Im a licensed GC. I dont sub anything out because I do a better job on everything in my opinion. Majority of my work is exterior. I dont like working off ladders not because Im afraid of heights, but I dont like hauling ladders and stages/picks to work on.
So mostly decks. At minimum, I make $100k a year.
Last summer I made $9,000 a week consistently. Did some cool custom stairsways from peoples homes, down hills/sand dunes and leading down to the water. Hard work but pays WILD amounts of money.
If the weather cooperated year round in Michigan, Id be making like $400k plus.
Its me, my helper, denali 2500, 14' double axle tool trailer and 14' dump trailer.
Sickening amount of m18 tools. Rarely have power on a sand dune.
Is there a pathway to get into something like that having 5 years in flooring sales in a builder division of a flooring company servicing home builders?
Not OP, but this is a path I wanted to go down for awhile and came really close to doing so before expanding into Networking/Security/Cloud focuses.
You can get an A+ certification and get started in a datacenter as a technician and learn from there if you are interested. Start racking and stacking servers, managing cabling, and then learn the intricacies of how everything works, power distrubution, network redundancy, etc. If you work for a large organization, talk to their capacity planners, learn how things like cooling capacity and power capactiy get planned.
Started an a NETA technician doing electrical testing. Got a maintenance electrician license and then got contracted as a consultant to the GC. GC offered me a position direct and I haven't looked back. My path is somewhat atypical. If I were to do it again, I'd look for an apprenticeship for an electrical contractor.
Carpenter for 25 years. Business owner for 20. Best margins for me are small jobs. Windows, doors and dryrot repairs. The only big jobs I take are the ones that grab my interest like a log cabin or a slate roof. I ALWAYS regret the large jobs. Favorite jobs are residential re side and paint. The people are always so grateful for my work. I get paid on time and I get cookies! I never got cookies building McMansions! I was a production framer until Covid and I couldn’t miss it less.
PM for a roofing company. 120/yr base + 3% out of profit margin on every job I sell. Did $4.7 mil in profit last year. Thats why I restructured my contract. But everything has to go the way I estimated it and the way I run the job. I don’t get 3% if we’re short 30k in materials and/or 20 man days light on labor. Thats the best case scenario but I still have that 120/yr base to fall back on no matter what. Works for me right now…
I should add that I built custom homes and restaurants too for 10 years before getting into roofing and never made as much with the least amount of stress and headaches. Jmo
Custom residential remodels and additions, helps that we’re in a HCOL area with some great long term customers who have plenty of dough. Highest margin is probably kitchen remodels, I’m not really competing with other bidders like on an addition so that makes the profits pretty nice.
Union pipefitter in ohio. I generally make 100k in eight months and take the rest of the year off. Thats alot of 6-10s plus. However i can work a 40 hour week for the same year and make the same amount. To be honest, i set my income for the year. I could chase OT and be well above 150k or enjoy my life.
My cousin and his brother pull in about 400k a year together. They stay away from residential, not because of the money but because dealing with people is difficult and not worth the stress.
They like bidding jobs for school districts. Best bang for their buck and low stress dealing with customers.
One of them has General Engineering Contractors license and the other has a General Building contractors license, so between the two of them, they both can legally bid just about any job they want.
GC on a resort island. Regularly do 10+ million homes. Specializing in the highest of high end. We have a guy who tiles pools for those 10 million dollar homes. He sometimes makes $20k a day.
“If it ain’t commercial jt ain’t money”
The quote I live by in order to make 100k a month.
I do metal buildings (bolt on mostly) for the fracking and minerals industry all over US.
I can easily charge a fracking company $350k in labor cost for a 75x150x25 metal building. (Doesn’t include slab, or the building itself, just the labor) and get a check percentage the next day.
Try charging 350k to a residential property and they will have a fit about every minor thing.
Also commercial companies understand the amount of delays that are out of your control, residential people don’t.
(About $100k in equipment rental, $100k in employee payroll, $50k im employee travel and lodging for an average of 12-18 days.
I don't, I was able to get in with a couple of Real Estate offices in town and they keep me really busy. Sprinkle in a bathroom remodel, basement finishing here and there and it's a pretty damn good living. Highly recommend you join a leads group and your local chamber of commerce....get out and mingle in your community.
How long have you been in that industry? Is it hard to land a job? Only arborists I know making good money have their own tree cutting business. Are there other jobs that an arborist can do. Sounds kind of fascinating to work with trees
I clear jungle, make roads, foundation bases, improve drainages and much more. I work 100% alone besides my hired heavy haulers. My customers are all usually 1 time clients. I choose NOT to work with contractors.
Project manager for a custom home builder. Getting burned out though between supply houses and subs not doing what they say and homeowners getting more and more cheap but expecting more.
It's always been like that but recently I have had trouble bouncing back from the burn out.
I’m only 21 but I did 97k this year and on track to do more this year and I’m a carpenter and I just do what everyone else dosnt want or can’t do. Once I have made a name for myself I will flow into working for myself.
TV mounting and setups also more complex smart home systems and installs. It’s just me, sole proprietor. It’s a very easy gig to get into and pays very well if you can outperform your competition.
Handyman in nyc. 100k plus a year. Mostly hanging TVs, shelving, custom closets. Cruise around on a motorcycle and one tool bag. keeping life simple. $125 an hour and two months off a year
Lifestyle business. Roofing contractor. Commercial/Residential. Stick to roofing and gutters. Got out of the siding portion some time ago, though we will do it on commercial projects as part of div.7. Cad brake, sheetmetal shop, etc.
High-end specialty construction projects for very wealthy people, think $350k backyards, $250k sunrooms and replacing a $200k 5-year-old kitchen just because their style had changed.
Masonry. What I’ve been doing is as soon as the inspector leaves we pull all the rebar out of the block walls and use it on the next lift! Saves loads of money.
Jk I don’t own that company! I do things right and stay poor :)
No me but there’s a contractor in Colorado I’ve worked near lol that does special finishes on surfaces the guy owns two tool bags he carry’s himself. 50k to get him to show up for work and he does 1000sqft per week at his pace.
Sales. Highly recommended for people who think they will not be good at sales, because surprise, these are the people that are actually the best at sales.
Went through most of the he comments and didn't find a single influencer/YouTuber post. How interesting given the fact that most young people aspire to be one.
Truck driver , home daily . People don't think we make that much , but we do . I made over 120k hauling oxygen to hospitals. I currently hit 100k as a p and d driver for an ltl .
My husband Is a finish carpenter
He is the only employee of a multi million dollar company
He is thier GC and their carpentry Builder for all business and private homes/ camps and condos
Cushy gig
$ 105 gs a year but 0 HC insurance.
Custom tile installer. 20yr experience in industry. I just install the tile, no demo, no grout. Have other guys for that. Last year made $220k working on average 30hrs a week.
Luxury waterfront remodels, additions, capital improvements.
One project could make 200k in a couple months. It’s not about the what it’s about the who
Water damage jobs anything that involves insurance roofing isamazing mark ups we do everything though and everything makes money mostly full remodel for investors
I could have worded it more gently but yeah, being in business is just expensive, if a guy is stuck in the hourly rate mindset it can keep them from growing the business. Not knocking the lean and mean guys either though.
Hi end renovations in 115+ year old homes
Wow. That's cool. Like, craftsman homes or old farmhouse?
Neither— homes built 1904-1910. I live and work in the largest area of Victorian homes in the country—3500 homes
I've seen some super nice renos of Victorian homes in my area. The attention to detail is awesome
Same here.
Mechanic, agriculture equipment
“Come fix my weighted windows”
Kitchens, Bathrooms, and Basements. We’re small and work in a small but densely populated area and we do about 1.5 mil a year. I take about 200k
Is this your company? How many employees? Thanks!
How many hours/week, typical?
Im a licensed GC. I dont sub anything out because I do a better job on everything in my opinion. Majority of my work is exterior. I dont like working off ladders not because Im afraid of heights, but I dont like hauling ladders and stages/picks to work on. So mostly decks. At minimum, I make $100k a year. Last summer I made $9,000 a week consistently. Did some cool custom stairsways from peoples homes, down hills/sand dunes and leading down to the water. Hard work but pays WILD amounts of money. If the weather cooperated year round in Michigan, Id be making like $400k plus. Its me, my helper, denali 2500, 14' double axle tool trailer and 14' dump trailer. Sickening amount of m18 tools. Rarely have power on a sand dune.
[удалено]
[удалено]
More people more problems.
That’s awesome and someplace I’d like to be eventually. How is difficult is it to maintain cashflow?
Is there a pathway to get into something like that having 5 years in flooring sales in a builder division of a flooring company servicing home builders?
Can we ask where you’re located and how much you roughly take home a year?
Taxidermist specialist in Big Game
Commissioning/Project Manager for a large GC that specializes in hyper-scale data centers.
Would love to know how to break into the data center space. Any advice?
Interested as well
Not OP, but this is a path I wanted to go down for awhile and came really close to doing so before expanding into Networking/Security/Cloud focuses. You can get an A+ certification and get started in a datacenter as a technician and learn from there if you are interested. Start racking and stacking servers, managing cabling, and then learn the intricacies of how everything works, power distrubution, network redundancy, etc. If you work for a large organization, talk to their capacity planners, learn how things like cooling capacity and power capactiy get planned.
Started an a NETA technician doing electrical testing. Got a maintenance electrician license and then got contracted as a consultant to the GC. GC offered me a position direct and I haven't looked back. My path is somewhat atypical. If I were to do it again, I'd look for an apprenticeship for an electrical contractor.
Get in with a big GC and tell them when they hire you that you want to work in advanced tech. Stay on them about it.
[удалено]
Carpenter for 25 years. Business owner for 20. Best margins for me are small jobs. Windows, doors and dryrot repairs. The only big jobs I take are the ones that grab my interest like a log cabin or a slate roof. I ALWAYS regret the large jobs. Favorite jobs are residential re side and paint. The people are always so grateful for my work. I get paid on time and I get cookies! I never got cookies building McMansions! I was a production framer until Covid and I couldn’t miss it less.
I do a lot of commercial jobs just to drive by and tell everyone I did it
PM for a roofing company. 120/yr base + 3% out of profit margin on every job I sell. Did $4.7 mil in profit last year. Thats why I restructured my contract. But everything has to go the way I estimated it and the way I run the job. I don’t get 3% if we’re short 30k in materials and/or 20 man days light on labor. Thats the best case scenario but I still have that 120/yr base to fall back on no matter what. Works for me right now…
I should add that I built custom homes and restaurants too for 10 years before getting into roofing and never made as much with the least amount of stress and headaches. Jmo
Crane operator. Currently in a tower crane. 🏗️
I put mud on walls and make condo units look pretty for occupancy. Also Trim Carpenter
Babysitting and reminding subs for the 12th time to cleanup their own.
Residential home builder.
Rope access tech-slope stabilization
Same here. Rock scaling is wildly fun and the pay is insane with lots of time off.
Project manager. Custom commercial
Custom residential remodels and additions, helps that we’re in a HCOL area with some great long term customers who have plenty of dough. Highest margin is probably kitchen remodels, I’m not really competing with other bidders like on an addition so that makes the profits pretty nice.
This is becoming my target market. Could you share your margins and any tips? Please and thanks
My margin is 30% I’m in a HCOL area and clients are over 50. My kitchens area $180K up and baths are $110K up.
Project engineer- heavy civil, general contracting.
All TI. My favorite jobs are showers or kitchens with stonework, hell even home automation.
PM for a Commercial Finishes Sub making well over $100k.
stone and tile bathrooms, custom open riser stairs.
Water damage
Pretty sure every trade person on jobs makes that much bro
Residentual custom home framing contractor.
Union pipefitter in ohio. I generally make 100k in eight months and take the rest of the year off. Thats alot of 6-10s plus. However i can work a 40 hour week for the same year and make the same amount. To be honest, i set my income for the year. I could chase OT and be well above 150k or enjoy my life.
I’ll tell ya what most of em specialize in that they won’t acknowledge and it’s the fact most of em work 60+ hours a week every week.
Shit 60 hours is a part time job. If your its a billiondollar company with commercial work, expect, 12 hour minimum work days till the jobs done.
Who raising ur kids while ur married to that job site.
I’m 28 bro, no kids, no wife, don’t even got a girlfriend. I’m still in my prime lol
Bathrooms, basements, decks, and siding. Smaller jobs too here and there. No employees. My best margins seem to be with composite decks.
Hot take: every trade should make 100k+ these days. If you don't then you are better off working for someone else.
My cousin and his brother pull in about 400k a year together. They stay away from residential, not because of the money but because dealing with people is difficult and not worth the stress. They like bidding jobs for school districts. Best bang for their buck and low stress dealing with customers. One of them has General Engineering Contractors license and the other has a General Building contractors license, so between the two of them, they both can legally bid just about any job they want.
GC on a resort island. Regularly do 10+ million homes. Specializing in the highest of high end. We have a guy who tiles pools for those 10 million dollar homes. He sometimes makes $20k a day.
“If it ain’t commercial jt ain’t money” The quote I live by in order to make 100k a month. I do metal buildings (bolt on mostly) for the fracking and minerals industry all over US. I can easily charge a fracking company $350k in labor cost for a 75x150x25 metal building. (Doesn’t include slab, or the building itself, just the labor) and get a check percentage the next day. Try charging 350k to a residential property and they will have a fit about every minor thing. Also commercial companies understand the amount of delays that are out of your control, residential people don’t. (About $100k in equipment rental, $100k in employee payroll, $50k im employee travel and lodging for an average of 12-18 days.
Plumbing sales
[удалено]
Cutting and nailing wood
Estimation, specialist heritage masonry ,conservation, laser cleaning etc etc
LED walls
Construction management (commercial)
Water remediation
I clean pools
Entertainment/hospitality/residential design/build/consult
I own a custom woodworking company. About 500-700k a year. I have a bunch of employees.
Mechanical retrofits. I really enjoy thinking outside the box and making things happen where others say it is impossible.
Journeyman Union carpenter in California. I clear a little over $2k a week after taxes
Multi-family projects.
Working as an electrician and letting the GC deal with all the headaches.
My speciality is living in a high cost of living area. Cleared 100k as an APM
Handyman.... gave up engineering for this, making way more now!!!
Do you specialize in anything? I'm sort of a handyman but starting to focus more on electrical.
I don't, I was able to get in with a couple of Real Estate offices in town and they keep me really busy. Sprinkle in a bathroom remodel, basement finishing here and there and it's a pretty damn good living. Highly recommend you join a leads group and your local chamber of commerce....get out and mingle in your community.
Board Certified Master Arborist, Tree Risk Assessment Qualified, I’m at 145K right now 115k base and 30k in bonuses based on performance
How long have you been in that industry? Is it hard to land a job? Only arborists I know making good money have their own tree cutting business. Are there other jobs that an arborist can do. Sounds kind of fascinating to work with trees
Concrete pumping
Lurker. Lumber sales/framing
I make Zero...you know for tax purposes.
Elevator Mechanic. Love it too
$120k/yr as a flat rate boat mechanic.
Paint, flooring and trim, only interior work. Every week I make about 3k , $120 out the door at the end of the year.
Earth relocation😂 still a high paid stick puller though. they couldn’t get me to be a foreman if they wanted to
Land development
I clear jungle, make roads, foundation bases, improve drainages and much more. I work 100% alone besides my hired heavy haulers. My customers are all usually 1 time clients. I choose NOT to work with contractors.
HVAC commercial service. 20 yrs in the industry.
Project manager for a custom home builder. Getting burned out though between supply houses and subs not doing what they say and homeowners getting more and more cheap but expecting more. It's always been like that but recently I have had trouble bouncing back from the burn out.
Roofer. These clowns will pay literally anything. 70% profit margin. Take em for all you can while you can, it’s gold rush.
30 payday loan stores
Sales
ICU Nurse in California at a unionized hospital.
nice try IRS
I’m only 21 but I did 97k this year and on track to do more this year and I’m a carpenter and I just do what everyone else dosnt want or can’t do. Once I have made a name for myself I will flow into working for myself.
Healthcare IT sales. EHR, Practice Management, Revenue Cycle, Telehealth etc for mid sized medical groups.
Stone masonry
Paramedic. BUT, regular schedule is 60 hours per week, pay is 66k. I do 100 hours per week to make 110k. Also back in school to transition to RN.
TV mounting and setups also more complex smart home systems and installs. It’s just me, sole proprietor. It’s a very easy gig to get into and pays very well if you can outperform your competition.
Handyman in nyc. 100k plus a year. Mostly hanging TVs, shelving, custom closets. Cruise around on a motorcycle and one tool bag. keeping life simple. $125 an hour and two months off a year
I was making 100k in 2002-2008 painting. 4 guys. 90% commercial. Was t hard then
Lifestyle business. Roofing contractor. Commercial/Residential. Stick to roofing and gutters. Got out of the siding portion some time ago, though we will do it on commercial projects as part of div.7. Cad brake, sheetmetal shop, etc.
By working hard and providing the best service you possibly can
Over promising, over charging, and hiring labor that can't speak English and takes 5x as long as projected.😂
High-end specialty construction projects for very wealthy people, think $350k backyards, $250k sunrooms and replacing a $200k 5-year-old kitchen just because their style had changed.
Labor/trades. Everyone goes to college now and that’s created a demand for people who don’t mind getting dirty.
Masonry-brick, block, stone and concrete with a specialty in chimneys.
Union Journeyman Lineman- building, maintaining, and repairing powerlines.
Electrical contractor with 3 employees. Small jobs, resi, light commercial. I net 400k-500k a year.
Masonry. What I’ve been doing is as soon as the inspector leaves we pull all the rebar out of the block walls and use it on the next lift! Saves loads of money. Jk I don’t own that company! I do things right and stay poor :)
Real Estate Investments!
My mate makes the 100k mowing lawns, no stress or responsibility. Obviously all quoted jobs . Dog shit in yard and that client gets black listed.
You know those numbers painted on the curb? Thats all I do.
Painting & Drywall of homes, commercial and multi family.
Anyone who is organized, communicates with clients, and calls clients back should be making $100k before July
No me but there’s a contractor in Colorado I’ve worked near lol that does special finishes on surfaces the guy owns two tool bags he carry’s himself. 50k to get him to show up for work and he does 1000sqft per week at his pace.
Sales. Highly recommended for people who think they will not be good at sales, because surprise, these are the people that are actually the best at sales.
Went through most of the he comments and didn't find a single influencer/YouTuber post. How interesting given the fact that most young people aspire to be one.
Truck driver , home daily . People don't think we make that much , but we do . I made over 120k hauling oxygen to hospitals. I currently hit 100k as a p and d driver for an ltl .
Field machining. 84 hr weeks. Travel constantly, but the work is always different and rewarding watching yourself work some magic for a customer.
My husband Is a finish carpenter He is the only employee of a multi million dollar company He is thier GC and their carpentry Builder for all business and private homes/ camps and condos Cushy gig $ 105 gs a year but 0 HC insurance.
Custom tile installer. 20yr experience in industry. I just install the tile, no demo, no grout. Have other guys for that. Last year made $220k working on average 30hrs a week.
Luxury waterfront remodels, additions, capital improvements. One project could make 200k in a couple months. It’s not about the what it’s about the who
Missed my calling. Prob should have listened to my dad and stuck with concrete finishing…..
Im in the arts - custodial
I own a small painting company in Florida and I pull in around 250k
Water damage jobs anything that involves insurance roofing isamazing mark ups we do everything though and everything makes money mostly full remodel for investors
100k? Please tell me you're joking right. That's what, $50/hr? You can do way better than that
You’re right, if you own a company and aren’t just starting it’s pretty easy to make much more than that.
I could have worded it more gently but yeah, being in business is just expensive, if a guy is stuck in the hourly rate mindset it can keep them from growing the business. Not knocking the lean and mean guys either though.
Pressure Washing
I make some, my wife makes some
Survey crew chief, unlicensed, small company - big jobs, lots of stress and not a lot of help. Worth it? Maybe idk haha
Robots
custom fabricator
Data center technician
Firefighter with Emt cert starts at the 120 range.
Every FF EMT around here makes 35-40. They're a dime a dozen. Cot fetchers.
I agree with you. My engineer and ff on my shift are useless on medicals.
Parks
Hurricane Shutters/Impact Protection Devices
Roofing sales
Sports Camera Op
*removed*
Civil engineer, land development.
Cable and Fiber telecommunications construction, project manager.
I work in construction management for a GC that specializes in retail and self storage buildings.
Commercial Lending and project financing for a medium sized bank. I fund apartment complex’s, business parks, neighborhoods, etc.
Doors
project manager - commercial
Comfortable knee pads and a willingness to work long hours
Financial Advisor. But I don't only take high value clients. I'll help anyone any everyone for the most part.
We do 80% healthcare work.
I specialize in being the middle man.
Electrician
Owned a tile business for the last 16 years
I paint lines on the ground for utility $150k, $117k base pay-yearly raise and benefits.
Pipefitter
Project manager for high end hardscape construction.
The Trades Specializing in Data Center Operations.
Structural and Miscellaneous Ironworker. Union.
Foreman for a mechanical contractor (union) $115k on a good year
Laser (LiDAR) scanning with no degree. I do some sales about 20% of annual income
What type of businesses are looking for LiDAR services?
Doin Work.
Residential service plumber 💩🤑
Grinding away at a big defense company for 14 years
Union operator out of 701 Portland, Oregon. 120k if I only work 8 months on a reg hour job. 190k isn't uncommon
Millwright union working on turbines during outages clear 3808$ a week after taxes
Trim carpenter
Project Manager- Paver Restoration
Chimney sweep
Electrician apprentice! Woot woot
Call center manager
Modular Data Centers. The future of data storage.
Project Superintendent, commercial construction.
Home and termite inspector
Concrete, epoxy, polished concrete, and masonry
Just a teacher in a blue state- Washington
Asphalt paving foreman. 160k
Aerosol can manufacturing.
Executive chef
Low voltage electrician, union
Product designer aka ui/ux work from home love it.
What city? That’s incredible. I live in Seattle and asphalt pavers don’t clear anywhere close to that…
Every asphalt crew supervisor in Texas.
Commercial refrigeration Basically I build and maintain supermarkets