Production Manager

  • Salary and Benefits Survey

    Average hourly pay for a lead carpenter nationwide is $24.63, according to our sampling of 646 remodelers with payrolls. Average production manager pay is $27.81 an hour.

     
  • Answers to whether the lead carpenter should collect payments

    If there is a problem and the clients withhold the payment, it gives the project manager an opportunity to talk with the client to find out what's wrong so the problem can be corrected immediately. My lead carpenter will often collect payments.

     
  • Profile: Jim Maguire

    When he was awarded Big50 in 1989, Jim Maguire had just finished a $2.5 million year doing insurance restoration and remodeling work.The company, now based in Waterbury, Conn., only does insurance restoration, cleaning, mold remediation, and building envelope drying. The system initially paid a...

     
  • Evaluating the Schedule

    The company owner and/or production manager relies on the schedule to communicate with clients and to meet production goals. If the lead carpenter helps create, or at least evaluates, the schedule, it will make for a smooth transition between management and production.

     
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    Radio Waves

    Mark Sass uses two-way radios for efficient and fast communication between himself, his office administrator, and his carpenters. Plus, he says his workers aren't tempted to have long conversations like they might be with cell phones.

     
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    The Right Fit

    Every day, remodeling company owners struggle to find ways to improve the bottom line and build a sustainable company. According to recent research, the cost of hiring the wrong person could be as high as 10 times their salary.

     
  • Face Off: Should an owner continue to work in the field?

    I worked a 40-hour week in the field and spent another 15 hours on paperwork, returning phone calls, and meeting with clients. But I'm still managing projects, training our project manager, and maintaining quality control.

     
  • Creating good client relationships

    Mike Cook, production manager of Matt Plaskoff Construction, Tarzana, Calif., knows that misunderstandings can ruin the relationship his company has worked so hard to create with his high-end clients. To avoid this, Plaskoff project managers provide their clients with written, detailed minutes from...

     
  • Adding production staff

    There's no magic number or formula to tell you when to add production staff. My company, Remodeling Designs, started in 1990 as a part-time business. At different times this growth caused me to consider hiring production support staff.

     
  • Get a Divorce -- From Production

    Shortly after dissolving a partnership that did business as a subcontractor building and designing decks for home builders, I got a call from one of the home builder's superintendents asking me to build the decks on the new homes he was building. Today, my production manager, Tom, who once ran his...