How much

[joiner1970]

I and many other UK Festool owners always see how cheap Festool is in the US compared to what we pay.

What I want to know is what does an average carpenter earn a day in the States and how this compares to the price of Festool out there ?

I would imagine say a TS55 with rail around ?380 is about two days money here on average.

I am sure someone will disagree but I am stating an average depending on where in the UK you are and what you do you could earn less or more.

I just want to know is it really cheap or not compared to what you earn out there ?

 

[Brice Burrell]

Joiner, its about the same here, two days wage is probably a fair average for a carpenter with some experience here in the States. TS 55 is $440 here.

 

[Eli]

I guess I should be charging $450 a day if the TS55 is two days wages  ;D

 

[tvgordon]

I knew I should have been a carpenter instead of being stuck in a factory!  It's about a weeks pay for a TS55 (which might help explain why I don't own one yet - it's on the list though).

Tom.

 

[joiner1970]

Thanks for the replies lads,

So to an American Festool is still an expensive tool thats good to hear. I look at the prices and wish I lived in the US but I suppose it compares with what you earn.

 

[Sweet]

Joiner,

I'm not too sure where you are working in the UK and your personal circumstances, but your figures just don't add up (to me)  ???

?380 for two days work.

Average 8 hrs per day x 2= 16 hrs

?380 divided by 16 = ?23.75

40 hr working week (again average!!!)

That's ?950 a week before the dreaded Tand NI.

If I paid my Lad's that I'd be bust within two days!!!!!

The AVERAGE rate around here (BRISTOL) is ?14 p/h before tax.

?14 x 8 = ?112

So that's more like 3.5days or 27 and a bit hours, oh yeah before taxandNI!!!!!!!

Not Nit picking but I now how hard and long I have had to work to buy all my Festools. I also know how long some of them take to pay for themselves.

For the record, this week I (Including tomorrow) have worked 73 hours. Making while the sun shines and all that. 

Dan.

 

[Mirko]

I think he may have been talking contractor rates?

Mirko

 

[Per Swenson]

Brothers across the pond.

Wages are regional in the old USA.

For example west of rt 15 in New Jersey, (which is where the NYC metropolitan area stops)

all the way to 10 miles outside of Pittsburgh, (Brices house)

You can pretty much post bail for a carpenter and keep him until the beer runs out.

No disrespect to carpenters out in the far ruburbs, its just a buyers market, here
you will find everybody and their sister can swing a hammer and read a tape out in the hinterlands.

The closer to a economically vibrant area, you start seeing 20.00 to 40.00 an hour.

This also depends on skill, references and salesmanship.

On the other hand, I suppose you would call them "fix em up lads"

Handy man service here, these guys command as much as 75 dollars to 100 clams just to come look at a stuck window.

You will find this type guy and price in a 5 mile circle of Times square.

Last week on Craigs list, there was not one help wanted carpenter listing in all of North Jersey.

One more little tidbit, the immigrant laborers that shape up on the street corner are demanding

at the minimum, $125.00 a day, plus a sandwich and a ride back to the corner.

Per

 

[Eli]

I'll work for 200/day cash. I'd want to net 800-1400/wk. We can live on less, but shooting for that rate means I mostly enjoy my time off and don't worry about overhead or the future too much. Australia cost of living is expensive.

In the interest of full disclosure, I thought I'd add that I do still actively seek and destroy work as a grip, $450/8hr, $575/10 hr day. Double time after 10  ;D ;D ;D

 

[Tinker]

I no longer makemy living @ construction.I do pay my help 850 to 950 per week just to chase a lawn mower around a few yards every day.
i get 50 -65 per hour for (proper) pruning, depending on type of job and whether i stay on ground or sprout wings for higher up.  Since I turned 39 (a few hundred months ago) I find the hours i can devote to fine pruning have somewhat diminished.  When I was 38 i could cut away forever 

I guess i don't figure the payback on my Festools, but i do like to get toys that will help me to cram more work into less time and space.  Especially, space. 

Tinker

 

[Lou Miller]

I'm a little late on this thread... I won't comment on what an average carpenter makes here because it varies far too much. However, I'm a specialist, but I spend a ton of time on jobsites and I'm amazed at how infrequently I see Festool. I still gather a crowd around me at times when they see me pull out the tools and start using them. Many of the carpenters haven't even heard of them. They love what the tools can do, but the response is almost always the same when I tell them how much they cost. Its kind of a mixture of shock and laughter. They don't understand that the reason I've been called in to do the specialized work instead of them is because of things like my Festools, so I just smile and go about my work. I don't think you'll see many US carpenters that are employed by someone going out and investing in Festool. I really only see Festool on the trucks of specialists like myself and other self-employed contractors that are very picky and/or have realized the benefits of the tools outweigh the cost. I still see mostly Dewalt and Ryobi (Rigid is gaining very quickly too) on jobsites where the carpenters have to buy their own tools. IMO, the majority of Americans will ignore the added benefits and superior quality and focus strictly on price while buying things. Carpenters are probably as guilty in this area as anyone else. Possibly even more so.

 

[Eli]

Majority of Australians too. Most guys can't do the math that you spend more money buying cheap tools for five years than you do buying one expensive one once in 5-10 years. I never bought them before because I never had the money  :