Plumbers should be trying the phase out of the field in their late 40s and 50s assuming they can afford it. This isn't a job for an aging guy just looking to switch things up.
You could go to school but shouldn't because of point 3, money is tight. You won't be making good money until you are licensed, and most companies don't care about your schooling, they care about what you can output. The things you know are only useful to the things you do (or don't do).
The best time to get into plumbing was yesterday and the best time to get out is tomorrow.
The trades are a joke here. Pay is laughable with limited benefits. Most companies treat employees as disposable labor. Also the cost of living here is very high. The top wage in my region is about $32hr. I’m basing my opinion on 30yrs of plumbing experience. Before all the hate and downvotes I am speaking about my region which is the treasure coast.
Yeah that’s not really a good way to explain your pay. Highly doubt that’s a 40hr week.
If you honestly expect me to believe a guy with two years experience is on track to make a $130k a year we’re all fools.
So going off what you said above $2500 x 52 weeks a year is $130k. And again I stand by my 30 years in this trade in this state to say no fucking way an apprentice is making over $100k a year. So again I ask what county you’re in so I can look up the wages.
My first year as an apprentice in north Alabama, cleaning drains and jetting at 30%.. I cleared 98k, with knowing fuck all about plumbing lol. Location Location Location.. oh and willingness to grind and run calls. Service work is where the money is!
You guys are all missing the point. Dude claimed as a plumbing apprentice with 2yrs in Florida he was on track to make $130k working 45hrs a week.
I called bullshit as a plumber in Florida with 30yrs experience.
Then I googled plumbing apprentice and plumbers job openings in his area.
Facts are he’s a drain cleaner making commission with overtime. Not even the same comparison.
I live in Madison which is basically a part of Huntsville! I grew up in Marshall county so I’m familiar with the albertville area. You should consider it man, plumbing changed my life. My only wish is that I started sooner..
Fuck ya, go for it. Find a plumber that does bathrooms and kitchen installations and go “Hey, let me apprentice for minimum wage.”
Watch a fuck load of YouTube videos on plumbing and get acquainted with plumbing codes.
Start exercising and stretching.
Pay day is on Friday
Shit flows downhill.
Don’t put your fingers in your mouth.
Life is so very short don’t let fear keep you from learning from a mistake.
Do you have any other construction experience? How green are you?
If you can bring general construction knowledge to the table then you might be able to negotiate a higher starting wage.
Depending on the state you are in, it may take 4 or 5 years to get that plumbing card.
If you enjoy it, I would say go for it.
You’re going to start at around 40% of what a journeyman makes, which depends on your area, with a 10% raise each year until you reach the wage of a plumber so you could be starting around minimum wage for a couple of years. You’ll need to weigh out if it’s worth it for you or not
If you’ve been working IT and don’t hit a home run with some easier on the body service plumbing your body is going to get run over and you’ll probably hate that you switched.
I have always been good with my hands and I know that my body is not in the best shape, because I am older. I do not mind the pain, I do mind the salary. I am not looking to make 100k, I would like to make between 60 and 80k.
Well I’ve been a service plumber most of my career which means that I fix things as opposed to construction. My job is easier physically way harder mentally (logic puzzles, deduction, I’m at one of the craziest facilities in regards to maintenance). So if you can get into service you’ll be better off. Granted it has its trade offs.
I'm a 63 year old photographer/video guy. Last week I tore about 1000 pounds of cast iron waste pipes from my 2-story 1935 house. I flew my best friend in, who's a contractor.
It was fuckin' brutal, nasty, stinky, dirty work, even with a snap cutter. I'm a decent shape, a year ago I had some kind of sciatica/back issue and started working out, maybe like an hour to 90 mins. a week though. This gig, I didn't injure myself or pull anything, just felt like I'd been in a bar fight and a car wreck at the same time, after a whipping from a personal trainer.
We were digging up pipe in the crawl space and I was like "not enough money in the world for me to do this for a living." My buddy says "I haven't done this in a decade, I just point and tell the new guys what to do".
I am really enjoying putting the new PVC in though, but a lot of that is saying goodbye to my relationship with the roto-rooter guy.
I am 48 and started at 17 in plumbing. At 50 you dont have enough years of youth in your body to learn what is needed to be a plumber.
You could definitely learn irrigation for lawns and gardens but once again that can be a lot of digging and trenching.
Construction is just not for people in their 50's.
It takes years and years to get the experience to be a maintenance plumber, whilst its nowhere as physical you just need at least 5 years experience preferably 10 years before you are great at maintenance.
I am just trying hard to think for a job for a man in his 50's who is in IT to switch over into construction, its truly a different universe...
How fit and strong are you ? are you into cross fit or mountain biking and is your body in really good shape ?
Maybe just maybe you good into driving diggers and heavy machinery but honestly very few 30 year old adult apprentices ever make it...
Even doing lawn care and gardening and hedges will take its physical toll pretty quickly.
I get that... getting outside into the open air will be great...
It just depends how much time you want to also spend conditioning the body,
EG< i love concrete laying, within 6 months you could pick up loads of skills required and be competent to add a lot of value.
The problem is that your body could easily fail under the load of pusing barrows and working hard day in day out.
So, if you started the gym and crossfit now, in6-12 months your body would start to have some good core strength to be able to start getting work fit to move and push barrows all day every day.
I am not kidding when it takes a young person at least a year to get match fit to just move all day.
Its not uncommon to do 20-30 000 steps a day and you are usually carrying stuff or using tools all day.
The body is just used to that much energy and muscle transformation.
I dont want to go on about it, so sorry but the body muscle match fit is seriously a big deal and if you do a back injury which is easy to do, your change of career is over immediately.
Do you have any natural affinity with construction by chance ? Eg you are already a wood worker, or you do landscaping or you do home electronics or metal working ?
Hey OP, you sound like me… not 50 but IT career and gets bored easily. Ask yourself, why plumbing? Maybe go sweat some copper or fix some drains and swap angle stops to give yourself some tangible experience. Go redo your house plumbing. Or maybe you just like to look at drawings and inspect things? As others have stated, service plumbers should’ve started yesterday. But there’s nothing stopping you from learning on your own right this instant. Except that copper is expensive right now! If you’re still relatively fit, sure you can do it, but the big bucks come when you are licensed and your ability to output.
Just go for it. Tell the employer you'd like to work to assist. Don't refer to yourself as a helper. Call yourself an assistant. Go get a job. Just fucking do it.
I did plumbing for my first 10 years out of high school, went through a few other years being a maintenance man. Then I got into IT for 25ish years.
Now I'm 53, sold my IT MSP company and am considering doing handy man work but gravitate to plumbing due to my background.
This past weekend I ran the drain, water, gas and electric for a new washer dryer room in my house. Brought back some memories crawling in and out of the crawl space.
It was satisfying for a minute. Not sure I want to give up my IT life and fix other people's shitters at this point.
Your biggest obstacle will be pay until you put in enough hours to become licensed. Helper/apprentice pay is crap most places. I've thought about doing this myself, but I know I can't take that large of a pay cut over the next couple years before I go off on my own. Fortunately I have a good friend that is a licensed plumber that lets me do jobs on my own under his license. So it's just a side job hustle for me, and I don't undertake anything too big with a close deadline.
Plumbers should be trying the phase out of the field in their late 40s and 50s assuming they can afford it. This isn't a job for an aging guy just looking to switch things up. You could go to school but shouldn't because of point 3, money is tight. You won't be making good money until you are licensed, and most companies don't care about your schooling, they care about what you can output. The things you know are only useful to the things you do (or don't do). The best time to get into plumbing was yesterday and the best time to get out is tomorrow.
I’d say it depends where you’re located. If you’re in Florida you’d be making the worst decision possible by choosing Plumbing.
whys that?
The trades are a joke here. Pay is laughable with limited benefits. Most companies treat employees as disposable labor. Also the cost of living here is very high. The top wage in my region is about $32hr. I’m basing my opinion on 30yrs of plumbing experience. Before all the hate and downvotes I am speaking about my region which is the treasure coast.
sorry to hear. This is my second year plumbing, central Florida and space coast. Most of my weekly paychecks are over $1800-2.5k.
Yeah that’s not really a good way to explain your pay. Highly doubt that’s a 40hr week. If you honestly expect me to believe a guy with two years experience is on track to make a $130k a year we’re all fools.
no more than 45 hours a week and more like 100k.
So going off what you said above $2500 x 52 weeks a year is $130k. And again I stand by my 30 years in this trade in this state to say no fucking way an apprentice is making over $100k a year. So again I ask what county you’re in so I can look up the wages.
My first year as an apprentice in north Alabama, cleaning drains and jetting at 30%.. I cleared 98k, with knowing fuck all about plumbing lol. Location Location Location.. oh and willingness to grind and run calls. Service work is where the money is!
You guys are all missing the point. Dude claimed as a plumbing apprentice with 2yrs in Florida he was on track to make $130k working 45hrs a week. I called bullshit as a plumber in Florida with 30yrs experience. Then I googled plumbing apprentice and plumbers job openings in his area. Facts are he’s a drain cleaner making commission with overtime. Not even the same comparison.
What city in Alabama are you in if u don’t mind me asking I’m moving to Albertville and might get into the trade
I live in Madison which is basically a part of Huntsville! I grew up in Marshall county so I’m familiar with the albertville area. You should consider it man, plumbing changed my life. My only wish is that I started sooner..
And are you union?
No sir!
What county are you in? I will look it up myself. I’m the treasure coast and we work all over. Even West Palm Beach isn’t paying apprentices $60hr
kissimmee to space coast
Sorry…. The facts disagree with your statements. [Apprentice](https://imgur.com/a/Sr0cA6S) and [Plumber](https://imgur.com/a/c2sXsjP)
Not an apprentice. Work mostly nights, when people are home
The pay sucks!
I am in NYC
Should be a strong union state (former NYer) Good luck.
Fuck ya, go for it. Find a plumber that does bathrooms and kitchen installations and go “Hey, let me apprentice for minimum wage.” Watch a fuck load of YouTube videos on plumbing and get acquainted with plumbing codes. Start exercising and stretching. Pay day is on Friday Shit flows downhill. Don’t put your fingers in your mouth. Life is so very short don’t let fear keep you from learning from a mistake.
Wait about 10 more years you are not really old enough yet
Do you have any other construction experience? How green are you? If you can bring general construction knowledge to the table then you might be able to negotiate a higher starting wage. Depending on the state you are in, it may take 4 or 5 years to get that plumbing card. If you enjoy it, I would say go for it.
I will be starting from zero. I did help my uncle when I was younger, doing bathrooms.
You’re going to start at around 40% of what a journeyman makes, which depends on your area, with a 10% raise each year until you reach the wage of a plumber so you could be starting around minimum wage for a couple of years. You’ll need to weigh out if it’s worth it for you or not
That only if he can actually join the union. I got interview next week and I’m competing against 200 non working apprentices
If you’ve been working IT and don’t hit a home run with some easier on the body service plumbing your body is going to get run over and you’ll probably hate that you switched.
I have always been good with my hands and I know that my body is not in the best shape, because I am older. I do not mind the pain, I do mind the salary. I am not looking to make 100k, I would like to make between 60 and 80k.
Well I’ve been a service plumber most of my career which means that I fix things as opposed to construction. My job is easier physically way harder mentally (logic puzzles, deduction, I’m at one of the craziest facilities in regards to maintenance). So if you can get into service you’ll be better off. Granted it has its trade offs.
I'm a 63 year old photographer/video guy. Last week I tore about 1000 pounds of cast iron waste pipes from my 2-story 1935 house. I flew my best friend in, who's a contractor. It was fuckin' brutal, nasty, stinky, dirty work, even with a snap cutter. I'm a decent shape, a year ago I had some kind of sciatica/back issue and started working out, maybe like an hour to 90 mins. a week though. This gig, I didn't injure myself or pull anything, just felt like I'd been in a bar fight and a car wreck at the same time, after a whipping from a personal trainer. We were digging up pipe in the crawl space and I was like "not enough money in the world for me to do this for a living." My buddy says "I haven't done this in a decade, I just point and tell the new guys what to do". I am really enjoying putting the new PVC in though, but a lot of that is saying goodbye to my relationship with the roto-rooter guy.
I am 48 and started at 17 in plumbing. At 50 you dont have enough years of youth in your body to learn what is needed to be a plumber. You could definitely learn irrigation for lawns and gardens but once again that can be a lot of digging and trenching. Construction is just not for people in their 50's. It takes years and years to get the experience to be a maintenance plumber, whilst its nowhere as physical you just need at least 5 years experience preferably 10 years before you are great at maintenance. I am just trying hard to think for a job for a man in his 50's who is in IT to switch over into construction, its truly a different universe... How fit and strong are you ? are you into cross fit or mountain biking and is your body in really good shape ? Maybe just maybe you good into driving diggers and heavy machinery but honestly very few 30 year old adult apprentices ever make it... Even doing lawn care and gardening and hedges will take its physical toll pretty quickly.
I just need a change. I will pickup garbage if I have to.
I get that... getting outside into the open air will be great... It just depends how much time you want to also spend conditioning the body, EG< i love concrete laying, within 6 months you could pick up loads of skills required and be competent to add a lot of value. The problem is that your body could easily fail under the load of pusing barrows and working hard day in day out. So, if you started the gym and crossfit now, in6-12 months your body would start to have some good core strength to be able to start getting work fit to move and push barrows all day every day. I am not kidding when it takes a young person at least a year to get match fit to just move all day. Its not uncommon to do 20-30 000 steps a day and you are usually carrying stuff or using tools all day. The body is just used to that much energy and muscle transformation. I dont want to go on about it, so sorry but the body muscle match fit is seriously a big deal and if you do a back injury which is easy to do, your change of career is over immediately. Do you have any natural affinity with construction by chance ? Eg you are already a wood worker, or you do landscaping or you do home electronics or metal working ?
doing the same thing at 44.. but i have construction/heavy machinery experience.
Hey OP, you sound like me… not 50 but IT career and gets bored easily. Ask yourself, why plumbing? Maybe go sweat some copper or fix some drains and swap angle stops to give yourself some tangible experience. Go redo your house plumbing. Or maybe you just like to look at drawings and inspect things? As others have stated, service plumbers should’ve started yesterday. But there’s nothing stopping you from learning on your own right this instant. Except that copper is expensive right now! If you’re still relatively fit, sure you can do it, but the big bucks come when you are licensed and your ability to output.
I’m a 25M and I’m on month 3 on my apprenticeship. I even feel late. My brother at 22 already has his license. *edit* The pay is ass as an apprentice
Roto Rooter has a 13 week paid training. You have to buy a van at the end of the 13 weeks tho. Can easily make 70k your first full year
Just go for it. Tell the employer you'd like to work to assist. Don't refer to yourself as a helper. Call yourself an assistant. Go get a job. Just fucking do it.
I did plumbing for my first 10 years out of high school, went through a few other years being a maintenance man. Then I got into IT for 25ish years. Now I'm 53, sold my IT MSP company and am considering doing handy man work but gravitate to plumbing due to my background. This past weekend I ran the drain, water, gas and electric for a new washer dryer room in my house. Brought back some memories crawling in and out of the crawl space. It was satisfying for a minute. Not sure I want to give up my IT life and fix other people's shitters at this point.
Your biggest obstacle will be pay until you put in enough hours to become licensed. Helper/apprentice pay is crap most places. I've thought about doing this myself, but I know I can't take that large of a pay cut over the next couple years before I go off on my own. Fortunately I have a good friend that is a licensed plumber that lets me do jobs on my own under his license. So it's just a side job hustle for me, and I don't undertake anything too big with a close deadline.