If you ever want to hear stories that make you question how anything ever gets built—or stays built—talk to someone in construction. I recently sat down with Caleb Erikson, who spent his late teenage years and early twenties wrestling clogged drains and frozen pipes as a plumber’s apprentice, before shifting into the wider world of general contracting. 

He and I sat down over zoom one afternoon and got to chatting about each step (and misstep) in his career; how he went from an achy, miserable 19-year-old in plumbing to an equally achy but far less miserable 46-year-old contractor. 

Starting Out and Uncertain 

Caleb started his career working as a residential plumber alongside his older cousin Jack and a friend from high school.  

“I didn’t really want to be in plumbing,” Caleb started, “but I looked up to Jack and that’s what he was doing. If he had joined the army, I’d have joined the army. If he wanted to be a doctor, I would have done that with him too.” Caleb went on to share that he and his buddy Shawn were looking to make money so that they could each buy cars and weren’t really considering the prospect of a fully fledge career when they were 17, so following someone else’s path seemed like a good idea at the time. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t ever hate plumbing,” Caleb clarified. “I used to tag along with Jack, and we worked on a lot of rental properties. That was in 1998. I was freshly 18, and truthfully, I had no idea what I was doing, or what I really wanted out of life.”

The Shift to General Contracting 

Eventually, Caleb hit a wall. At 21, just 3 years into his prospective career, Caleb said it was like something literally flipped a switch in his brain.  

“Shawn and I had both been able to buy our own beat up junker car and the world sort of opened up to me in a way that it hadn’t before,” he said. “I was able to drive myself to and from job sites, and that small freedom gave me enough of a sense of wanting more.”  

“More money?” I had asked. 

“Nah, it wasn’t really about the money,” Caleb said. “I wasn’t in a rush to leave my dad’s house, and I didn’t spend my money on anything more than gas for my car, Wendy’s for lunch sometimes, and Magic the Gathering cards.” He shared that there suddenly felt like something was missing—a sense of purpose perhaps, that led him to pursue jobs beyond plumbing.  

“Jack connected me with his friend in the electrical field, and I started slowly picking up licenses, learned framing, wiring, roofing...anything I could get my hands on. I really enjoyed the variety in GC work. I didn’t stop plumbing altogether, but I stopped having to unclog toilets and sink drains and started learning how to build a plumbing system from scratch.” Caleb said that he found more joy in the building of systems than the fixing aspect. It took him about 6 years after his initial interest in contracting work took root to find himself licensed and accredited enough to work on his own. Now, Caleb runs his own contractor business, hiring crews, taking on full-house renovations, small developments, and the occasional fixer-upper flip.  

Pictured: Caleb in 2024 

Things Can Fall Apart FAST 

One of the things that stuck with me was Caleb’s honesty about just how wrong things can go, and how fast. 

“There’s this trope that contractors are lazy or always behind because they don’t care. That’s not it. Most guys care. It’s just that construction is chaos—especially today, in a post-covid world. Materials show up late. Weather screws your timeline. Your drywall guy disappears mid-job because he got a better-paying gig down the road.” 

He shared about one particular job where it all unraveled. 

“We were redoing this mid-century place for a couple with a lot of money, but no patience. Day two, a subcontractor cut through a water main line thinking it was electrical. Flooded the crawlspace. Day four, inspector flags the framing that we hadn’t even touched because he thinks it’s out of code. Then the homeowners bring in their interior designer who starts trying to change window placements—after we’d framed and finally gotten everything approved.” He laughed about it, but I could tell that at the time, it hadn’t been very funny. 

“As the guy in charge, It’s like, if one domino falls, you’re suddenly weeks behind and thousands over. That’s what kills careers in this business. The stress. The phone calls. The 12-hour days just trying to put out fires that someone else started.”  

Caleb made sure to tell me multiple times through his tales of “bad jobs” that he loves his job and hopes to continue with this career well into his 50’s 60’s and even 70’s. He said that it takes a certain kind of person to want the variety and the problem-solving that comes with the contractor life. 

Pictured: One of the recent Commercial Builds that Caleb and his team finished in Early 2025

The Dangerous Truth About the Profession 

When we turned to stories about the dangerous side of the job, Caleb noted that every electrician, contractor, and construction worker either personally knows, or has heard of someone who has died on the job. He said that it never leaves his mind, and that anyone in the built environment should live and work with the same mindset—you’re no better at your job than the guy who had the accident and it very easily could have been you in that position.  

“I had a carpenter on my team for about 5 years—Henry. I called him for every job I ever took. He was reliable. Funny. Always early.” Caleb set the scene like it had happened just the day prior, even though it had been about 7 years. “We were supposed to work on wiring and building out an attic for a new home with an unfinished roof. It had a steep pitch, and it was cold that morning. Long story short, parts of the roof were icy, and he slipped while doing a routine check. We had harnesses, but he wasn’t clipped in. We were just starting to unload our gear, and Henry had done roof walks for years, so no one stopped to question his judgement. It wasn’t even ten minutes into the day when the paramedics were called, and he was pronounced dead.” 

“After that, I almost quit. You kind of have to think, ‘what the hell are we doing? For $40 an hour and a busted back by 50?’ But that’s the job unfortunately. Henry wasn’t as careful as he should have been, and he died. You can die when you half-ass things in this industry, so my sites run differently now.” Caleb shared that now, he won’t let anyone start a job without a full safety talk. Not even the vets, who’ve been working a decade more than he has. “I don’t care if they think I’m a hardass or a worry wart. Harnesses, hard hats, PPE—it’s not optional on my site and anyone who has an issue doesn’t come back for the next job. We go slower now, but we go safer.” 

Finding Joy in Your Career 

I didn’t want to linger too long on tragedy and Caleb agreed that he would prefer to talk about the best parts of his job. 

“The real joy of the job is the comradery, honestly,” Caleb explained. “I have built some really sturdy and cool buildings with my teams over the years but the friendships we’ve built are what I treasure the most.” Caleb shared with me that he loves the variety of the job every day and that he can’t imagine doing anything else.  

“It’s hard work and not for everyone but the pay is good and the community you can develop is unmatched. 

Pictured: Some of Caleb's team

Final Thoughts 

Toward the end of our talk, I asked Caleb what he’d tell someone considering this kind of work. 

“If you want something predictable, don’t do this. You’re going to get rained on, yelled at, stiffed on invoices, and sometimes you’ll be scared out of your mind. But if you’re the kind of person who wants to see the work you’ve done at the end of the day—who likes building with your hands and changing things up or pivoting on a dime—then yeah, this is the kind of job you’d want.”