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That was what I was implying. Whether it's the employee or the owner coming out, the business is charging $75 no matter what before any work is performed. Then it's an hourly rate after that and then whatever parts are needed.
I had my HVAC unit replaced in October 2019. I have an older home, so I don't have a heat pump and then the air conditioning unit. Mine is all one unit sold as a combo unit. I priced these units, and for a 2 ton unit, it ranged between $2.2k - 2.5k. Cool! This won't be as expensive as I've always heard. Wrong! Ended up paying $4,600 total with $2k going right into the pockets of the company.
You know what? I can't install a HVAC unit and guarantee that it will work. I also can't move the failed unit either. So my HVAC company received over $2k from me for about 3 hours of work. Why would you go to college when you could realize that fat of a margin?!?!?
I was 35 at the time and I wished I was 15 years younger. I would have signed up for HVAC trade school that day.
I have a friend from church who runs an HVAC business. It is not that simple. Homeowners always think this when they write a big check for work that they only get done on their house once every 20 years, that these companies just roll in the dough.
They do alright but it's a lot of work and the techs on the team took a long time to gain the skill, and many years of building that skill making only working class wages the equivalent of about $15-20 an hour today. That is better than $10 an hour as a service worker but it is more skilled too.
Also, work in the construction trades is directly related to the health of residential and commercial real estate. If you were in the construction trades in my area in 2008, chances were about 60% that you got laid off, and then didn't get work for 4-5 years until the housing market recovered. I had a contractor friend that from 2004-2007 his jobs were off the hook, he was working 60+ hours a week making huge bank, and then he literally did not get called from 2009 to 2012. Luckily he had saved money and had some side gigs.
Whereas a college graduate probably jumped that tech by 10 years, getting a salaried job that is less vulnerable to recession. What people take for granted in the college vs. trades discussion is the CONSISTENCY of college-level employment. Their unemployment rates during recessions are much lower, for some fields they are practically recession proof, evein in the worst of times with U/E rates in the 5-6% range. While trades are in the 10-15% range. So they don't have this issue of occasional extended unemployment that people with careers in the trades will have to manage.
I have a friend from church who runs an HVAC business. It is not that simple. Homeowners always think this when they write a big check for work that they only get done on their house once every 20 years, that these companies just roll in the dough.
They do alright but it's a lot of work and the techs on the team took a long time to gain the skill, and many years of building that skill making only working class wages the equivalent of about $15-20 an hour today. That is better than $10 an hour as a service worker but it is more skilled too.
Also, work in the construction trades is directly related to the health of residential and commercial real estate. If you were in the construction trades in my area in 2008, chances were about 60% that you got laid off, and then didn't get work for 4-5 years until the housing market recovered. I had a contractor friend that from 2004-2007 his jobs were off the hook, he was working 60+ hours a week making huge bank, and then he literally did not get called from 2009 to 2012. Luckily he had saved money and had some side gigs.
Whereas a college graduate probably jumped that tech by 10 years, getting a salaried job that is less vulnerable to recession. What people take for granted in the college vs. trades discussion is the CONSISTENCY of college-level employment. Their unemployment rates during recessions are much lower, for some fields they are practically recession proof, evein in the worst of times with U/E rates in the 5-6% range. While trades are in the 10-15% range. So they don't have this issue of occasional extended unemployment that people with careers in the trades will have to manage.
If you absolutely hate the work, and especially if you get into a job with low/slow opportunities for advancement or earning power, you'll harbor an unhealthy relationship for college. Maybe you weren't meant to go. The worst reason to go is because your parents expect it.
College degree-requiring jobs are the absolute worst for taking free-market liberties with wages in down times, too. Require a bachelor's and pay $12/hr, or have a HS diploma, make $10, and when you clock out, you leave your worries behind.
I do not like what I saw happen to qualified (ahem, "over qualified") candidates in the last recession, and I saw the worst of it happen to experienced, college graduates.
If you're afraid they'll leave as soon as they find better pay, why do you think you can pay them bottom dollar and save any money, if you don't think it will last? How will you get anyone (fresh grad, experienced) to stay? They'll jump for the same opportunity.
To put it in perspective... I make more than you, with only a high school diploma, managing a plumbing company.
I should have become a plumber! lol
But that's what I'm saying. You don't need a great degree to make good money. My husband makes almost 140 k salary a year, base pay and not including overtime. The best part is, he only has HS diploma and a certificate.
Thousands have already reported busted pipes and the real damage won't be known until the weather warms. We had a similar freeze in '89 that resulted in massive broken pipes.
I dont think busted pipe repairs requires a permit though. They should just be able to get any handymen, or do it themselves. The bust should be easy to find. There will be water marks. From that point, it just cut and solder. Its easy. Every man should know how, and this is Texas we are talking about.
I just now heard a report regarding Plumbers being in VERY HIGH DEMAND in Texas due to all the residential water damage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weezerfan84
That's a no brainer. Plumbers will be in demand for alot of the southern region that just experienced a week of historically low temps. I live in Arkansas and I drove into work on Wednesday at -4 degrees. I'm 37, and I can only remember a couple of times that temps even reached single digits. We had to ration natural gas in my area for 2-3 days and experienced rolling blackouts in the area. This impacted many small businesses as many closed for (2) days, as it was recommended that they constrict their gas usage to 0%. That covenant has since been lifted and we're back to normal.
We were not prepared for this, but Texas was even less prepared. North Texas has also been in a pretty sizeable real estate boom the last 5-7 years. I imagine a good amount of this will be fixed from people pulling equity out of their home if they have costly repairs.
But once that repair is done, then what? Will they make enough to sustain them for a year or two until the next big polar vortex occurs. Actually perhaps people decide to get generators in prep for power outages, then no burst pipes, and no need for plumbing.
That's a no brainer. Plumbers will be in demand for alot of the southern region that just experienced a week of historically low temps. I live in Arkansas and I drove into work on Wednesday at -4 degrees. I'm 37, and I can only remember a couple of times that temps even reached single digits. We had to ration natural gas in my area for 2-3 days and experienced rolling blackouts in the area. This impacted many small businesses as many closed for (2) days, as it was recommended that they constrict their gas usage to 0%. That covenant has since been lifted and we're back to normal.
We were not prepared for this, but Texas was even less prepared. North Texas has also been in a pretty sizeable real estate boom the last 5-7 years. I imagine a good amount of this will be fixed from people pulling equity out of their home if they have costly repairs.
Water damage aint that hard or expensive to fix. Just shut down the water main to limit the water leaking out. Cut open the sheetrock, and just cut and solder pipes. The most expensive part is hiring labor if you can do it yourself.
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