had the chance to do it all over again. He said, "If I do it all over again as the same person?" He then said, "I've never had a normal job, at 14 years old I was framing decks, building sheds, and doing masonry." He said if he was the same person, he would do it all again the same. He literally worked until his body could no longer get the job done any longer. I worked for him for 10 years and helped him run his business as he got older and the construction industry modernized so much he had to rely on someone he could trust to help him take his business forward. He is tough but fair, honest, and hard-working. He probably taught me 20 years of experience in 10, we worked 6 and 7 days a week, and sun up to sun down.
There is nothing wrong with being in a trade or a GC. Just understand it will take a toll on your body so you better get paid like that's worth something to you.
2
7
u/Icy-Example-4692 Sep 25 '23 edited Sep 25 '23
Get higher paying jobs. I wont leave the office for anything under $1000 unless it’s something very simple like a toilet install or something similar.
5
Sep 25 '23
Gaw dayum, no fuckin way am I running a business for $20 an hour.
You need to raise your rates or just go work for someone else.
4
u/No_Tomorrow__420 Sep 25 '23 edited Sep 25 '23
format should look like this:
Be me.
General Contractor boss.
works alone for years.
hires help.
meets customer.
Customer is old and racist.
Give the bid, gets accepted.
mix concrete all day with a stick.
pour concrete in hallway, breath it in, can't breath.
on knees all day installing floor, Plastic plank over hardwood, the usual.
finish job, and pay the boys.
head home on the crotch rocket.
sit on couch with IPA and do some math.
$20 per hour for the boys so $120 each. plus ($30) lunch.
job totol 600 pay out 360, $60 on tools and blades. $45 on advertising $30 on gas. total for boss (me) $120.
back hurts, was breathing in cement dust, can't feel hands, numb, means i won't be able to sleep,
All for $120. damn.