Gaining construction skills

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Hi guys,

This is my first BP post. I searched the forums first but couldn't find any information. I am sure this has probably come up and my search words just weren't doing the trick, so sorry for another post.

I would really love to gain some more knowledge on home construction and contracting skills. I have tried to get on a few habitat for humanity builds but haven't had any luck. Any other recommendations for learning and getting hands-on experience? I know YouTube has tutorial videos on lots of subjects and I did buy a couple DIY home renovation books. But those two don't give me as much confidence as other learning would. One idea I was thinking of was reaching out to a GC and volunteering my services in exchange for some mentoring. Basically coming to work on a site for free on weekends in exchange for them taking a person with little to no experience as part of their crew. Do you think that would work? Another idea was to hire a contractor for some of the work I would like to do and just have him teach me while he is working and help him out.

Any other thoughts?

Also, sorry to the female BP'ers for using the 'he' pronoun. Just easier that way.

[Shannon M.]

I would think your best bet for trading labor for experience would be a local handyman/ contractor that works by himself or with a very small crew. He will most likely get into a wide variety of small jobs that would give you an overall view.

Alternate idea: If you know how to do your own rehab work you will constantly be tempted to turn your investing into a job. Believe me I know what I am talking about. I usually start by saying "I will just swing by on Saturday and fix it myself" I usually end up sometime the next week after spending Sat and two additional evenings working on a project wondering why I have tools.

It may be better to get good at working with contractors. I find my iPhone almost never throws splinters into my eyes.