Is concrete a good business to get into? I'm a general carpenter and have experience doing pretty much everything but I really like doing concrete and I'm thinking of getting my contractors license and kinda focusing on concrete. The problems are that I think the field is very oversaturated with Mexicans in my area and also I am not a good finisher so any time I did flatwork I'd have to hire day finishers to do the work. But i get a tone of side jobs doing small concrete things and I think I could expand that and start doing bigger jobs.
>>2952413If the job is large enough to require equipment, then you can probably find customers in the form of contractors that just don't have that equipment.
>>2952413Concrete is really environmentally unfriendly. How about you be less of a jerk and move into a field that isn't intentionally about destroying the planet for the rest of us.
>>2952458Consider how much carbon you could save the planet by killing yourself
>>2952413friend of mine took over his dads commercial finishwork contractor business and was doing well but kept being held up by concrete delaying jobs. so he looked hard into expanding that direction. now he has 2 laserscreed machines and 1.5 crews (4 guys that float b/w steel framing and concrete) that do concrete. he says it makes pretty good margins but the screeds were a big purchase ($750k) that took leveraging capital on the construction side to pull off. he mostly does strip malls and light industrial
>>2952470Holy Dooley I didn't know laser screeds cost that much. That's a lot of money.
>>2952527Concrete as a material is thousands of years old. I have to assume that any tool that exists in laser form, has to exist in a far cheaper non-laser form that works basically just as a well without the lasers.
>>2952527>>2952926this was the big money machine he gothttps://ligchine.com/products/screedsaver-elite-d/the topcon license and training was non trivial as well but he had a full time crew going smooth in about 2 months from delivery its pretty neat in that you can screed inside stem walls and around utility embeds without any bullshit forming. and the main forms are reduced since you dont need intermediates to support a regular power screed on grade every 20ft of width his other is smaller and drives right in the muck but can get through double commercial doorways for access. i know that one was bought to do slabs inside existing construction it makes it so it only takes about 2/3rds the manpower vs traditional slabwork. i was just impressed he went from 0 concrete to 2 running sides in under 3 years
>>2952413Being a carpenter helps you be handy, but it means f all. The key to contracting is to have enough money flowing in that either you or the people you have hired can execute. You're shifting to another field and into a business leadership role. I think one should have experience running crews or full jobs in the field before taking the reins. I've done a bit of concrete research from tile, tuckpoint, self leveling, and resurfacing but I know fuck all about flatwork. Our construction firm's owner put all polished concrete floors in his new house. Some of the area sports complexes are like 30 basketball and volleyball courts of perfectly polished concrete. Stamped patio concrete is also popular. There are levels to the field and there's money to be made.
>>2952995shut the fuck up you pencil pushing nerd
>>2952999The best gc's do dick except line up jobs. The worst ones get their hands dirty.
>>2952999Business is about the bottom line; not how good you are at pushing a wheelbarrow.
>>2953003>>2953001how the fuck are you meant to do well in construction if you don't even know how to check if a slab is square?
