I know it doesn't help now but in the future look for those who are still in the biz during a poor economy. During a boom there are a lot working because they need people. During a down economy those in the biz tend to be the skilled guys who are good at what they do, therefore, they are in demand.

If I could get in a time machine back to 1995 when I was about to embark on a culinary school education to become a chef and tell myself to go in a different direction I would have told him to go to school to become an electrician or a plumber. Probably more an electrician because that technology fascinates and scares me

Finding a good tradesman has ALAWAYS been a problem. This is really nothing new. People may be nostalgic about the good old days in the 40s or 50s,but there were problems then. Most of the tradesmen were in the Army and it was hard for anybody to find assistance with tasks around the house. My Dad fixed everything around the house. The only time repairman came around is when he put in Central AC. The economy really has little to do with it.

Like was stated earlier, we have three generations that have been brainwashed into thinking working with your hands is beneath them. I graduated HS thirty-two years ago and it was hammered into us then by teachers and school counselors.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Finding a good tradesman has ALAWAYS been a problem.

I disagree. It’s never been this crazy

Been a homeowner since 2007 and never had an issue getting someone to return my call or give me an estimate (or if you do get someone it’s months and months out) until 2 years ago to now.

It’s just insane

Perhaps my experience has been colored by several natural disasters. Try getting a roofer when thousands need a new roof. I have met more scam artists in the trades that you could imagine. You have been fortunate that this has been a recent problem for you.

I wonder if the home building business has affected this. From what I hear from builders and general contractors, all look for the lowest bid to complete any task from electrical to roofing. The emphasis is on speed and having it pass inspection, not on quality or doing things right.

Is this view carrying over to people that start in building homes and become independent or join a tradesman business? Even when one checks reviews and history of tradesman businesses, it seems like one still needs to watch their work like a hawk for quality to make sure they're doing what you requested.

quote:

From what I hear from builders and general contractors, all look for the lowest bid to complete any task from electrical to roofing.
The emphasis is on speed and having it pass inspection, not on quality or doing things right.

Generalizations are always inaccurate.

OP here - I was telling this story to a friend this morning. She is a director at a large stadium in Orlando. She has too many employees in one area and there are not enough electrical outlets to service all the computers, printers and various other items that require power. She knows that she needs to have a groove cut into the concrete floor, power run and outlets placed every so many feet on the floor. But because of the size of the job, she cannot find an electrician willing to take on the job.

I thought to myself, "If a lady with a title of executive director, running a building that can house 70,000 fans and that hosts many nationally televised events every year cannot find an electrician for a "small" job, what chance does the average homeowner have of finding someone?"

There are so few tradesmen that even a crook will get enough business to live comfortably. A competent tradesman should have the wherewithal to start his own contracting company, and will lose the ability to closely monitor his team's craftsmanship.

I hire out for small stuff to test out a tradesman, and if he does a good job for a fair price, and enjoys his work, I call him back. If he's a shithead he's done and I'm out only for a small job that I may be able to tackle myself. But when I find a good tradesman I'm very loyal, and the good ones appreciate that. Those types of tradesmen are always self employed, those types of people don't punch a clock.

We’ve had a surprising number of tradesmen be reasonable on their initial job, then try to screw us on the second - which gets them paid, and blackballed.

It seems to be some kind of “move-in” thing - maybe they don’t realize how small the business community is in SC.

The incompetence is staggering. I've been fighting a losing battle since Hurricane Ida destroyed my roof and caused over $200,000 of damage to our house.

Back in the day when I drove a concrete truck, we were schueled very early start times in the summer. One day I stopped in a 7-11 for coffee around 5:30am. When I got out of my truck I was stopped by a guy just outside the door asking if I was a contractor. He explained that this was how he hired contractors as he wanted a tradesman that was not afraid to get up early to do a days work.

I don't know if I myself would use this criteria but I thought it is an interesting way of hiring.