laid off plumber

[J.S.]

IM a journeyman plumber, mostly new construction, things are very slow here. It looks like a lot of you guys are in service or commercial, how are things going in your areas of expertise.

[aero1]

hate to hear that but not unexpected, in columbia new housing is at a stand still, new construction is staying steady, with fort jackson the university and being that columbia is the capitol things are steady, service wise everyday is a new life and some day are better than others. fortunately were not getting it as bad as others, ive got a brother in michigan in the plumbing business as he's getting the sh#T kicked out of him. good luck to all.

[Masterplumb]

Sorry to hear your situation. Here in Westchester County things are still very good.

[Aaron91]

Sorry to hear that.

Things are very slow here in Maryland. Residential Construction is pretty much at a stand still.

[Tyman]

I am in northern Indiana on the service side and it is mediocre at best.

Sorry to hear you are laid off. Is this your first time being laid off?

Due to many factory closings, auto suppliers moving to Mexico and trailer factory guys being let go, we have increased our share of hacks/handymen.

Suddenly because they worked on a fifth wheel they are capable of doing plumbing, electrical and carpentry. This is great for them because they don't turn it in as income, don't pay taxes and still get their unemployment checks. Sorry for the rant.

[westcoastplumber]

This is great for them because they don't turn it in as income, don't pay taxes and still get their unemployment checks. Sorry for the rant.


I agree!!

Sorry for your situation, hang in there and it will all work out. when one door closes another opens:D

service / repair is fine here, new construction is still ok, although I hear the new bids are at a stand still, I suspect in 6-8 months most of the new construction will migrate over to service / repair if our current situation does not change.

[NorthernIllinoisPlumber]

At least the hacks will give me something to fix.:clapping:

[NHMaster3015]

Within the past four months, six of the guys attending my apprentice course have been laid off by their companies. I tell them all the same thing. MOVE. None of them want to hear it because naturally their friends and family are here. But the reality is that if you are comitted to the trade and intend to stay with it, you need to be where the action is.

[J.S.]

I was offered a 6mo. job in Oklahoma unfortunately there pay scale was $8 an hour less. By the time i paid for a hotel room and drove home on weekends it would hardly be more than unemployment. I have little ones or I would not come home as often to save gas

[plumberscrack]

The condo boom has finally slowed down some here. Not because of the economy so much as the market is just saturated. No more 300-400 unit complexes going up anymore. Still bidding on lots of small to mid size jobs (less than 60 units) Seems like GC's are shopping around more. Bids offers coming in everyday.

The Southeast Waterfront revitalization project in full gear now that the new Nationals Stadium is open. New tower crains blanket the skyline.

Guys calling all the time from surrounding areas looking for work here. Some from over 100 miles away in West Virginia.

Service is a little slow but it always is this time of year.

Getting harder to talk someone into a replacement faucet than a rebuild.

[J.S.]

Im not complaining or at least i hope im not. I was really just curious about the rest of the country's plumbing market.http://www.ridgidforum.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Ace Sewer]

No installs, just drain cleaning...'07 was up 15% from '06, 08' going strong, slowed down last 10 days or so but that is typical seasonal slowdown.
Economy in general strong here, housing market a little soft; no real price drop but things take longer to sell. That has impacted the new construction a little, but not that much. Overall OK here, still plenty of work, but if the rest of the country stays in the doldrums it will catch up to us eventually.

[ToUtahNow]

J.S.,

There will always be slow downs in construction every decade or so. The trick is to be diverse enough to find the niches in the business no one else can do.

Good luck-Mark

[DUNBAR]

Strong and steady in Ky/Oh from a service plumber's perspective.

Plumbing supply houses are hurting, they have been working off a skeleton crew for quite some time. The counter looks like an abandoned building sometimes.

I'm getting people pricing more than before but my repeat base keeps something going on every week. Here soon I'd have enough to keep a plumber running 40hrs a week with no problem between two businesses.

[Birddoggiest]

Still Ok here in the Northwest. Tracks have slowed but high-end is still Ok. I have been getting beat up a little more lately on bids. Union work is still strong.

[drtyhands]

At least the hacks will give me something to fix.:clapping:

That's how I look at it?

Now with the slow down I can help my people with their service issues saving them from paying a service technician who has no clue how to put plumbing in to code overinflated prices to pay for a full page add in the yellow pages:eek::p

J.S.
I am sorry,Hang in there.It's never easy.We never want the good times to end.This is my third recession.But our clensing period has been too long in the coming.The spoiled are over abundant.people are getting ripped off too frequently.Too many hogs getting fat off gravy.

Unfortunately good people like yourself are affected during this time.

Like Robert/Westcoast said everything happens for a reason.Last one I had just gotten my license and thought I was a rock-star just because I knew how to design systems and run crews for custom and production residential.What a fool I was.

God had a different plan for me.I spent the next four years in hard commercial.Helped me add major arrows to my quiver.

What are your options over there.

Commercial and custom are like wildfire out here.Alot of people with alot of money they've made this last good run.

Adam

[MrsSeatDown]

I had just gotten my license and thought I was a rock-star

Adam

Explains the long hair:rotflmao1:

[PLUMBER RICK]

truthfully the supply houses that i go to are very busy. waited over 30 minutes last week on a will call and that's with 6 counter guys.

my normal service area has lots of major remodels and construction going on.

typically i see a slow down around tax time:(, but not so far this year.

try getting a second niche. drain cleaning is not that dirty of a job and in your case it will supplement what your normal weekly check is. even a call a week is decent to start. this will also allow you to build up your customer contacts and allow you to walk into a service and repair business while still doing new construction.

it worked for me when i gave up new work in 1994.

good luck and welcome to the forum. stick around and you might find a good contact here:)

rick.

[J.S.]

truthfully the supply houses that i go to are very busy. waited over 30 minutes last week on a will call and that's with 6 counter guys.

my normal service area has lots of major remodels and construction going on.

typically i see a slow down around tax time:(, but not so far this year.

try getting a second niche. drain cleaning is not that dirty of a job and in your case it will supplement what your normal weekly check is. even a call a week is decent to start. this will also allow you to build up your customer contacts and allow you to walk into a service and repair business while still doing new construction.

it worked for me when i gave up new work in 1994.

good luck and welcome to the forum. stick around and you might find a good contact here:)

rick.
rick last night i purchased a ridgid k-400 drum mach. because i was thicking the same thing that you said. And then i found this ridgid site. after reading reveiws on this mach. I knew i was under powered. Never cabling before i was scared off from some of the horror stories about cables getting stuck or broke off or even ruining sewer lines but im still thinking about it. I did return the mach. this morning

[PLUMBER RICK]

rick last night i purchased a ridgid k-400 drum mach. because i was thicking the same thing that you said. And then i found this ridgid site. after reading reveiws on this mach. I knew i was under powered. Never cabling before i was scared off from some of the horror stories about cables getting stuck or broke off or even ruining sewer lines but im still thinking about it. I did return the mach. this morning

good call;)

truthfully, i am going to recommend 1 machine that will do 90-95% of what you'll run into. problem is, it's 4 times the cost of a k-400.
good news is it's 4 times the machine of a k-400.

does anyone here know what machine i could be thinking of:D:smack-head::confused:

j.s. since you're new to the forum, lets just say i have a thing for the k-60.

it takes up very little room and with the 5/8'' and 7/8'' cables, you'll be able to clean 1.5'' - 6'' lines.

do a little search on the k-60 and you'll see my point.

even better, come to the roundup in june and i'll give you a hands on demo:clapping:.

also a k-39 with dual auto feed is a good choice for sinks if you want a quick fast machine.

once again, nothing wrong with drain cleaning. i probably do more drain related calls than normal plumbing calls at this point.

rick.

[Big Dog]

Here in Texas, it seems to still be going well. I'm not a plumber, but I've been trying to hire one!!!:D Everyone one has so much going on, most of them don't even call back. Either business is good, or my reputation preceeds me:eek:

[AFM]

rick last night i purchased a ridgid k-400 drum mach. because i was thicking the same thing that you said. And then i found this ridgid site. after reading reveiws on this mach. I knew i was under powered. Never cabling before i was scared off from some of the horror stories about cables getting stuck or broke off or even ruining sewer lines but im still thinking about it. I did return the mach. this morning

The best thing about being a plumber is, it is so interesting as you never know what the job is going to involve and getting a cable stuck down a sewerage pipe is just one of them, and the relief of getting it out after all the swearing cursing, so get a sewer machine and get out there as this will give you an edge on your opposition and another string to your plumbing bow.


Tony:bash: