> I've never experienced a slow down

You didn’t experience a slowdown at the height of the recession circa 2008?

being in construction for 35 years must mean they're already in the place that does the layoffs (instead of being laid off) by the time things get bad. You can easily say things don't slow down when you're divorced from the increasingly strained workers with less hours and benefits doing the construction.

Homeowners are often rich and older and isolated from recessions.

Nope. Things still break and need repaired no matter how the housing market is.