Little history....I quit doing residential work and got hired on a large commercial shop to start my commercial career.....During the hiring process they found out my resi experience and hired me.....They have since bounced me around until a small resi/ commercial romex job was ready for me to run...They do do some resi work however it is hit and miss somewhat....My question is what would be there loss to picking up more resi work?....They already have all the overhead covered and it doesnt seem to me that they have anything to lose.....Maybe they see it as headache and just want bigger work.....Any thoughts??? I am pondering on proposing something to the boss...What do you think?
What would you do?
- Thread starter splinetto
- Start date
- Status
brantmacga
Señor Member
- Location
- Georgia
- Occupation
- Former Child
splinetto said:
what type of residential work are we talking about? tract homes?
you can make money doing anything as long as your correctly tooled for it.
do you have plenty of low wage workers that can knock out a house a day in two/three man teams? if so, go for it.
you'll just have to talk to the boss about it to see what the operating costs are and how quick you can turn these things. he may be willing to take it simply for filler work.
I was thinking tract homes if only for a med to large builder, apartments and customs..There are plenty of guys at the hall waiting for a job so the work force is available...And Im not wanting to get in over my head more of a process of getting th right people in the right placesbrantmacga said:
ceb58
Senior Member
- Location
- Raeford, NC
splinetto said:
Your boss may be wise to only use resd. as filler work. When you get into tract homes your profit margin goes way down because the builders want the cheapest and then beat you down from that. The commercial side you can still make a good profit and be competitive when biding but what you are counting on is the change orders and hope there is a lot of them.
I can see that...But you get the same on resi work but not on the same scale....Who's company made more money, per person?.....#1 My buddy who is wiring a custom house that will take him 2 years to finish, #2 A guy a part of a 30 man crew on a large job or #3 A guy who wires tract house?....I know there alot of variables but doesnt it depend on productivity?...I had a point but I lost itceb58 said:
cadpoint
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Electrician - but not by NC Law.
splinetto said:
Did they state that when you where hired ? ?
Is this your observation, or over-all assesment ? How's the work completion over-all, what do you mean by hit or miss, you being applied to the work situation or the application to You > ? Surely, not the latter.
Maybe the company is weak in residental and you are well postioned as you seem to not understand, JMO.
I'd finish everything with gusto!
Besides how where you hired, what was said, what was your pitch, what's in your file? Most companies have good understanding of the enviroment and what their hiring for. Companies, people and even animals (("Sometimes")) see more in ourselves then we can ever see a mirror.
Besides after all that, you could be the man, let them talk to you after your probation "?" and your work will talk for itself...
Last edited:
cadpoint said:Did they state that when you where hired ? ?
Is this your observation, or over-all assesment ? How's the work completion over-all, what do you mean by hit or miss, you being applied to the work situation or the application to You > ? Surely, not the latter.
Maybe the company is weak in residental and you are well postioned as you seem to not understand, JMO.
I'd finish everything with gusto!
Besides how where you hired, what was said, what was your pitch, what's in your file? Most companies have good understanding of the enviroment and what their hiring for. Companies, people and even animals (("Sometimes")) see more in us then we can ever see a mirror.
Im confused
cadpoint
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Electrician - but not by NC Law.
Your in the correct postion, your work will shine in this light commerical, I think your in like flint...
Companies do this all the time.
Companies do this all the time.
cadpoint
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Electrician - but not by NC Law.
Besides, people do walk in and say, " I can do this, this, and this ", where did you have that in your interview? And its presented on your resume. The company didn't hire short for themselves.
What did You say, what did they say, Confused gezz, go read up on interviewing, I look at them as practice...
Either one deliviers or other things happen ... its all cause and effect... at the simplist levels
What did You say, what did they say, Confused gezz, go read up on interviewing, I look at them as practice...
Either one deliviers or other things happen ... its all cause and effect... at the simplist levels
I walked in and was asked how much pipe bending experience do I have and I said not much....They were hiring for a project with alot of pipe....I was their for a commercial job so I didnt feel resi experience was very neccasary to explain in detail....However the guy found out my exper from a third party and hired me saying you are the type of person we are looking for....we have a job you would be perfect for Do you want to run it....Now I am running it....I was bounced around because the job wasnt ready yet when they hired me..cadpoint said:
ohm
Senior Member
- Location
- Birmingham, AL
With large companies as soon as they find out you're really good at something they will have you doing only that ...for years on end. Not good, if you want other experience. Sounds lke you could have retained your senority and stayed at your res. job.
But, the time may come when they need someone for a commercial job and you jump in and do a great job!
Get some scrap pipe, take it home and practice until you're really good. Take a commercial wiring course at a community college. Read all you can about the topic. Your day will come.
But, the time may come when they need someone for a commercial job and you jump in and do a great job!
Get some scrap pipe, take it home and practice until you're really good. Take a commercial wiring course at a community college. Read all you can about the topic. Your day will come.
ohm
Senior Member
- Location
- Birmingham, AL
splinetto said:
Sounds like a good move..hang in there!
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
I guess I'd be a failure. I'm good at almost everything. :wink:ohm said:
frizbeedog
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon
cadpoint said:Maybe the company is weak in residental and you are well postioned as you seem to not understand, JMO.
Companies, people and even animals (("Sometimes")) see more in ourselves then we can ever see a mirror.
Besides after all that, you could be the man, let them talk to you after your probation "?" and your work will talk for itself...
Nice insights.
He could very well end up running/managing thier resi. dept.
Go after one thing...end up with something better mabey.
Serendipity.
ceb58
Senior Member
- Location
- Raeford, NC
splinetto said:
#1 Custom homes are a different story. You do make more money, you think, but after you get through adding up the time spent holding someones hand through the job, and the headaches it might be worth it.
#2 A 30 man crew would eat a lot of overhead. You would need some nice commercial work to keep every one busy and make money. You would need a lot of houses to keep a crew that size going.
#3 Forget making a lot of money on trac homes. A friend of mine was doing trac homes for a builder. When things in housing were good his crew of 3 men were roughing in 2 houses a week. The houses were staged so the crew could come back and trim 3 a week. However, after every thing was said and done his profit was $200.00 per house and they were doing about 75 per year. He did this to keep a crew working while other crews were doing small commercial and service calls. His residential crew is now gone. The builder is now sitting on over 200 homes.
In your post you said that guys were sitting around the hall waiting on work. By that I gather you mean union. If your boss tries to bid trac housing using union labor and he bids against some one not using union labor he will loose.
Productivity is the bottom line. If you walk in to a commercial job with a clear set of prints you know what needs to be done and where. The faster you get in and out the better the bottom line. You walk into a resd. job with no idea what is wanted and or where, never had a set of prints where any thing was where it was supposed to be, so you start laying things out trying to figure where every thing is going. Then you get started. More time spent less money made
That is somewhat my thoughts.....Every comm guy ive worked with says something like why would you tell them you can do that work...It seems like no one there wants to do it....Well Ill do it and if they get more work Ill run it and so on...frizbeedog said:
- Status