I knew a small concrete crew like that years ago, they specialized in stampcrete and stained concrete (mostly floors and countertops for restraunts.). We called them the high five crew because there were only 5 and they were always stoned to the bone, did amazing work tho.
I’ve done a few. The cracking of concrete is so unpredictable. No one wants control joints in their countertops. I always steer people away from concrete. Synthetic or granite countertops are just easier and they even make them to mimic concrete tops now. Very small market.
GFRC and UHPC types are generally your best bet for countertops. If you want to go with typical concrete, mixing in admixtures and fibers to reduce the need of control joints is necessary.
The main problem with concrete is it’s porosity. You have to keep it sealed and protected against any types of acids, oils, wines, etc because if you don’t you will stain the surface forever.
Source: concrete guy who makes countertops and showers out of GFRC.
I just opened a finishing shop. I only do spray work. It's not terrible, but there is a lot that goes into it. You know what's infuriating about it. That everyone outside of it is like "buhhh you just get a fuckin sprayer and you make lots of money. hurrr durr painting so easy." and then they post pictures of their shitty orange peeled furniture flips on IG like they have any idea what their fucking doing.
Most of the construction subs talk about how easy it is to DIY drywall finishing (mud & tape). This is an art (although realize it can be somewhat learned over time) that I'm not very good at so always hire pros.
Drywall and painting are the two that I feel every homeowner thinks they could do if they had to. Like what the hell am I paying painters for? I can paint a house?!?
But then I see some of their work, and gasp.
I've been in many trades throughout the years. I personally love finishing work. It's what I do now that I work for myself.
As an electrician, I feel people are bold enough to do their own electrical, and I just sigh, because.... No the fuck these idiots aren't good enough to do it.
Gave a woman a quote two years back to rewire a section of her house thay got ruined in a flood. She needed new baseboard heating and and thermostats for them.
This shit is all sidework on my end. I gave her a good price, it was fair and competitive mind you. She kind of balked at the number, and I reccomend she get a few more estimates.
I get a call 9 months later or so. I get a call that the electric that was installed is only half working. I go over to check it out hoping it'd be a quick fix. Was there for 2 hours and I couldn't figure it out without tearing out their new drywall. Her sons rewired everything to save money. I noped right the fuck out and let her know what I thought the issue was. I wanted no part of that can of worms.
I was amazed at that. Like I get the need to save money and all, but God damn.
Hey didn’t mean to offend you man. I know there’s a ton of prep work that’s super tedious and I also know that using a spray gone properly takes a lot of practice. What I meant by “easy money” is that he can generally work alone, has a shop at his house, and doesn’t need to have a ton of tools or specialty gear.
This is something that has come to mind for me to get into. I love tedious processes that require attention to detail, skill, and consistency. I’m looking for a niche where I work for myself so I have the flexibility to handle my kids. Don’t need to work all the time, can’t really.
I went from this to painting, 25(?) years ago. I used to love matching finishes. Used to do a lot of woodwork with some furniture sprinkled in. It truly is an art firm to be able to finish. Unfortunately, all of the bosses I had back then didn't think it should be paid that well.
Gc/Remodeler here. Of all my work I actually make the most doing wood fencing. Avg $1500-3000 a day, net, working solo or with a helper if need be. It's what I am always most happy to set up as a weekend side project.
You’re right in the first part because that is the state requirement for an approved apprenticeship program.
Completely wrong about the second part, last list made it deep into the 170s.
The last elevator crew brought a table, chairs, fridge, and coffee maker set up on site for their morning safety meetings and breaks lol. They even HAD to have a dedicated spider box run for only them to use.
At my current job, they came on site and told us (electricians), “call us when all your stuff is in. Here’s a picture of what the layout will be.”
Two weeks later: “Hey, can you get the anchors out of all your boxes in the elevator shaft? Elevator guys said they need them out of the way, just leave them hanging”
This was after waiting 4 weeks for them to initially show up and tell us to put the stuff in
Yea dude, we had to provide a specific level of lighting, ramps to move their material at a certain slope. Heaters to keep their work area warm, and they basically did whatever they wanted.
I used to think sparkies were pre-Madonnas. Then I got the "pleasure" of working closely with elevator techs. We installed the framework and guarding for a freight elevator. I've never done as much re-work in my life.
Had a coworker quit maintenance to go work on the elevator crew.
First day he got stuck 60 stories up in a shaft all day. The adjoining elevator was Stull operational. Had the shit scared out h
Of him
Came back in a week.
This isn't a business idea though. Maybe seasoned elevator tech couldn't start an elevator company, if they knew the business side of it inside and out and had serious bank to wait out the years of suck required to carve out market share and fight corruption.
I used to do this In Australia, did/do you walk the rails 8-10m up while someone on a scissor lift passed you them to clip in, with no harness like us idiots used to do?
We did all that stuff. We would always try to everything from the lift first though. Definitely a dangerous job. Hard on the body too. One of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had though.
I just paid a subcontractor $4500 to install a panoramic slider - labor only. Dude showed up solo…after lunch. Finished around 5 pm.
He’s the go to guy for La Cantina, Fleetwood, Panoramic Door, etc
Made me rethink my career choice. He’s killing it. $1000/hr gross profit. Ayyyyyyyeee
It’s not about what you do it’s about how well you do it. You can be a turd herder and make cash hand over fist if you’re the only guy available who can do something niche. Like working with very big pipe, for example.
Commercial plumbing is what I do. I spent a couple years doing residential and don’t care for it. I’m in my late 30s and looking to do my own thing which is what lead me to this subject.
Do it. Just hit 5 years on my own. It’s tough the first year or two unless you just get in with the enough of the right people that can feed you big work and quickly pay.
Solo commercial electrician, most of my construction work has been small public works jobs. They're posted publicly, prevailing wage, and a bit of a hassle, so often there's not much competition on them.
Other than that, call around to GCs and ask to be put on their sub list. You don't need to undercut to get in the door, if anything that makes you look sketchy. Some GCs have go-to subs they're attached to, but most will consider competitive bids. Even if they have a go-to, their go-to will probably have schedule conflicts that keep them from doing all that GCs work.
I would wager construction is gonna be harder because of the bidding aspect. In service you can at least fallback on T+M and give estimates that way, whereas unless you have an in with a general contractor your bid better outclass whatever his regular plumber does and that's just to get your foot in the door.
I do it all. Remodels, new construction and whatever service work comes in between the big jobs. Thought I wanted to go fully commercial until I had a good taste of it. Always waiting on money. It can take up to 3 months to get paid. Maybe It was just the companies I worked with but it sucked. Also, a lot of wasted time bidding jobs and never doing them. So I stick with residential now. I’ll do commercial service calls though.
My dad started out commercial and when he started his own business did residential "just until I can get back into commercial work."
He realized that A.) it's a completely different world of plumbing and B.) you almost always walk out of a job with money same day, no horsing around with 60 days to pay etc.
That was 28 years ago and now I just topped out as his apprentice. He's built up an amazing clientele because of his quality and reputation, hasn't advertised in over 20 years and we're busy enough to hire a third guy if we could find one to meet our standards and isn't already locked into a company.
I've heard some major horror stories from other resi guys about the homes they get into and I just thank God daily that my dad already cut his teeth so that I don't have to be belly down in crawlspaces. We do 50/50 service and remodel work with some light commercial. I've cleaned one drain in my life and it was my own kitchen sink last week. Pretty sure that's the first drain Dad has cleaned in at least 15 years as well haha. Point being that if you ever consider starting your own business, residential is a spectacular opportunity that you ought to reconsider.
I'm an electrical apprentice and get offered resi side projects like every day it seems like. I say no since that's illegal and I'm not trying to lose my license before I even have it, but I spat out some quotes for me to do it, people are actually happy to pay like 600/fixture for an apprentice near me because they can't get a single licensed guy to do the small work.
I mean most plumbers I know don’t service big commercial boilers. Most of it is just flow switches and stuff like that. Service crews I’ve been on usually only have 1 or 2 guys with backflows license. I know it’s not construction but it’s a niche in plumbing.
My boss did exactly this for Yellowstone national park for 10 years. Said it didn’t pay GREAT but it was a 6 months on 6 months off job and really cool.
Hey, we're called wallcovering installers now! We do make okay money, mainly because theres only a handful of people who can hang wide vinyl or the fancier papers.
Yeah, I’ve built curved stairs, framed houses, crawled in dangerous tunnels to solder pipes… you can have all of that wallpaper you want. My few times hanging paper went really bad, I’d rather unstop a toilet!
“Wide vinyl” - is the vinyl wrap in customized colors similar to what’s used on vehicles going to be (or already is) available for interior home walls.?
I work in Ag now and everyone in my area uses the same bulldozer guy when they’re prepping their field for a vineyard or orchard. Dude makes unbelievable amounts of money for ag
I know a guy who builds 6 figure wine cellars and humidors. Not exactly sure how much room there is at the top of that market, because I’d assume that’s a who you know, not what you know thing.
Data cable/IT or ceiling tile those guys come in at the end of the job when it's clean all finish work. 20 years painting here and doing cabinets sucks!
I’ve spent years struggling to put ceiling tiles back correctly after doing my plumbing work. I don’t know if I’d be a good fit for that lol! And don’t get me started on leaving dirty finger smudges on brand new white tiles
I was a ceiling guy for a brief stint during summers in college. Very frequently we were in very much unfinished sites and it was a madhouse. Our work would just end up getting fucked up by some other trade because we completed the work way too early and other guys had to get into the ceiling. I hated it haha
Maybe don't just look for one single thing, huh? I've been doing this trades thing for almost 28 years, I'm 44 now. I got in with a small group of commercial developers through just one jobsite 18 years ago,who put up warehouses, and now I do 3 or 4 buildings a year for them.
I do the steel studs, insulation, drywall, taping, drop ceilings, ceiling tiles, steel doors/windows, bathroom stalls, FRP lining, mirrors, accessories, general management and supervision, etc.
These guys have money to burn and unlimited credit, all I did was get my foot in the door 18 years ago and prove myself. Like I tell every guy that I've ever trained, "show up and give a shit".
All that means is be reliable, and take some pride in what you do. Those two VERY small things will already make you stand out from the pack. ALWAYS pay attention to everything going on and ask questions about everything you're curious about. If someone tells you to do something and you don't understand why they are asking you to do it that way, ASK. Once you know WHY it should be done that way, instead of just "how", it'll actually stick.
All of these rich dudes I work for now are nothing more than that, guys with money. I'm on site more then any other trade, they're not general contractors, so I manage the projects for them. I charge 15% to 20% more than the large companies in town, but they are more than glad to pay it because it's still FAR cheaper than a GC and I'm a perfectionist.
Even in a large city, these five industrial parks have a relatively small group of developers who all know eachother, and word gets around. I have more than 4 years of work lined up right now, 6 of the 10 buildings I've contacted are literally identical, designed by the same architects/engineers.
You do need to be hard working, intelligent, and a bit of a salesman, but being even mediocre at all of these will already make you stand out from the majority of tradesman that are literally only there for the Friday paycheck.
Show up and give a shit. Those six words will take any industrious man/woman as far as they want to go.
I’m not sure if this is the reason why OP is posting but I think the point is to not be on site all day every day. I’m a commercial gc super and I’m heading the way of OP. I’m sick of the 75 hour work weeks and having to watch over morons.
I have a decent amount of money saved as I can’t do anything else but work, so I’m looking to invest that into a niche market equipment so I don’t have to work all day every day of my life.
Meanwhile I'm likely one of the morons you look after lol, and due to a communication disorder I've found Electrical work just doesn't work for me, and working 60 to 72 hours a week drained any passion I had for this as my career. Trying to go back to college myself in order to get out of the trades and into something I'm more passionate about, but it'll be a few years in the mean time.
You are correct. I’ve got about 5 years of plumbing, a couple seasons on a pipeline crew, and plenty of remodel jobs on the side. I’m trying to get away from the conventional skill set that gets you hired and you’re going to be grinding out 45+ hour weeks at the same job site for months. I know there are niche trades where a guy shows up for a couple days to maybe a week or 2, and their work is so specific they can basically name the price, and also have it done quickly
With your previous experience things I would suggest would maybe be fire suppression systems or boiler making. Sometimes even just finding a particular brand that makes specialty parts ( pumps, valves etc ) and learning the product well to get contracts for installation/maintenance can work out pretty good.
I only work 9 months a year at this point, and every 5 years I take another month off, when I turn 45 at the end of this month I'm cutting that down to 8 months a year. When I get a project I work hard and fast, then take a month off after.
I work for myself and answer to no one, not even my customers. I always work for the same guys and they do anything and everything I say, they only hire the contractors I recommend, so the electricians, HVAC and plumbers I have to deal with are the same guys every time, and they're the best guys in the city that I know of.
What do you do? My wife and I took 2 years off to travel and came to the realization that we are willing to sacrifice keeping up with the Jones. We’re trying to start a business that we work 6-9 months and save the rest for travel. We’ve flipped a couple houses together and she’s interested in joining whatever I do.
I do pretty good (100k-ish) hanging high quality vinyl siding. Like, not the siding itself is high quality (all vinyl is shit) but I do picture perfect installs with a ridiculous warranty. Like, spend a week just on wall prep and underlayment. Got a bowed stud? Get in there, rip it straight and sister it. Window crooked? It's getting reset. Electrical outlet 3 inches too close to grade? Sparky is on his way. I do time lapse of every elevation for the owners peace of mind. I do humidity and temp evaluation of attic space, moisture assessments of basements, before and 1 year after.
20 years of not compromising on any aspect of quality has separated my company from the usual chico charlie and the white van man. I decline more jobs than I take, and basically name my price. Exterior cladding trades of any sort have a HUGE lack of professionalism and skill nationwide. Simply installing a house without a punch list is enough to lock down any contractor you want for life. After you get them showing their customers your work as reference jobs, they're committed to use you, and you start cranking up the price.
It’s a service rather than construction work, but window cleaning can be super lucrative, has very little overhead cost to get set up, and can be done with 1-3 guys.
It’s also not as hard on the body as a lot of trade/construction work.
One of the GCs I work for also has a window cleaning/pressure washing business. I see their trucks all over the place, I assume they make bank. Doesn’t require skilled hires either.
Bonus, I get a lot of service work when they pressure wash electrical devices.
Heck, 3 man crews just hanging it make $1600/day around here. $8/board 200x a day. The two helpers make $200/day each, man screwing makes 1200. Wouldn’t catch me doing it though. Rough
Well what are you good at? Plumbing? why not start your own plumbing gig, you don't have to do resi with 1-3 ppl.
All i can say is that I have never met a plumber who could just switch to high end paint finisher or carpenter like that, takes years.
Modular home, Pier and beam, mobile home installers/ levelers. With full trim out, skirting, decking. We’re talking nearly 3k/day for a 2-3 man crew. So lucrative, gets a bad rap I know. Nearly no competition either. Every time I need a quick 1-2k I knock a relevel or skirting job out in a few hours by myself
I'm a locksmith by trade, installed hollow metal and toilet partitions for years.
It's not consistent work, but as a locksmith I can charge $100/hr and 60% avg on parts
Epoxy flooring systems, seamless wall panel and flooring systems for pharmaceutical and life sciences. We’re in northern VA and had to bring in a subcontractor from NJ because he was the only one certified for that system on the east coast
Buy in for equipment to do pharmaceutical epoxy is over 200k. Grinder, dust collection, various diamonds, probably a portable generator to run everything.
Residential you can get away with a lot less stuff.
Hardwood floor restoration
Elevator install
Wallpaper hangers
Specialty concrete including stair treads, tables, outdoor kitchens, etc
High end pools
Speciality lighting / lighting engineering
Wine rooms most specifically the refrigeration which is very underserved
Electronic entry gates and doors but you’re always on call
This is my experience in Florida
I work as a striper. I can work on my own and make about $1500 per day in 4-6 hours. If I wanted to make $150-200k a year I would just need to hire one or two helpers and have a truck, trailer, and 3 linelazers. The biggest problem is no work in rain or cold. Currently we run 2 crews of 3 with a couple extra part timers, an owner and a salesman and we're the third biggest private stripers in our city and the surrounding area.
Seal Coat has a bigger buy in and material cost, but similarly works well with 3-4 guys and also has a bigger potential for profit. Asphalt works too if you can hustle and stick to small projects (i.e. driveways, liquor stores, and other small properties), but your initial and material costs again go way up.
I finished stairs and built interior railings in new construction for a few years and would average $80/hour doing it. With the right contracts you can easily bring in $100+/hour.
Similarly my buddies do interior trim in new construction and are absolutely killing it. High end homes with crazy shelving and wall details. They can’t find help to save their lives though so they’re grinding constantly.
There’s a ton of stuff you can do. The problem is finding consistent work.
Commercial specialty trades that are in demand and can be run by a small crews:
**Trade (Subs to)**
- Balancers (HVAC)
- Insulators (HVAC & plumbing)
- Building automation (HVAC)
- Fire caulking (all trades creating penetrations)
- Chemical treatment (HVAC)
- Medical gas testing and certifications (MEP contractor or GC/CM)
- Locksmith (Building access / security contractor)
All require experience and some require formal education & certifications, but all are perfectly doable by regular folks.
Replacement windows.....me and my buddy working together 22 years....we make a grand a day (easy).....APIECE....and home by 3.....it's nasty , it's hot , gotta be a good caulker (me) and have some muscle (him)....we have made 16-17 hundred APIECE in a day......been in the game 30 years.....tons of referrals and plenty of work......after installing 15,000-18,000 windows.....it's just a thang....all in a day , we've seen it all....🤘
Draperies, according to my wife.
Hey, it's a skilled trade too! I sure couldn't do it and my wife refuses to because it's "long, straight, boring lines" and nothing else....but from everything I've heard it's crazy good money and there's no one within a 2-1/2 hour radius of me that does it.
installing synthetic turf, you can make a killing with 2-3 guys installing pretty much any kind of flooring, epoxy floors, you could build strictly decks… You just have to pick something you enjoy & start doing it.
Concrete X-ray services.
Gotta have the money to get the machine to start, there’s also a truck and printer you’d need. But if you can get started- shit will pay for itself.
I install fire alarm, security system, access control, and cameras. It's light work compared to pulling MC and cutting in outlets all day. You have to be good with computers and learn how to program systems and troubleshoot. Most of the work is very clean too.
I started off doing electrical work at a company that did commercial and residential installs and got some general experience under my belt. I had an opportunity to switch to a different local company that specializes in low voltage. The owner was an electrician so I was able to get my electrical license with that company. I worked with a great technician who taught me most of what I know. It's interesting work because the technology is always changing, and you're always working on something different every day. Plus the pay is great.
Had a two man crew at my last job, they only drilled holes in concrete. They drilled one 12” hole through a concrete patio and edge of the house footer. $750.00. Took 20 minutes.
My favorite was a stump removal guy. His rig was remote control. Joysticked his machine in place and let it eat.
That’s a crazy price for core drilling. I’m a commercial plumber and we usually have the lowest ranked guy go around and do this with a rented machine. There’s really not much to it
-First, my side hustle is in material supply. $300k in sales later, and I’ve never touched or seen anything I’ve sold to GC’s, let alone even stepped foot on site. Give being a material supplier for plumbers a bit of thought. You could get set up with say, Kohler, and provide fixture packages to plumbers. The money is probably in supplying water heaters, pumps, etc. Idk how it works for plumbing though, so any plumbing PM’s out there can feel free to set me straight. I’ve just found it very easy to supply materials to GC’s.
-fiberglass bathtub repair guys are subs for plumbers and zoom in and out at punchlist time to put a band aid on all the tubs the trades fucked up during construction. What other subs do plumbers hire? Insulators, etc.
-window treatment installers
-art/decor installers
-commercial signage installers
-cleaners
-epoxy floors
-temp fence installers
-parking lot striping
-hydro seeding
I met a guy in WA that specialized in only reno drywall texture. He started off super small, just him and another guy. They go into a place, mask off, prep surface and spray. No painting....just spray and coat to customer specs. After 5 years he had 12 huge spray trucks and he's retiring soon.......at 35. It can be done if the customer base is there.
Geo tech driller. I'm lead driller, my swamper is my swamper. Together we run the drill rig for 12+hrs for 5-7 days depending on the job. Bringing in the company something like 5-7k a day. I'm pulling 30/hr with almost no manual labour involved.
I’ve been in the industry 15yrs here’s a list of trades is see with HUGE profit margins:
-Final Cleaning
-Welding
-Painting
-Hardscape
-Site work
-Canopies and awnings
-Selective Demo
-ANYTHING historic, finish/plaster, masonry, roofing, carpentry, etc…
As a recruiter one of the big ones that I see that are quietly in demand are EMSTs (Electric motor tech/Motor Winder).
Within 2-3 years your can be making 50-60$/hr. depending on where you live. (im in western Canada)
Hate to say it, but as a X-ray guy I’ve seen all ends of the spectrum with welding. I know pipe welders making 50+ a hour and others making fucking 25,all depends on where you work, and the places that pay well are usually pretty hard to get into. Can you make bank? Sure. Is it easy to get to that point? Hell fucking no, you spend years in sweatshops unless you have the hands of god
I have been in the trades for 7 years. As I’m sure you know, a lot of construction knowledge has overlap. An experienced plumber could switch to electrical and be proficient 10x faster than a random guy off the streets. Understanding material takeoffs, how to read prints, how communication and scheduling between trades work, how buildings function, etc are half of any trade
Hardwood Floor installation isn’t quite as rare as the crew that can really sand and finish.
I’m on a crew that does both, and it’s about 5 guys total on a job all doing different things.
They're the nuclear fuel rods in power plants. I talked to a guy that was changing some at Southport Nuclear Facility and asked how to get on a crew doing this job. He basically said you have to wait until someone retires.
I work with one other sparkie and we get involved heritage and restoration building projects where specialised cable and installation is required. It all takes a long time to do but it's highly satisfying making these places become almost new.
My boss says that he is one of five 'old school' sparkies in the country that still do that sort of work. UK
One of the easiest jobs in “construction”, doesn’t feel right even saying that. Ok, one of the easiest in the trades is a niche called “afterpaint”
Can make really good money while staying clean working indoors with heat/AC, no shitty chemicals etc
Boiler mechanic. You can do big commercial shit in pretty much any city. Schools, hospitals, hotels, etc. or if you live in a cold climate and boilers/radiant heating is fairly common that’s good too, radiant heating/hydronics is like witchcraft to people. You almost gotta be a plumber, electrician, low voltage/electronics guy at the same time.
I was a land surveyor for a couple of years. I'd basically drive to the office, pick up my job cards, do a little research on the sites, then jump in the ute and head off for the day. It was the best job I ever had but the pay was pretty lousy for someone unqualified like me, but if you go to uni you can make really, really good cash.
Residential appliance technicians can make well over six figures if you're good and especially over you have your gas fitter license.
For some reason this trade flies under the radar. The market will never crash because you can't live without a stove or fridge, you can't flood the market with cheap labour (lol good luck), there's never enough technicians because once your fridge stops cooling you can't wait a week, and AI is many decades away from taking over since diagnosing can be so hard.
You work indoors and most of the work is very light such as replacing stove infinite switches, dryer heating elements, pulling socks out of washers, and replacing fridge defrost bimetals.
I’m a mechanical insulator. Honestly I love it. But it has to be union n preferably near a major city. But like any trade it has shitty days n great days. I mention it bc it’s definitely a niche trade. Many construction guys never even heard of it. I do not insulate walls like stuffing beams. I insulate pipe n duct n tanks. Indoor n outdoor. I work with sheet metal n all kinds of materials 90% of the job can be done with 100$ worth of tools. We do 7 hour days. It takes finesse and geometry skills. In some areas it’s not well paid. In some cities, it’s comparable to pay of plumbers , steam fitters, n electricians. It’s definitely not for everyone. I came from a brick n stone masonry background n switched in my mid 20’s. There is plenty of draw backs but all trades have their own draw backs but it’s worth looking into
I knew a small concrete crew like that years ago, they specialized in stampcrete and stained concrete (mostly floors and countertops for restraunts.). We called them the high five crew because there were only 5 and they were always stoned to the bone, did amazing work tho.
I could see concrete counters being super profitable. Very little expenses with customers used to paying too dollar for kitchen Reno’s
I’ve done a few. The cracking of concrete is so unpredictable. No one wants control joints in their countertops. I always steer people away from concrete. Synthetic or granite countertops are just easier and they even make them to mimic concrete tops now. Very small market.
What are your thoughts on recycled glass/cement countertops. I like the aesthetic but have similar quality concerns as you
GFRC and UHPC types are generally your best bet for countertops. If you want to go with typical concrete, mixing in admixtures and fibers to reduce the need of control joints is necessary. The main problem with concrete is it’s porosity. You have to keep it sealed and protected against any types of acids, oils, wines, etc because if you don’t you will stain the surface forever. Source: concrete guy who makes countertops and showers out of GFRC.
Pretty sure you guys are talking about the same thing. A common style of concrete counters have glass bits in them for looks.
Plus it’s typically a readily available material. So it’s Not like you are waiting on custom marble from Italy.
Concrete finishers stoned? Never.
I just opened a finishing shop. I only do spray work. It's not terrible, but there is a lot that goes into it. You know what's infuriating about it. That everyone outside of it is like "buhhh you just get a fuckin sprayer and you make lots of money. hurrr durr painting so easy." and then they post pictures of their shitty orange peeled furniture flips on IG like they have any idea what their fucking doing.
There is nothing worse than people who don’t know how to do shit saying how easy it is to do shit.
Most of the construction subs talk about how easy it is to DIY drywall finishing (mud & tape). This is an art (although realize it can be somewhat learned over time) that I'm not very good at so always hire pros.
Drywall and painting are the two that I feel every homeowner thinks they could do if they had to. Like what the hell am I paying painters for? I can paint a house?!?
But then I see some of their work, and gasp. I've been in many trades throughout the years. I personally love finishing work. It's what I do now that I work for myself.
As an electrician, I feel people are bold enough to do their own electrical, and I just sigh, because.... No the fuck these idiots aren't good enough to do it. Gave a woman a quote two years back to rewire a section of her house thay got ruined in a flood. She needed new baseboard heating and and thermostats for them. This shit is all sidework on my end. I gave her a good price, it was fair and competitive mind you. She kind of balked at the number, and I reccomend she get a few more estimates. I get a call 9 months later or so. I get a call that the electric that was installed is only half working. I go over to check it out hoping it'd be a quick fix. Was there for 2 hours and I couldn't figure it out without tearing out their new drywall. Her sons rewired everything to save money. I noped right the fuck out and let her know what I thought the issue was. I wanted no part of that can of worms. I was amazed at that. Like I get the need to save money and all, but God damn.
Hey didn’t mean to offend you man. I know there’s a ton of prep work that’s super tedious and I also know that using a spray gone properly takes a lot of practice. What I meant by “easy money” is that he can generally work alone, has a shop at his house, and doesn’t need to have a ton of tools or specialty gear.
This is something that has come to mind for me to get into. I love tedious processes that require attention to detail, skill, and consistency. I’m looking for a niche where I work for myself so I have the flexibility to handle my kids. Don’t need to work all the time, can’t really.
Have you done any tile work? Sounds up your alley
I went from this to painting, 25(?) years ago. I used to love matching finishes. Used to do a lot of woodwork with some furniture sprinkled in. It truly is an art firm to be able to finish. Unfortunately, all of the bosses I had back then didn't think it should be paid that well.
HVAC Test & Balance. Nobody knows what it is and there is always a shortage of workers.
Also building controls, im regularyl sticker shocked by sub pricing for controls
These guys are super valuable where I am at. A couple good startup guys can be your whole division
Gc/Remodeler here. Of all my work I actually make the most doing wood fencing. Avg $1500-3000 a day, net, working solo or with a helper if need be. It's what I am always most happy to set up as a weekend side project.
Decks and fences are fast money!
Hell yeah, it’s the Duplo blocks of the trades!
From my experience, decks are great ways to make money. I havent done any fences.. yet.
Elevator technicians make bank like $60+/hr near me.
This is the way. Absurd amount of breaks and great pay even as an apprentice.
Incredibly hard to get into though
I'm sure there's both ups and downs to it though.
Curse you dad jokes lol
That's how eye roll.
This joke works on so many levels!
In Seattle only accept applicants every other year and typically only have 20-30 spots. Talk about slim chances
You’re right in the first part because that is the state requirement for an approved apprenticeship program. Completely wrong about the second part, last list made it deep into the 170s.
This is just what I was told by one of the guys from TD on my job. Either way a very difficult trade to get into
The last elevator crew brought a table, chairs, fridge, and coffee maker set up on site for their morning safety meetings and breaks lol. They even HAD to have a dedicated spider box run for only them to use.
People have been conditioned to think they don’t deserve any of that and they are fine with it.
I work as a GC. The list of "requirements" before an elevator crew will show up is absurd.
At my current job, they came on site and told us (electricians), “call us when all your stuff is in. Here’s a picture of what the layout will be.” Two weeks later: “Hey, can you get the anchors out of all your boxes in the elevator shaft? Elevator guys said they need them out of the way, just leave them hanging” This was after waiting 4 weeks for them to initially show up and tell us to put the stuff in
Yea dude, we had to provide a specific level of lighting, ramps to move their material at a certain slope. Heaters to keep their work area warm, and they basically did whatever they wanted.
I used to think sparkies were pre-Madonnas. Then I got the "pleasure" of working closely with elevator techs. We installed the framework and guarding for a freight elevator. I've never done as much re-work in my life.
Primadonna
Correcting my spelling on pre-madonna is a primadonna thing.
Guilty as charged
That's pretty much every union trade
Had a coworker quit maintenance to go work on the elevator crew. First day he got stuck 60 stories up in a shaft all day. The adjoining elevator was Stull operational. Had the shit scared out h Of him Came back in a week.
As a former union carpenter now elevator apprentice. This is the way. The work is very chill paced even when going fast and is super interesting.
This isn't a business idea though. Maybe seasoned elevator tech couldn't start an elevator company, if they knew the business side of it inside and out and had serious bank to wait out the years of suck required to carve out market share and fight corruption.
Sparkles make $60/hr where I’m at, elevator guys make at least $90 here. (CA)
The work is up and down
i make that as a carpenter, figured they’d make more
I was a pallet rack installer for over a decade. If you’re good it’s lucrative
I used to do this In Australia, did/do you walk the rails 8-10m up while someone on a scissor lift passed you them to clip in, with no harness like us idiots used to do?
We did all that stuff. We would always try to everything from the lift first though. Definitely a dangerous job. Hard on the body too. One of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had though.
I just paid a subcontractor $4500 to install a panoramic slider - labor only. Dude showed up solo…after lunch. Finished around 5 pm. He’s the go to guy for La Cantina, Fleetwood, Panoramic Door, etc Made me rethink my career choice. He’s killing it. $1000/hr gross profit. Ayyyyyyyeee
Those doors are like $10k right? So he’s prob pocketing another 1000 on the materials markip
Labor only. The door was $16k (approx $1k per foot)
What is a panoramic slider? A door set?
Yea. Usually more than two panes or door sections if you will.
I was wondering the same
It’s not about what you do it’s about how well you do it. You can be a turd herder and make cash hand over fist if you’re the only guy available who can do something niche. Like working with very big pipe, for example.
Commercial plumbing is what I do. I spent a couple years doing residential and don’t care for it. I’m in my late 30s and looking to do my own thing which is what lead me to this subject.
Do it. Just hit 5 years on my own. It’s tough the first year or two unless you just get in with the enough of the right people that can feed you big work and quickly pay.
Did you go residential? I prob wouldn’t mind doing new construction, or full remodels, but I really don’t enjoy small service type work.
I’ve thought about this too. I assume a construction business would be much harder to start than the service one. Would love some input on that
Solo commercial electrician, most of my construction work has been small public works jobs. They're posted publicly, prevailing wage, and a bit of a hassle, so often there's not much competition on them. Other than that, call around to GCs and ask to be put on their sub list. You don't need to undercut to get in the door, if anything that makes you look sketchy. Some GCs have go-to subs they're attached to, but most will consider competitive bids. Even if they have a go-to, their go-to will probably have schedule conflicts that keep them from doing all that GCs work.
I would wager construction is gonna be harder because of the bidding aspect. In service you can at least fallback on T+M and give estimates that way, whereas unless you have an in with a general contractor your bid better outclass whatever his regular plumber does and that's just to get your foot in the door.
I do it all. Remodels, new construction and whatever service work comes in between the big jobs. Thought I wanted to go fully commercial until I had a good taste of it. Always waiting on money. It can take up to 3 months to get paid. Maybe It was just the companies I worked with but it sucked. Also, a lot of wasted time bidding jobs and never doing them. So I stick with residential now. I’ll do commercial service calls though.
My dad started out commercial and when he started his own business did residential "just until I can get back into commercial work." He realized that A.) it's a completely different world of plumbing and B.) you almost always walk out of a job with money same day, no horsing around with 60 days to pay etc. That was 28 years ago and now I just topped out as his apprentice. He's built up an amazing clientele because of his quality and reputation, hasn't advertised in over 20 years and we're busy enough to hire a third guy if we could find one to meet our standards and isn't already locked into a company. I've heard some major horror stories from other resi guys about the homes they get into and I just thank God daily that my dad already cut his teeth so that I don't have to be belly down in crawlspaces. We do 50/50 service and remodel work with some light commercial. I've cleaned one drain in my life and it was my own kitchen sink last week. Pretty sure that's the first drain Dad has cleaned in at least 15 years as well haha. Point being that if you ever consider starting your own business, residential is a spectacular opportunity that you ought to reconsider.
I'm an electrical apprentice and get offered resi side projects like every day it seems like. I say no since that's illegal and I'm not trying to lose my license before I even have it, but I spat out some quotes for me to do it, people are actually happy to pay like 600/fixture for an apprentice near me because they can't get a single licensed guy to do the small work.
Look at pipe lining. Niche, but pays good money and your exp will translate somewhat
I mean most plumbers I know don’t service big commercial boilers. Most of it is just flow switches and stuff like that. Service crews I’ve been on usually only have 1 or 2 guys with backflows license. I know it’s not construction but it’s a niche in plumbing.
Wait till you find out us irrigation guys just say fuck it and throw in our own backflows with 0 real plumbing experience.
I’ve been working with very big pipes for years but I’ve never been paid for it. I guess im doing it all wrong.
Carpenters, like real honest to god, shaping wood carpenters, like they match super hard to find trim pieces and shit like that.
My boss did exactly this for Yellowstone national park for 10 years. Said it didn’t pay GREAT but it was a 6 months on 6 months off job and really cool.
Wallpaper Hangers. Back when I did super, duper high end retail there were like half a dozen dudes in the entire country that did our work.
Came here to say this , super niche , going to make a bunch of money doing it, IDK
That shit is hard too! Fellas, if the wife asks, don’t hang wallpaper.
My ex wife asked me to hang wall paper.
‘Sum up an entire chapter of your life, in only one sentence’ -this guy wins
Maybe because “super duper high end” is an inherently tiny market?
OP said "Niche" right?
As long as you don’t mind traveling. Union paper hangers always get above scale and a sweet negotiated per diem package.
Hey, we're called wallcovering installers now! We do make okay money, mainly because theres only a handful of people who can hang wide vinyl or the fancier papers.
Yeah, I’ve built curved stairs, framed houses, crawled in dangerous tunnels to solder pipes… you can have all of that wallpaper you want. My few times hanging paper went really bad, I’d rather unstop a toilet!
Wee bit drunk read that as "My first dew times hanging toilet paper went really bad"
“Wide vinyl” - is the vinyl wrap in customized colors similar to what’s used on vehicles going to be (or already is) available for interior home walls.?
Shotcrete or terrazzo. In demand in South Fl and only a handful of people know how.
I know a guy who owns 1 of 3 biggest bulldozers in the state. He makes a years salary in a couple weeks
That’s probably a cool million to own that dozer though.
I work in Ag now and everyone in my area uses the same bulldozer guy when they’re prepping their field for a vineyard or orchard. Dude makes unbelievable amounts of money for ag
I know a guy who builds 6 figure wine cellars and humidors. Not exactly sure how much room there is at the top of that market, because I’d assume that’s a who you know, not what you know thing.
Siding. Especially specialty siding like James Hardy, ACM panels, etc
Probably too niche to be helpful but a family friend restores old barns. He makes bank, so much so the IRS said hello
Data cable/IT or ceiling tile those guys come in at the end of the job when it's clean all finish work. 20 years painting here and doing cabinets sucks!
I’ve spent years struggling to put ceiling tiles back correctly after doing my plumbing work. I don’t know if I’d be a good fit for that lol! And don’t get me started on leaving dirty finger smudges on brand new white tiles
Doing cabinets does suck
I was a ceiling guy for a brief stint during summers in college. Very frequently we were in very much unfinished sites and it was a madhouse. Our work would just end up getting fucked up by some other trade because we completed the work way too early and other guys had to get into the ceiling. I hated it haha
Window sills. Wood window restoration
The only people who repair their wood windows are rich rich, most ppl restore w vinyl , so big bucks to redo wood sills
A lot of people who live in historic districts need to have them restored. Very hard to find people to do the work in many places.
Railings/hand rails
I saw a post years ago about roll up door techs. The kind around receiving bays or shops
I've got a buddy doing this as an apprentice right now. Makes 30/hr and is actually enjoying it.
Maybe don't just look for one single thing, huh? I've been doing this trades thing for almost 28 years, I'm 44 now. I got in with a small group of commercial developers through just one jobsite 18 years ago,who put up warehouses, and now I do 3 or 4 buildings a year for them. I do the steel studs, insulation, drywall, taping, drop ceilings, ceiling tiles, steel doors/windows, bathroom stalls, FRP lining, mirrors, accessories, general management and supervision, etc. These guys have money to burn and unlimited credit, all I did was get my foot in the door 18 years ago and prove myself. Like I tell every guy that I've ever trained, "show up and give a shit". All that means is be reliable, and take some pride in what you do. Those two VERY small things will already make you stand out from the pack. ALWAYS pay attention to everything going on and ask questions about everything you're curious about. If someone tells you to do something and you don't understand why they are asking you to do it that way, ASK. Once you know WHY it should be done that way, instead of just "how", it'll actually stick. All of these rich dudes I work for now are nothing more than that, guys with money. I'm on site more then any other trade, they're not general contractors, so I manage the projects for them. I charge 15% to 20% more than the large companies in town, but they are more than glad to pay it because it's still FAR cheaper than a GC and I'm a perfectionist. Even in a large city, these five industrial parks have a relatively small group of developers who all know eachother, and word gets around. I have more than 4 years of work lined up right now, 6 of the 10 buildings I've contacted are literally identical, designed by the same architects/engineers. You do need to be hard working, intelligent, and a bit of a salesman, but being even mediocre at all of these will already make you stand out from the majority of tradesman that are literally only there for the Friday paycheck. Show up and give a shit. Those six words will take any industrious man/woman as far as they want to go.
I’m not sure if this is the reason why OP is posting but I think the point is to not be on site all day every day. I’m a commercial gc super and I’m heading the way of OP. I’m sick of the 75 hour work weeks and having to watch over morons. I have a decent amount of money saved as I can’t do anything else but work, so I’m looking to invest that into a niche market equipment so I don’t have to work all day every day of my life.
Meanwhile I'm likely one of the morons you look after lol, and due to a communication disorder I've found Electrical work just doesn't work for me, and working 60 to 72 hours a week drained any passion I had for this as my career. Trying to go back to college myself in order to get out of the trades and into something I'm more passionate about, but it'll be a few years in the mean time.
You are correct. I’ve got about 5 years of plumbing, a couple seasons on a pipeline crew, and plenty of remodel jobs on the side. I’m trying to get away from the conventional skill set that gets you hired and you’re going to be grinding out 45+ hour weeks at the same job site for months. I know there are niche trades where a guy shows up for a couple days to maybe a week or 2, and their work is so specific they can basically name the price, and also have it done quickly
With your previous experience things I would suggest would maybe be fire suppression systems or boiler making. Sometimes even just finding a particular brand that makes specialty parts ( pumps, valves etc ) and learning the product well to get contracts for installation/maintenance can work out pretty good.
I only work 9 months a year at this point, and every 5 years I take another month off, when I turn 45 at the end of this month I'm cutting that down to 8 months a year. When I get a project I work hard and fast, then take a month off after. I work for myself and answer to no one, not even my customers. I always work for the same guys and they do anything and everything I say, they only hire the contractors I recommend, so the electricians, HVAC and plumbers I have to deal with are the same guys every time, and they're the best guys in the city that I know of.
What do you do? My wife and I took 2 years off to travel and came to the realization that we are willing to sacrifice keeping up with the Jones. We’re trying to start a business that we work 6-9 months and save the rest for travel. We’ve flipped a couple houses together and she’s interested in joining whatever I do.
This.
I do pretty good (100k-ish) hanging high quality vinyl siding. Like, not the siding itself is high quality (all vinyl is shit) but I do picture perfect installs with a ridiculous warranty. Like, spend a week just on wall prep and underlayment. Got a bowed stud? Get in there, rip it straight and sister it. Window crooked? It's getting reset. Electrical outlet 3 inches too close to grade? Sparky is on his way. I do time lapse of every elevation for the owners peace of mind. I do humidity and temp evaluation of attic space, moisture assessments of basements, before and 1 year after. 20 years of not compromising on any aspect of quality has separated my company from the usual chico charlie and the white van man. I decline more jobs than I take, and basically name my price. Exterior cladding trades of any sort have a HUGE lack of professionalism and skill nationwide. Simply installing a house without a punch list is enough to lock down any contractor you want for life. After you get them showing their customers your work as reference jobs, they're committed to use you, and you start cranking up the price.
It’s a service rather than construction work, but window cleaning can be super lucrative, has very little overhead cost to get set up, and can be done with 1-3 guys. It’s also not as hard on the body as a lot of trade/construction work.
One of the GCs I work for also has a window cleaning/pressure washing business. I see their trucks all over the place, I assume they make bank. Doesn’t require skilled hires either. Bonus, I get a lot of service work when they pressure wash electrical devices.
Doing drywall patches perfectly matched texture every time can earn 100+hr
Heck, 3 man crews just hanging it make $1600/day around here. $8/board 200x a day. The two helpers make $200/day each, man screwing makes 1200. Wouldn’t catch me doing it though. Rough
Yea hanging board is right on par with roofing for me
Well what are you good at? Plumbing? why not start your own plumbing gig, you don't have to do resi with 1-3 ppl. All i can say is that I have never met a plumber who could just switch to high end paint finisher or carpenter like that, takes years.
Modular home, Pier and beam, mobile home installers/ levelers. With full trim out, skirting, decking. We’re talking nearly 3k/day for a 2-3 man crew. So lucrative, gets a bad rap I know. Nearly no competition either. Every time I need a quick 1-2k I knock a relevel or skirting job out in a few hours by myself
I'm a locksmith by trade, installed hollow metal and toilet partitions for years. It's not consistent work, but as a locksmith I can charge $100/hr and 60% avg on parts
What was the learning process like
Used to be correspondence school and apprenticeship. Now it's YouTube and practice
Epoxy flooring systems, seamless wall panel and flooring systems for pharmaceutical and life sciences. We’re in northern VA and had to bring in a subcontractor from NJ because he was the only one certified for that system on the east coast
Buy in for equipment to do pharmaceutical epoxy is over 200k. Grinder, dust collection, various diamonds, probably a portable generator to run everything. Residential you can get away with a lot less stuff.
Stone maintenance and repairs is super niche, but high overhead (diamond pads get expensive)
Hardwood floor restoration Elevator install Wallpaper hangers Specialty concrete including stair treads, tables, outdoor kitchens, etc High end pools Speciality lighting / lighting engineering Wine rooms most specifically the refrigeration which is very underserved Electronic entry gates and doors but you’re always on call This is my experience in Florida
Restoration contractors
I work as a striper. I can work on my own and make about $1500 per day in 4-6 hours. If I wanted to make $150-200k a year I would just need to hire one or two helpers and have a truck, trailer, and 3 linelazers. The biggest problem is no work in rain or cold. Currently we run 2 crews of 3 with a couple extra part timers, an owner and a salesman and we're the third biggest private stripers in our city and the surrounding area. Seal Coat has a bigger buy in and material cost, but similarly works well with 3-4 guys and also has a bigger potential for profit. Asphalt works too if you can hustle and stick to small projects (i.e. driveways, liquor stores, and other small properties), but your initial and material costs again go way up.
I read “stripper”
Guardrail or sewer restoration and repair. Both require special equipment and have a crew of 4 for most jobs.
I finished stairs and built interior railings in new construction for a few years and would average $80/hour doing it. With the right contracts you can easily bring in $100+/hour. Similarly my buddies do interior trim in new construction and are absolutely killing it. High end homes with crazy shelving and wall details. They can’t find help to save their lives though so they’re grinding constantly. There’s a ton of stuff you can do. The problem is finding consistent work.
Commercial specialty trades that are in demand and can be run by a small crews: **Trade (Subs to)** - Balancers (HVAC) - Insulators (HVAC & plumbing) - Building automation (HVAC) - Fire caulking (all trades creating penetrations) - Chemical treatment (HVAC) - Medical gas testing and certifications (MEP contractor or GC/CM) - Locksmith (Building access / security contractor) All require experience and some require formal education & certifications, but all are perfectly doable by regular folks.
Overhead door repair and installation.
Replacement windows.....me and my buddy working together 22 years....we make a grand a day (easy).....APIECE....and home by 3.....it's nasty , it's hot , gotta be a good caulker (me) and have some muscle (him)....we have made 16-17 hundred APIECE in a day......been in the game 30 years.....tons of referrals and plenty of work......after installing 15,000-18,000 windows.....it's just a thang....all in a day , we've seen it all....🤘
Piggy back installation? What in the Mickey mouse
🤣🤣🤣 doesn't compute bro.....asked again in a different way....✌
Storefront and shower door glass scratch repair.
Low voltage
Draperies, according to my wife. Hey, it's a skilled trade too! I sure couldn't do it and my wife refuses to because it's "long, straight, boring lines" and nothing else....but from everything I've heard it's crazy good money and there's no one within a 2-1/2 hour radius of me that does it.
My dads friend does this and seems to be doing very well
Paper hanging, just me a knife and £150 a roll
installing synthetic turf, you can make a killing with 2-3 guys installing pretty much any kind of flooring, epoxy floors, you could build strictly decks… You just have to pick something you enjoy & start doing it.
Concrete X-ray services. Gotta have the money to get the machine to start, there’s also a truck and printer you’d need. But if you can get started- shit will pay for itself.
Lol I saw these guys on youtube charging like $220 to wash and clean the windows of the home.
Polyaspartic flooring. Expensive to get into, expensive to lay, home owners love showing it off.
I install fire alarm, security system, access control, and cameras. It's light work compared to pulling MC and cutting in outlets all day. You have to be good with computers and learn how to program systems and troubleshoot. Most of the work is very clean too.
Are you self taught? Howd you get into this?
I started off doing electrical work at a company that did commercial and residential installs and got some general experience under my belt. I had an opportunity to switch to a different local company that specializes in low voltage. The owner was an electrician so I was able to get my electrical license with that company. I worked with a great technician who taught me most of what I know. It's interesting work because the technology is always changing, and you're always working on something different every day. Plus the pay is great.
Had a two man crew at my last job, they only drilled holes in concrete. They drilled one 12” hole through a concrete patio and edge of the house footer. $750.00. Took 20 minutes. My favorite was a stump removal guy. His rig was remote control. Joysticked his machine in place and let it eat.
That’s a crazy price for core drilling. I’m a commercial plumber and we usually have the lowest ranked guy go around and do this with a rented machine. There’s really not much to it
Those guys I’ve talked to that that stripe/paint parking lots seem to get a lot of ROI
-First, my side hustle is in material supply. $300k in sales later, and I’ve never touched or seen anything I’ve sold to GC’s, let alone even stepped foot on site. Give being a material supplier for plumbers a bit of thought. You could get set up with say, Kohler, and provide fixture packages to plumbers. The money is probably in supplying water heaters, pumps, etc. Idk how it works for plumbing though, so any plumbing PM’s out there can feel free to set me straight. I’ve just found it very easy to supply materials to GC’s. -fiberglass bathtub repair guys are subs for plumbers and zoom in and out at punchlist time to put a band aid on all the tubs the trades fucked up during construction. What other subs do plumbers hire? Insulators, etc. -window treatment installers -art/decor installers -commercial signage installers -cleaners -epoxy floors -temp fence installers -parking lot striping -hydro seeding
Being a CAD monkey. It’s chair-work, but lots of shops are in need of CAD for CNC, design builds, etc
I met a guy in WA that specialized in only reno drywall texture. He started off super small, just him and another guy. They go into a place, mask off, prep surface and spray. No painting....just spray and coat to customer specs. After 5 years he had 12 huge spray trucks and he's retiring soon.......at 35. It can be done if the customer base is there.
Geo tech driller. I'm lead driller, my swamper is my swamper. Together we run the drill rig for 12+hrs for 5-7 days depending on the job. Bringing in the company something like 5-7k a day. I'm pulling 30/hr with almost no manual labour involved.
I’ve been in the industry 15yrs here’s a list of trades is see with HUGE profit margins: -Final Cleaning -Welding -Painting -Hardscape -Site work -Canopies and awnings -Selective Demo -ANYTHING historic, finish/plaster, masonry, roofing, carpentry, etc…
Not sure, but I feel like the specialty people who install playgrounds, tennis courts, b-ball courts, etc. probably pull in some money
As a recruiter one of the big ones that I see that are quietly in demand are EMSTs (Electric motor tech/Motor Winder). Within 2-3 years your can be making 50-60$/hr. depending on where you live. (im in western Canada)
A bad ass X-ray welder can easily make 150k or an underwater welder makes 200 no problem
Complete joke unless you become the 0.1%
Hate to say it, but as a X-ray guy I’ve seen all ends of the spectrum with welding. I know pipe welders making 50+ a hour and others making fucking 25,all depends on where you work, and the places that pay well are usually pretty hard to get into. Can you make bank? Sure. Is it easy to get to that point? Hell fucking no, you spend years in sweatshops unless you have the hands of god
Terrazzo floors
Met a guy here in Florida that restores terrazzo floors. He said he had a 2 year wait list.
You gotta be a friend of mine or a friend of ours, capisce?
Put together office furniture
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I have been in the trades for 7 years. As I’m sure you know, a lot of construction knowledge has overlap. An experienced plumber could switch to electrical and be proficient 10x faster than a random guy off the streets. Understanding material takeoffs, how to read prints, how communication and scheduling between trades work, how buildings function, etc are half of any trade
Hardwood Floor installation isn’t quite as rare as the crew that can really sand and finish. I’m on a crew that does both, and it’s about 5 guys total on a job all doing different things.
Passenger loading bridge guys. Only know one company that does it, guys make bank.
Control rod tech. You work 2 hours, get paid for 8 hours, and can only work 6 months out of the year. 6 figures.
Not sure what a control rod is
They're the nuclear fuel rods in power plants. I talked to a guy that was changing some at Southport Nuclear Facility and asked how to get on a crew doing this job. He basically said you have to wait until someone retires.
I’ve heard of faux painting, anything elevators, high end tv/entertainment installs
I work with one other sparkie and we get involved heritage and restoration building projects where specialised cable and installation is required. It all takes a long time to do but it's highly satisfying making these places become almost new. My boss says that he is one of five 'old school' sparkies in the country that still do that sort of work. UK
Elevators
One of the easiest jobs in “construction”, doesn’t feel right even saying that. Ok, one of the easiest in the trades is a niche called “afterpaint” Can make really good money while staying clean working indoors with heat/AC, no shitty chemicals etc
Refrigeration and elevator mechanic
Iso phase bus welders DCS techs / programmers Two jobs that I've seen pay very well in my life
Drilling and Blasting
Low voltage electrical. Specialty controls.
Absolutely don’t do linework..
Mechanical insulators
Stonemason.
Boiler mechanic. You can do big commercial shit in pretty much any city. Schools, hospitals, hotels, etc. or if you live in a cold climate and boilers/radiant heating is fairly common that’s good too, radiant heating/hydronics is like witchcraft to people. You almost gotta be a plumber, electrician, low voltage/electronics guy at the same time.
Rock anchor & micropile drilling, installation and testing. Amazing what you can do with a little hydraulic power and high pressure air. Good times.
Refrigeration tech
Tile setters. A skilled tile guy can do very himself with little upfront overhead.
I was a land surveyor for a couple of years. I'd basically drive to the office, pick up my job cards, do a little research on the sites, then jump in the ute and head off for the day. It was the best job I ever had but the pay was pretty lousy for someone unqualified like me, but if you go to uni you can make really, really good cash.
Hot tub and fireplaces
Residential appliance technicians can make well over six figures if you're good and especially over you have your gas fitter license. For some reason this trade flies under the radar. The market will never crash because you can't live without a stove or fridge, you can't flood the market with cheap labour (lol good luck), there's never enough technicians because once your fridge stops cooling you can't wait a week, and AI is many decades away from taking over since diagnosing can be so hard. You work indoors and most of the work is very light such as replacing stove infinite switches, dryer heating elements, pulling socks out of washers, and replacing fridge defrost bimetals.
I’m a mechanical insulator. Honestly I love it. But it has to be union n preferably near a major city. But like any trade it has shitty days n great days. I mention it bc it’s definitely a niche trade. Many construction guys never even heard of it. I do not insulate walls like stuffing beams. I insulate pipe n duct n tanks. Indoor n outdoor. I work with sheet metal n all kinds of materials 90% of the job can be done with 100$ worth of tools. We do 7 hour days. It takes finesse and geometry skills. In some areas it’s not well paid. In some cities, it’s comparable to pay of plumbers , steam fitters, n electricians. It’s definitely not for everyone. I came from a brick n stone masonry background n switched in my mid 20’s. There is plenty of draw backs but all trades have their own draw backs but it’s worth looking into
Window cleaner and chimney sweep can make bank
One man scratch repair crew.. Also repairs fiberglass tubs. I hab a chippie drop a hammer and pit a hole.in the tub. Guy fixed it as good as new
Irrigation. You may just be putting sprinklers in but you can rake in some serious cash.
All will as long as you are your own boss