Life as a Journeyman Carpenter

Posted by Kelly Smith Feb 6, 2008

Back in the day when I was a full-time Journeyman Carpenter, I did about 99% commercial work; interior finish for the most part. 14 years of it. I did my apprenticeship with the Carpenter's Union in Miami. They didn't treat us apprentices very well. For example, we had to log a certain amount of hours each month to qualify for medical benefits. Somehow we always came up one hour short - even when there was plenty of work. No hard feelings though; they gave me a great career.

Acoustical Ceilings, Metal Framing, and Drywall

For the most part I installed acoustical ceilings, but I also laid out and did metal framing and hung drywall. I didn't make much money, but I loved the job. When I was hanging ceilings or installing Raco, I spent all day walking around in stilts. Sometimes I used scaffolding when the ceiling was too high.

One day I was hanging ceiling grid in a school gym. I was riding a Safeway scaffold 20 feet in the air. The scaffold had wheels so when I needed to move, I would just throw my weight and the scaffold would scoot over a foot or two. On this particular day I was working through lunch so I was alone.

Well, I rolled a bit and one wheel went into a hole. The scaffold started to go over. I thought, "Oh, &)%!?;!!" What could I do? I was able to reach up, grab a bar joist, and throw my hip against the scaffold railing. It saved me but I had to hold on for about 15 minutes.

Software Engineering

After about 10 years of night school, I got my degree and became a Software Engineer. I made about 4 times more money, but never had as much fun.