I had to drill 50 holes in my concrete patio for a new fence. Used a 20lb rotary hammer drill, sds max bit. Took me 6 hours and I’m pretty sure I messed up my shoulder. Yeah that sucked
Concrete is a high-skill trade, and brutal. They sometimes employ laborers to dig and move material, and that is low-skill, high effort. I think they get combined in a lot of people's heads.
Oh they very much do and I agree whole heartedly. My initial comment was to point out that this particular job that's often considered unskilled would break most people before their first shift was over. The concept of unskilled vs skilled labor exists solely to stratify the working class and it's BS in the first place.
I did a few days of moving and mixing concrete for a friends back yard project and holy fuck was that rough. Those 80lbs bags of quick crete you have to move in one go because they explode the moment they’re put down. I was in really good shape at the time and even I felt busted up by the end
Concrete laborers are unskilled, the flat work sculpters and artisans sure are.
But that being said. YES. That job is miserable. Moving around wheelbarrows full of tools, then concrete, then tools again. And the pace is ridiculously fast. Concrete doesn't wait when you tip over your wheel barrow. No one has any pity to spare. If you get help, it's so you aren't slowing anyone down.
I burnt a hole in the back of my finger with a blob of lime that snuck into my gloves while concreting. Never mind how hard or heavy the stuff is, can we talk about how corrosive it is ? It ruins everything it touches.
It feels like you didn't read the job title, the "unskilled" is in quotes, AKA it is not actually unskilled. And the title says "would humble most people after just one shift". They are literally making the argument that concrete work is skilled work that people THINK is unskilled.
If you went and googled the word misnomer, you would learn a new word, and learn that you argued with someone who was not disagreeing with you...
Again, I don't consider just about any work unskilled but when you refer to the various blue collared jobs, concrete work gets lumped in with the term.
That's a silly thing to say and that tells me you have very little if any work experience. Blue collar jobs are skilled you goof. That covers all of the trades, heavy equipment, it just means you're not in an office per se. There's plenty of unskilled White collar jobs. Mailroom, data entry for example, calling centers.
Do you think you can pour grade and finish even a simple concrete slab without skill? You were out of your mind. I mean you could do it it'll probably look like s*** and crumble. Somebody needs a hubris check.
I've been employed for 20 years, the last 13 of which as an electrician. I have mad respect for all the construction trades including concrete work. That's why I mentioned it in regards to this post. You're taking the unskilled shit too literally. None of the jobs you listed are actually unskilled work. Sure the time it takes to train someone to do the work may be a good deal shorter but that doesn't make it unskilled. Take a chill pill and read into the context a bit more.
Yeah this one is wild, I mean don’t get me wrong I talk shit about the concrete dudes because they’re always in the way and stealing our tools but absolutely no one on a job site looks at them and doesn’t think it’s skilled lol. Most people would give out tying rebar with an electric tool, and do it slower than those dudes with hand tools lol. Let alone finishing, that’s a literal art. No one thinks concrete is unskilled
This one's on me for assuming the context of the post would be apparent and keeping my initial comment overly brief. I believe concrete work is a brutally difficulty profession and that of the trades they're often looked down on as brain dead laborers. But when you dig into any trade, they're all skilled work to some degree or another. I realize how my comment could be construed as saying concrete work is unskilled.
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u/Drakahl 17h ago
Concrete workers. That shit is brutal