My Dad was a brick mason by trade, didn't start residential general contracting (still doing his own masonry) until I was in high school. Being a brick mason's helper is no fun. Keep the mortar on the board and the brick or block in good supply. We put in a basement foundation in Sylacauga one summer, and it was over 100 degrees every day, and the PM thunderstorm cycle kept that red clay nice and sticky, and those 12-inch blocks heavy. My Dad told me, "I want you do enough of this so you won't want to do it the rest of your life." I said I already knew that, and he said, "no, I think you need some more convincing. While you're resting, bring me a few blocks." Then, as he began to do more general contracting, I inherited the ditch digging for water lines, putting in fiberglass insulation batts, putting shingle bundles on the ridgeline (to get a better price from the roofers), you name the strong back/weak mind stuff and that was me. Then once I was out of college and working, I started keeping his books on Quickbooks and our relationship matured. I started talking about what I was learning from the loan work as part of my exams, and he'd listen. We'd discuss his profit margins on homes, which were extremely high because he did so much of the labor himself. However, when we came home to visit, he'd still say "we've got a water line on the xx house", I knew that meant I'd be digging a ditch on that Saturday. I can't remember the last water line I dug for him. He made it easy, though. He'd take his Massey Ferguson with a single tine subsoiler and break up the dirt, rocks and roots, and much of my work was as much cleanout as digging.
I learned enough from him to be my own contractor for my last two houses. I did both while working full time. I'd love to build another now that I could be fully committed to it, probably will be a workshop with a little apartment if I can find some land close by.
