Idaho Plumbing Jobs/Work (Priest River, Clark Fork: lender, house, employment)

[ReformedMamaBear87]

Hi there! I'm hoping to get some feedback and advice from someone who is either currently a Plumber in Idaho or has been before or knows how the industry works in the state of Idaho.

We are a Christian, conservative family who is looking to relocate to North Idaho this year. We are currently getting pre-approved with a lender and they said they will need a job offer letter from my husband in Idaho in his job field. My husband has 3 1/2 years experience as an apprentice Plumber. He doesn't have an apprentice card; he just simply works underneath his current employer which is a local small family owned Plumbing business where we currently reside in which is Northern California. My husband has looked on the Idaho state Plumbers website to look for information and requirements of what he would need to do to become a plumber or work for a company and he seems still unsure of what exactly he would need to do to secure a job for this line of work up there. He's thinking that he'll need to be at least a Journeyman of 4 years to get any serious job leads for a plumber up there. He wouldn't have 4 years until this November and we're going to be needing to leave here around summer time so he won't quite have the 4 years of experience yet. Will he need to start all over? Does he need to get an apprentice card to even be considered by most employers up there? Is he going to have to jump through a bunch of hoops? One of our local plumber contractor friends here said that California usually has higher requirements here than other states in the trades so he was thinking it wouldn't be difficult for him to get in with a local employer up there with the experience he has thus far but my husband thinks otherwise based on the Idaho state plumbers website. Do most plumbing employers up there still hire apprentices without their cards and let them apply for their apprentice or journeyman cards as they work? Are we overthinking this? :/

We have dear friends who live up near Priest River and we've been visiting up there since 2019 and have loved it there and have made more and more friends as we've visited. In 2020, we were trying to buy a house up there and after 3 months in escrow it all fell apart. We're really hoping this year will be the year. Securing employment for my husband will be the biggest thing as of right now. I hear from friends and even our realtor up there says plumbers are greatly needed up there so that's hopeful...it just seems like the requirements for apprentice cards and such might stand in his way. Any advice or input you have I so appreciate. Thanks for your time in reading this and God bless you and the beautiful gem state! =)
I'm praying we get to be Idahoans soon! =)

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Hi MamaBear, good to see you here in the Idaho Forum. We have retirement property in North Idaho, and our house is almost finished. Last year we finally hooked up with a plumber and were able to get some finishing work completed-- for several years it was impossible for us to find anybody, because so many people have been moving to the Panhandle, and all plumbers and contractors have been booked for months ahead of time, with all the new construction. So I have no doubt that your husband can find work. However, I can't speak to the Idaho requirements, so hopefully somebody else here can weigh in. I'm sure your husband has seen this website: https://www.servicetitan.com/licensing/plumbing/idaho.

Sorry your house purchase fell through in 2020. Best of luck this time, also with the pre-approval!

[Mister Torgue]

Cannot help with your inquiry, however, I wanted to say welcome to north Idaho should things work out (and they will!). It's good to see liberty minded individuals with strong family values move here and leave that "other" place behind. Good luck to you all!

I can echo what Clark Fork Fantast said, north Idaho needs all manner of plumbing, electricians, and contractors it can get. I only wish I had that experience so I can take advantage of this potential high earnings situation we find ourselves in.

[ReformedMamaBear87]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Hi MamaBear, good to see you here in the Idaho Forum. We have retirement property in North Idaho, and our house is almost finished. Last year we finally hooked up with a plumber and were able to get some finishing work completed-- for several years it was impossible for us to find anybody, because so many people have been moving to the Panhandle, and all plumbers and contractors have been booked for months ahead of time, with all the new construction. So I have no doubt that your husband can find work. However, I can't speak to the Idaho requirements, so hopefully somebody else here can weigh in. I'm sure your husband has seen this website: https://www.servicetitan.com/licensing/plumbing/idaho.

Sorry your house purchase fell through in 2020. Best of luck this time, also with the pre-approval!

Hi Clark Fork Fantast! Great to see you here, too! =)
Yeah, if this falls through and doesn't happen, then we could be going to Texas hence my other thread questions. I'm hoping and praying God opens a door of opportunity for us up north. My husband is worried he won't have the requirements necessary for the plumbing jobs up there so that's why we're trying to sort that out. I'm glad to hear there is plenty of need of his job field...that's hopeful. Thanks for the link to the website. I might just call some plumbers up there and ask them directly, maybe they can walk me through the steps and who knows...maybe they'd end up telling me they need to hire him! =)

Congratulations on establishing your retirement property up there; I bet that's exciting that your house is almost finished! =)

[ReformedMamaBear87]

Originally Posted by Mister Torgue

Cannot help with your inquiry, however, I wanted to say welcome to north Idaho should things work out (and they will!). It's good to see liberty minded individuals with strong family values move here and leave that "other" place behind. Good luck to you all!

I can echo what Clark Fork Fantast said, north Idaho needs all manner of plumbing, electricians, and contractors it can get. I only wish I had that experience so I can take advantage of this potential high earnings situation we find ourselves in.

Thank you for the warm welcome! =) And yes, our family is liberty minded! I promise to uphold the strong freedom loving values that my fellow Idahoans hold and cherish. I know exactly what it's like to lose them.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Any sort of construction worker is in short supply, so my suggestion is to open up the yellow pages of the phone book and send resumes to every plumbing company listed. He has 3 1/2 years of experience working under a qualified plumber. I'm sure someone will figure out how to hire him. He can get registered as an apprentice when he starts to work for a licensed plumber so his years start to accumulate..

[ejay]

I’m pretty sure you have to be enrolled in the apprentice program through the college. And have an active apprenticeship card. None of your hours count unless you can prove enrollment and employment. It also depends on who you work for. As stated above you’re better off contacting local plumbers and asking them what they need. You can also look into Spokane and see if they have work for you too. The only good thing about living next to Spokane is being able to work there.