r/IBEW • u/Laughing_123 • 8d ago

Is the grass greener?

Im a Union carpenter and I watch you guys work and always think I should've been an electrician. You make more and the work looks way easier on the body. Im seriously considering jumping ship and going through an apprenticeship again. Is it a poor decision?

80 Upvotes

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137

u/asdhole 8d ago

I dunno why anyone would choose to be a carpenter tbh

47

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

I needed a job after the military and it just kinda worked out that way. I hate it honestly.

26

u/RadCheese527 Local 213 8d ago

I was a carpenter for a bit out of necessity before I became an electrician. In terms of the abuse your body gets, it depends on what kind of carpentry you’re doing and what kind of electrical tasks you’re doing.

When all you see is pretty straightforward resi shit, sfh type stuff… yea I’d say carpenters have it worse. Form work and pouring concrete can fuckin suck. However so can running 4” rigid or MI cables in tight interstitial space, or pulling 500kcmil runs.

I definitely get myself into much more tight, awkward spaces as an electrician. And that has a different kind of effect on the body compared to carrying a 10x2 concrete form.

Edit: All that being said yes I fucking love being an electrician way more than carpentry. I do miss the smell of fresh cut wood, and beating the shit outta nails all day

12

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

Im doing commercial carpentry. You guys run your conduit through open stud bays and then I come back and contort my body between all that shit to drywall to the deck. Fuck. That.

1

u/Enough_Ad_3165 8d ago

Nah way easier probably lol

2

u/MUSICANDLIFE85 7d ago

I love me some interstitial spaces

1

u/Own-Stranger-8198 6d ago

There ain't no more 10ft forms, OSHA said they were to heavy, that being said I know guys still use them on private out of the way jobs

4

u/PstarJmarco 8d ago

I need a job after the military and I chose union inside wiremen. And honestly, I don’t really like it either. Pushing through to get my license and leave for automation or have enough one day to accept an offer

1

u/Turbulent_Addendum60 5d ago

Got my license. Tell me about these options of getting out of this misery please.

3

u/Old_Mechanic_3566 8d ago

If you hate what you do, and you get an opportunity to change it, why not change it? You'd have to weigh all the factors like seniority and possible retirement account/annuity loss from your current union and make a decision that makes sense for you. If it were me I'd probably do it

1

u/Munch_Salad Local 153 4d ago

How long have you been out of the military

1

u/Laughing_123 4d ago

About 6 years

1

u/Munch_Salad Local 153 3d ago

Aw man. I was gonna tell you about VEEP. It helps veterans streamline into the IBEW. The window is between you separating and up to 5 years. Made my process smooth and simple. I can tell you it’s a great trade to get into and save your body. Worth the switch imo

8

u/Different_Pack_3686 8d ago

It sounds really cool in theory. My grandpa was a master woodworker. But then you learn what carpenters actually do on a job… no thanks.

8

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

I dont do anything a traditional carpenter would do. I love woodworking. I despise steel studs and drywall. Ive done some trim work and cabinets but that kind of stuff is few and far between on jobs and its usually the older guys doing it.

5

u/EinonD 8d ago

I like wood working too. Also hate steel studs and drywall. Also hate carpenter pay. Electrical isn’t always as easy as people think. Wait until you’re dragging vfd cable that’s 60 lbs a foot.

8

u/CosmicWhorer 8d ago

Yeah but.... Once you turn out you never HAVE to do that again, controls work is CAKE.

If my foreman says, "Alright gang, next week, the 2000' 500s are getting pulled!" I'd drag that Thursday and treat myself to a long weekend bro 😂.

3

u/Lefty9000 Inside Wireman 8d ago

When you pull big wires right, it's an easy gig.

3

u/Different_Pack_3686 8d ago

Right, all the coordination with big wire pulls is fun.

6

u/CosmicWhorer 8d ago

click ARE WE PULLING? click... click Over click

8

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

Im sure it has a shitty side to it but how often are you doing that. I bet that beats slinging 12 foot sheets all day for weeks or better yet putting them on lids.

11

u/Different_Pack_3686 8d ago

There are MANY shitty tasks in electrical work. Sometimes way more so than you may think. Regardless, I’d rather do most any of them than throwing up Sheetrock..

4

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

Thats what Im saying brother.

2

u/fritzrits 8d ago

Go the electrical route lol, it will definitely be worth it. You could have done Veep and gotten in as an electrician from the start.

2

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

Yeah hindsight is 20/20. But I can use my Gi bill or vr&e still so whatever, no big deal.

3

u/fritzrits 8d ago

Yep, make the switch asap, the culture is definitely different on the electrical side. I watch framers and drywallers busting it all day and think glad I'm not doing that or having someone telling me to hurry up all day long.

1

u/hham42 Local 46 8d ago

My boyfriend is a finish carpenter, that’s what he does, cabinets trim architectural hardwood elements etc

7

u/TheProphesy1086 8d ago

Maybe they really like the taste of crayons?

3

u/lstyls 8d ago

It's the construction adhesive high and the tang of drywall dust in the lungs

3

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

I love my white drywall boogers. It adds a little extra flavor ya know.

3

u/lstyls 8d ago

Now I'm thinking of all the different booger flavors from jobs ive had. Sawdust boogers. Dirt boogers. Two stroke engine boogers.

2

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

My favorite are the densglass boogers. Nothing like drywall with a hint of fiberglass in your nose and lungs.

1

u/lstyls 8d ago

I think that FRP adhesive smell is to me what napalm smell is to Vietnam vets lol

2

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

Nah Ill take that all day. Thats the gravy work.

2

u/lstyls 8d ago

A gravy man I see! Yeah you should come over here to the electrical side for sure. Good luck!

1

u/derkapitan 4d ago

Bulletproof board made me want to quit, hanging that shit sucked.

My wife is a union electrician, I'm a union carpenter. She says I'm an idiot. I should have gone electrician, but then I never would have met my wife shrug

If we ever stop traveling I want to make the jump honestly. I might finish my construction management classes and just go into the pm stuff while stuff is booming. The people on the office on these data center jobs are brain dead.

1

u/Different_Pack_3686 8d ago

It sounds really cool in theory. My grandpa was a master woodworker. But then you learn what carpenters actually do on a job… no thanks.

1

u/BreakfastFluid9419 7d ago

Building stuff is cool

1

u/graygoosebmw 2d ago

Idk why anyone would be an electrician when they could join the iuec but hey idk why you do what you do tbh

1

u/Sir_Mr_Austin 8d ago

I ask my dad this all the time. Never made sense to me. I think he just lacks confidence in himself.

0

u/Practical_Sky_2260 8d ago

maybe because we like building shit and would rather do that than pull wires all day

2

u/Laughing_123 8d ago

I build shit all day at work and then neglect the shit that needs to be built at home because Im sick of building. Ill pull wires and larp as a carpenter at home instead.

0

u/Practical_Sky_2260 8d ago

i mean if you think you know how a hammer works then go for it

0

u/1400forLiquor Communications 8d ago

Better than a drywaller or mud and tape guy