Just Passed Exam. - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

FeedMe · 10-31-2005, 11:12 PM

Hi all and thank you ahead of time. I was curious I live in Jacksonville and recently passed my residential exam. I've been doing siding for 10 years and started getting bored with doing the same thing everyday.

I went and took the Residential exam just to give my mind something to do before I went insane. To my amazement I passed. The problem is I have no experience in building houses and no one to learn from.

I have a pretty good set of clients that pay the bills but I want to expand and get better. I'm looking for some advice as to how to improve myself and get started or get my foot in the door somewhere to learn.

I can pass the GC test(which I think is what I should have taken) if need be. I scored a 95 avg on the 3 tests for the residential exam so I'm pretty sure I can pass the GC.

Any and all advice is welcome and I hope I don't sound too green. It's hard to learn when you've spent most your life sticking to what you know and where you know you can definitely make money. I feel trapped and want to improve.

noreast05 · 10-31-2005, 11:42 PM

Sure your green but we all had to start somewhere. First off welcome to the site there is an introduction thread on this site I missed it when I first joined. What business are you in, what do you do, what do you provide. You need to figure out where you are in your business. Sure you may be able to pass a GC exam but is it worth it if you don't know where you are and where you want to be.?

AAPaint · 11-01-2005, 08:19 AM

Welcome from the west-side of Jacksonville. You shouldn't have a problem finding someone willing to teach you how to build. Drop me a pm if I can help with anything. It's nice to finally see some other people from Jax showing up. I doubt once you've got some experience under your belt that it will be hard finding work around here.

FeedMe · 11-01-2005, 04:41 PM

Hey AAPaint nice to meet you. It is nice seeing people from Dolphin country grrrrr oh yeah damn Jaguars.

If you happen to know a Builder that needs some help or that would like to teach, I'm one of those guys that everyone is looking for and wish they had 10 of. I dont mind getting my hands dirty as long as my brain is getting an equal work out.

I need to keep what I have going now but if someones willing to work around it or keep me at the same level of pay(thats the hard part it seems you gotta go backwards to take a step forwards) I'd be more than interested.

I have about 500 houses over the next 3-4 years that I sub/sub out siding on. I make about 2000 a week for about 20 hours work but I dont mind long hours and I can take care of my stuff in the evenings. I mostly order materials and keep things on schedule so I'm pretty available.

I'm a self educated person but I learn fast. I'm hoping to find someone to take me under their wing and show me the ropes. I don't mind making someone some money and paying them back for teaching me.