Optional · 1 of 2

Skills that raise your rate

• Metal stud framing

  Commercial interiors are framed in steel, not wood. Knowing it moves you off houses and onto bigger jobs.

• Fire rated and acoustic assemblies

  Hospitals, schools and apartments need rated walls built exactly to a tested detail. Specialized and inspected.

• Level 5 finishing

  The flattest, most demanding finish, needed where big windows throw raking light across a wall.

• Suspended ceiling grid

  Offices and stores are full of it, and the work often comes in the same contract.

• Estimating

  Working out board counts and labor for a bid. The skill that turns a tradesperson into a contractor.