There isn't a shortage of carpenters. There is a shortage willing to work for the wages offered. I've done carpentry work in the past, offer enough money and I'll leave my tech job. I'm not the only one who could do carpentry for the right price.
Any skilled job that can be done poorly with little training becomes a bit of a lemon market.
I hate painting. I'm also a terrible painter. However, I've given up on ever hiring painters. Every professional painter I've used has either prepped the surface improperly, or put the coats on too thick, to the point where I rub paint off if I brush up against the wall.
I'm willing to pay more for better work, but I can't easily tell who will do a better job.
It is not number of coats it is thickness of coats. If you put on a thin coat of good paint it sticks well. Thick coats of even good paint won't stick.
Same here. I'm a skilled carpenter and woodworker, but for a much higher salary and benefits I can sit on my butt all day long typing into a computer. They would have to offer me a lot more money than my current six figure salary to get me to do carpentry work all day.
Around here, the carpenters I know all drive very nice trucks and are booked solid making $$$$. These guys are running their own 2-4 person shops though.
In my area, yacht racing is what carpenters do on the weekends. No joke. Brand new sails, custom everything, and, of course, when the wood trim needs fixing or varnishing, it looks gorgeous.
Me too. I worked for 5 years as a carpenter and at the end of the day it just wasn't worth the paycheck and the back pain.
We are starting to talk about externalized costs with regards to the environment, but this concept applies everywhere. We have a problem in this society paying the true cost of damn near everything and that includes physical labor.
Problem is it isn't much cheaper. There is still work to do on site. Prefab needs labor in the factory. Prefab generally has higher shipping costs. These mostly balance out.
