Handyman education credentials

[John Pelaez]

So I'm looking for places to go to learn how to maintenance my properties so that I can save on labor costs. I have a GI bill to cover the cost of the education and I'm looking to learn electrical, plumbing and either hvac or carpentry. I'm not sure if there are schools some of these things or is it more of an OJT learning experience.

[Matt R.]

Sometimes the local school district will have an "adult education" program that has relevant classes - this is more likely if the district still has a vocational-technical school.  If your local district doesn't have one, look around at nearby districts.  Usually there is a tuition fee for this, which your GI Bill might cover.

In many areas, the various trade unions operate a school and apprenticeship system.  As far as I know, you usually have to pick one and stay with it... you can't sign up with the electricians' union and the plumbers' union at the same time.  There is a defined period of time that you have to work on jobs as an apprentice before you "graduate" to the next level up.  You do get paid, though.

It costs time and not money, but another option is volunteering for somebody like Habitat for Humanity.  Their builds are designed so that people who don't have experience can work on them, under the supervision of people that do have experience.  You won't be able to follow the electrician or the plumber around and ask them a million questions, but you can sure watch what they do and maybe Google it later.  In Michigan, especially, the end of their building season might be coming up relatively soon - you might have to wait until next spring.