I’m a dude who just started my first job in the industry as an apprentice earlier this week. So I’m definitely new to the construction site.

I’m 23 and the crew on the site consists of maybe 15 men and they are all at least 15-20 years old than me.

One horrible thing I’ve noticed this week (unfortunately) is the constant ass crack exposure. For real. Every single damn day, I see some overweight middle aged dude on my team showing off his mega hairy ass crack. 🤮 literally every damn day and it’s like they’re all taking turns. And they’re all basically completely oblivious to it.

Is this just the norm on construction sites? Is this what happens when you reach middle age??

I am working for a new construction company and we are on a job out of town. 6 weeks in and we have not had a single day off. I am starting to notice a drop in quality of work and in everyone’s overall mood. We still have at least 2 weeks to go. A few guys seem like they are at each other’s throat because they are sharing a hotel room. With the previous company I worked for even on out of town jobs we had days off and could even fly home for a couple days if we felt like paying out of pocket for it. Is this normal? The guys with this company say it’s a problem but don’t speak up about it.

Hello everyone, I’ve done 3 bathroom remodels in the past in flips I’ve done but never for a customer, am I being too expensive?

Im a decade out of the framing trade but i dont think i have ever seen one these before let alone about 7 around this house. Can anyone tell me what this is, no concern, just general curiosity. Its toughly 2 -18 inch 2x4 nailed to a T shape with electrical cord creating a triangle to hang.

I was climbing my tower crane this morning. I was cold and tired as hell. It was 5AM. I climbed about half way up when I got a really good feeling knowing that my wife and my children were at home, warm, in bed, taken care of.

I didn’t grow up wanting to be in construction, but I always knew I’d want my wife to raise my kids, and if she wanted to, be a stay at home mom and homeschool my kids. This career allows for her to do that.

We all have our different reasons for joining the trades and being in the construction industry, my question to you guys is: what’s your reason?

EDIT: The results seem pretty unanimous.

• Reason 1: Money

• Reason 2: “I kind of just fell into it and never stopped”

• Reason 3: “I’m good at it and I like being a ______”

I couldn't think of where else to ask this- sorry if it's not the right spot.

My boyfriend works construction and has insulated steel toed boots. We live somewhere with quite warm summers and his feet end up sweating so much that his boots REEK. He just switched to working on powerlines, so now he ALSO wears rubber covers on his boots, which is just making them more insulated 😭

Please, for the love of my sanity, tell me what you guys use to preserve the noses of your loved ones. He tried one spray and when he uses it it just smells like you mixed pine sol with dog shit. No help, honestly ruining pine sol.

At this point I can barely be in the room with him after work until he has washed his feet (which he hates). If we go to see family or friends, he has to leave his boots outside. Sometimes if I'm near enough to them in our living room, I put them outside, too.

Send help. I'm so desperate. They're so stinky.

Eta: he does wear merino wool socks. We're a Darn Tough family (and I get discounts on smart wool and darn tough). The smelly boots have just... won the battle

Edit 2: honestly I thought I'd get like 3 responses but y'all blew me away. We're getting a boot dryer and thanks to this post, I learned he is not, in fact, wearing any of the billion pairs of darn tough socks to work, so hopefully that will help, too. Y'all recommended a bunch of odor eaters and at this point I'm about to try all of them 😂

Unfortunately, he's gotta stick with the leather boots for work, but maybe I can convince him to get another pair + some other boots for the non-work activities. Gonna get new insoles, too. I love him, so, even if we can't fix the problem, I'll get over it, but I so appreciate everyone's help in trying!

This is assuming all of the materials are provided for you. You don't have to buy anything - just put it together. I'm not talking like a cabin with one room - I mean a 3 bedroom house, approximately 1,500 square feet. With a deck. Could you do it?

Just wondering how many of you could do it after watching this guy.

https://youtu.be/0k6cHMNoXkk?si=-LoLg_hqKLVaDTss

I do hardwood floors; installs/sands. And I can’t stand drywall finishers and painters always ruining our floors. What trade do you beef with?

So i got accepted into a union (my first time ever) got all my certs even my cdl and during the interview process they told me about the drug test part because certain federal projects require it and the manager told me "we know everyone smokes and we do got a couple of pot heads on the crew, but would you be able to pass? We dont care we just wanna know before hand" i panicked and felt like it was a test and said yeah ill be fine. He seemed really cool but i cant fight the fact that i lied after they told me they wouldnt care if i did smoke which i did occasionally. What should i do? I really need/want this job and feel like im fucked. HELP

Edit: I do not plan on continuing to smoke. I just dont think it would be out of my system by the time i take the test which is why im worried.

I do know you need to put the weight to the front to not fishtail

I started working in construction last year, prior to this I had zero experience with tools. First fella I got put with would roar at me if I was 1-2ml off cutting strut or conduit, head of the company wanted to sack me til I got put with a new boss that taught me new skills and said I was the hardest worker in his crew

Got told I was lazy and weak by a lad that refused to do any work

Had lads that wouldnt allow me to carry a 2 kg load cause they were embarassed of a woman working alongside them

People on a site a couple miles away were gossiping about me cause I was the only woman in my company

How do you all feel about a lady in construction and how do you feel about the way I've been treated?

More people take their own lives in the construction industry than any other, with 53.2 suicides per 100,000 workers. Check in on your brothers.

Edit: As you suggested, i got him something non work related and something work related. Got him a lego set, video game and peet boot dryer! Thanks everyone 🥰 Hi all,

My husband is a GC that of course has everything under the sun. Getting gifts for him is so hard cause he buys it if he needs it.

I'm wondering if there is anything life changing you've discovered lately that could make a good gift. Or something not tool related but a construction loving guy might like

Example: this is small and silly but all i can think of, i bought him those markers that claim to write on everything, he thought they were a gimmick but they actually work great and became a staple. Stuff like that!

Any ideas? Not really a budget, anything from 15 to 500$ type thing!

Thanks all 🥰

People-pleasing boss wants me to swiffer the floor. We still have more demo to do...

I’m a 20 year old apprentice in the pipe fitting trade and despite almost being able to buy a house with the money I’ve made so far but I’ve almost reached my limit with this lifestyle and seriously about to just leave and go to college instead. How’s did y’all cope with spending 72 hours a week with a bunch of guys decades older than u when u where 20? I feel like I’m about to lose my mind. I’m going against nature with this lifestyle at this age and I’m genuinely wondering how others coped with choosing trade work instead of college out of high school

We called and told them to come back in site to finish all the their crap before the carpet, ceiling tile, and finishes were done. The GC called them, we called them, the plumber called them. They just kept saying, we'll be there. Well carpet had to be laid, ceiling tiles installed and doors painted. After all that gone done, guess who shows up? The fucking princess brigade

Not only did they show up after, they left did all their conduit cutting in the carpet area, didn't bother vacuuming the dust from drilling off the new carpet, scratched the doors and walls, and broke ceiling tiles. Sent pictures to the GC and he was pissed. He told the electrician if they didn't send someone by the end of the day, he was gonna bill him for not just cleanup, but touch-ups, and all the other shit. Electrician said it wasn't their problem. We should have laid tarps or cardboard on the carpet for them.

Fuck these guys.

EDIT: Now I'm not saying ALL sparkles are like this. I've had the pleasure of working with a few unicorns that do clean up after themselves and sweep using their Klein brooms. We love working with them are are usually the 1st we call when we have electrical work.

Every time I’m on site for a big pour they’re getting hyped up like they’re about to go on during a football game. You’re bent over all day finishing concrete, nothing exciting about that