Well guys, first of all, if you noticed, I said he worked with his wife, that makes 2 people earning $75,000 each, actually, though he said he figured 90 for him and 60 for his wife. If you took out there taxes, overhead, L & I and such that would be paid if they were employed they would be making closer to $60,000 each, with no retirement or health care (which costs me $1500 a month) And you are right, it probably is still too much, but there are guys out there who hustle and make it. If you don't believe manual labor guys can make it, talk to the line men at Seattle light. Call up a plumber and ask him to give you an hourly bid.
I have watched a crew of 2 frame a house in 10 days. At $3.50 a foot and a 2000 sq ft house thats $7,000.00 . If they don't work weekends thats $87,000 a year. Take off a couple of weeks and they are still making $70 + if they split it evenly. And for engineers only making $50,000 grand, so what. I can pick up my phone and call several people who made over a million last year in the construction business, none of who has more than a high school degree. In fact, only one guy I know with a degree made over a $1o0,000 last year. He was an engineer and he quit his job because he felt that he could make more doing other things. I know that there are lots of people with degrees that make lots of money, but in my circle the exact opposite is true. And if you still don't believe any of this, ask Stam what his hourly rate is.