I have an aquintence building a house by himself in eastern Washington state. He is looking for some occasional help with various tasks.
I am not a professional tradesmen, but have dug ditches, wired, framed, sweated pipe, remodeled numerous rooms, built rough staircases, laid carpet, roofed 12 in 12 pitched roofs, etc. ie pretty handy.
If I were to offer my serivices what would be a reasonable rate to charge? Or what would I be worth to a guy like that?
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Replies
being that you are not a professional your experience can only be considered minimal even though you have "dabbled" across a wide spectrum
I would guess you should be worth 12 to 15 bucks an hour depending on how fast you can move your butt
Ya know,eastern Washington is full of cheap labor, but Mav seems to be a little high. You have adds for technical people for $10. Where in Wash?
I would agree with maverick that $12 or so is a reasonable starting rate for a handy labor rate around here. If he's a friend, he'll pay you what you're worth. Tell him you'll start at 12 or so, and if you do well (quick work, anticipating his needs, etc.), he should give you a bump up.
Where are you, anyhow?
I'm in Cashmere.
zak
"so it goes"
Prefer not to be specific.
I am a white collar professional working on my own at the moment and earn far in excess of $15/hour. So if I chose to do trades work it would be for fun, however, that only goes so far. So I suppose I would not work for less than fifiteen and if that is high then he would have to be in deep need but that would be his choice.
I don't need the work and would only be interested in occasional work. If that would not work for him then fine. I am just thinking about what might be a fit. NO harm to anyone in entertaining the thought.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Charge him the $15 that you currently make. Sounds fair to me. If you were my friend and could be productive on almost any project, I'd pay you your current wage.
Grunge on. http://grungefm.com
reread,he makes far in excess of 15 a hour! so he's taking a pay cut no matter what.larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
You wear Cashmere in May? (G)
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Damm, I miss that stuff
When did May happen? Where did April go?
Did all those months March off and hide without me noticing it?
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You was busy shoveling snow! While I was planting the 'maters.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Damm, I miss that stuff
if you are doing this on the side and it is not your full time profession i would make sure it is worth your while.
i would say
20 an hour without tools
25 an hour with tools...meaning you have all necessary tools to perform the work
Edited 5/10/2006 10:06 pm ET by mcf
I go through this a lot with my (ahem) friends and family. Usually get the line "I called so and so to do this because I know you are so busy and they wanted $$$$$!!!!" I'll look at the job and if it not a lot of hassle, I'll make time on a weekend and help them out. That being said, I learned that you need to actually throw a solid number at them otherwise they will walk all over you.
Had a buddy who needed a 1400 lbs safe moved from his driveway (where it was dumped) into his master bedroom. I told him I had an engine hoist and dollies, etc. Told him I'd do it for a case of "Beer" as he was a friend. Come to find out there way no lifting point so back to get the welder. Would'nt fit through the door opening without removing the door. Had to move the dresser, the bed, the pile of crap in front of the closet and then all of the crap on the floor of the closet!
All said in done, I had 5 hours of my time and he gave me a case of beer as per our agreement.
Now I charge what I make normally PLUS expenses and time and a half PLUS expenses on weekends. If they are true friends they will value you for what you know and the expense you have put into tools.
Your on the right track. For side jobs I charge $75.00 an hour, no haggleing. Most of my weekends are free to do as I please. But once in awhile someone will bite. Then it's worth the hassle.
Wake me up before you go-go.
It all depends on what I am asked to do. I had an eldery woman who was a widow ask me to change her front and backdoor locksets. It took me 15 minutes and I told her $20. She thought that was fair and I did it because she had no one else. On the other hand, I get people who buy double fiberglass french door units that they want retrofitted into their existing sliding glass door opening and they want to have a "Cookout" and free beer for doing the job. HD had quoted them $650 for the job.Last night I swung by a job and patched up some peeling drywall compound around a previous window leak. 10 minute job and the homeowner gave me $50 for my trouble. I told him I'd take $20 and be happy and he told me it was impossible to get people to do small jobs. I gave him my number and told him to share it with his neighbors. ;-)
HD had quoted them $650 for the job.
Generally that doesn't cover tearout, trim, hardware, paint or caulf...
setting the door only... Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I read the contract and it was for removing existing doors and frame and installing new unit. It did NOT cover paint, stucco repair, hardware installation, additional framing (if required) etc. This is East Central Florida, we work cheap down here....:-( I damned sure wasn't going to do it for a steak and cold beer though!
sure ya could..
2100 cash... complete....
you'll go after yur own steak and beer...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I think a drywall patch for $50 is a great deal.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Doright
a little more feedback
I'm on the west side of the Cascades and what I would say of your reflection / proposal is w/ the experience you mention he will be getting a deal at $ 15 / hrthose mentioning $ 10 - $ 12 / hr are considering help that needs to be constantly advised and overseen
If you can complete the tasks you mention you have experience in with foresight and in a workmanlike manner you will be most appreciated & an asset to anyone
john, thank you very much for your reply. Others have been useful or at least interesting posts as well.
As for being useful and an asset, I would think so if I do say so myself. I am confident in what I know and what I can do. If I were to offer myslef as a jack of all master of none, I would be straight up with the guy if I were to encounter something I expectd to require a learning curve.
Anyway, thanks again. I am still thinking about whether to offer my services. I have several other things in my regular line of work on the fire so my availability may get limited real soon.
Charge what your time is worth, including what your time costs you ( insurance, transportation, etc. ). Another thing that has worked for me, is if you find yourself in a losing "piecework" deal, the best thing to do is work harder than ever to make the finished product/task the best it can be, forget the financial loss at the moment. Most "human beings" notice the extra effort, and more often than not compensate a potential loss.
In professional carpentry productivity is king. Period. With no professional carpentry experience there is little to go off as far as what you can contribute.
It's almost impossible to give a specific wage since there are so many variables that only time will sort out. I've worked with cabinet makers that couldn't cut it at the junior finish carp level because they hear, "build this cabinet with 4 fixed shelves," and they end up spending all day building a 5-shelf unit that has to be scrapped.
Basically, I figure someone in your boat should start out the first day at $10/hour and each day that you show productivity beyond that, the wage goes up. If you aren't worth the $10, you'll be shown the door just as quick. Reliability is worth a little bit, as are a quick mind or good tools. Keeping busy in productive ways is what builds houses so that is basically what gets rewarded. I've paid up to $25/hour for a quick learner with lots of hussle that pretty much didn't know anything but was a natural talent. That was a rarity.
When a new helper comes along I figure each small question that I have to answer costs me 5 minutes of concentration and the person asking took another 5, even if the answer is simply yes or no. Every minute it takes to show someone a task we're both losing money. Every question means two people are having absolutely zero productivity. Laborers or inexperienced carpenters often don't help profitability for the first month.
Well you sound alot like myself in this post! I get ask to do such things likes this for friends and family just like my resent post here "First time framing a house" If you read the whole post you know I am helping my brother in law it is his house I am building. I don't ask for payment from friends and family on things they need help doing I just ask them to do the same when I need help.
Scott
fab, No I don't charge friends or family for helping with this or that even if it is a multi-day task. Roof their house, build a garden shed, etc. If they were to build a house, I would throw in a day here and a weekend there on massive labor tasks. Actually I have done just that, perhaps in that case I would even say I cherry picked the tasks I was interested in. IN the two in-law case I ahve done so, they knew I was a perfectionist and they said go do XYZ and checked back at midnight to say "why are you still here".
The case I am considering is not a friend or an in-law, more of an in-law to an in-law. I know he has asked one of his in-law's in-laws to help out for pay and that individual declined. If I stepped up it would be because he NEEDs teh help and becasue I just like to do the work.
I just would want it to be worth my while and worth the price to him.
Well in this case, I would probably atleast charge him the $15 like eveyone else has been saying here, But I also might see if he would tell you what it would be worth to him to have you help him, see what he would offer you first before you set a price. In some cases I have found out they would give me more than what I had in mind. this way you could see if he was in the same ball park as you or if he knows he needs the help and is willing to pay for it.