What would you charge?

September 22nd, 2008 at 03:32 pm

My dh is a very talented builder. We have stacks of letters of reccommendations.
He can do almost anything. He does the plumbing, the electical, lays tile, hardwood floors, builds his own cabinets, furniture, etc.

So, he is always being called to fix something. I don't mind that, but I don't think he charges enough.
Last weekend, he had to do some plumbing work in a neighbor's shower. He spent two hours over there working, plus made two trips to Ace hardware to get nuts and bolts.
His total bill for labor and materials is $50. I think that is too cheap.

Once a year, I have to call the a/d guy to come out and add freon to the upstairs airconditioner cause there is a slow leak somewhere. (And he installed the air conditioner, so it's his fault)
He always charges me $115 and he is here for less than 10 minutes!

No wonder, dh has so many friends!

(btw, I meant to say a/c guy)

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »

14 Responses to “What would you charge?”

gamecock43 Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 04:09 pm 1222099748
1222099748

ummm...yes your husband is too cheap. However being this cheap must mean he is very busy.
homebody Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 04:22 pm 1222100539
1222100539

Cheap, he should charge hourly rate which includes store time. But like game says, he probably stays very busy, which can make up for it.
MileHighGal Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 04:30 pm 1222101023
1222101023

I think once he gets more business that he can start turning away people, he should definitely increase his prices. Supply and demand. Meanwhile I'd work on increasing his customer base: get a website up, put his services up on craigslist, print up some flyers to put up in local businesses and apartment/condo complexes, etc.

You're so lucky to have a handy husband, they are worth their weight in gold!
Ima saver Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 04:33 pm 1222101181
1222101181

My husband does not do this for a living. He builds houses full time for a living. But he is always asked to fix things, especially for friends and neighbors.
Yes, I am lucky to have a handy husband!
gamecock43 Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 04:34 pm 1222101255
1222101255

assign him an hourly labor fee. he must include it in every job.
Broken Arrow Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 04:36 pm 1222101412
1222101412

Yeah, I think he should start charging more.
gruntina Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 05:47 pm 1222105644
1222105644

For workers who have years of experiences, their services cost more. Your husband has years of experiences along with letters of recomendation. Based on this, he should be charging more.

I am not saying he can not be flexible with customers on an individual basis but he should not be underpaid either.
merch Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 07:45 pm 1222112702
1222112702

The other way to look at this is that your husband just enjoys this. Maybe, this is his form of charity. Kind of giving back to the community. Or maybe he views it as more of a hobby.

Just my thoughts. In my area, handymen charge $50 to $75 and hour plus materials.
greengirl Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 08:56 pm 1222116988
1222116988

i agree, you should work out an hourly rate and bill from there, and add any materials cost to that.
sharmanl Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 09:50 pm 1222120259
1222120259

He should charge market rate. They are going to have to pay someone else if not him. Why not pay someone that you know and trust, right? $65-75 an hour is the going rate, so that is what he should get, period.
SicilyYoder Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 am 1222130571
1222130571

I think he should charge more, too.
baselle Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 02:49 am 1222138160
1222138160

He probably should charge a bit more. Does he enjoy doing it, does he learn from it, is it taking away from day job (building houses), is it a source of side income?

If he wants to do a bit less of it, he should charge much more. If its a source of side income, he should charge a bit more, at the going rate. If he's doing it for fun, keep it at his rate.

Is he bugged by the amount of work he's getting?
Wonderlake653 Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 02:50 am 1222138236
1222138236

I have just begun reading your blog from the beginning forward. I am to Jan 08 now but today's post caught my eye. You sold a house for $400K last year ... your husband works long hours 24/7 ... if you divided 400K by 2080, the number of work hours for someone in a 9-5 job, that hourly rate is $192 per hour but your husband works at least 70 hours per week - 24/7 ... his hourly rate when you closed on that house in Jan 07 was $109 ... increase the rate 3% each year and that should be his hourly rate plus mileage for any trips he makes to the store and also charge accordingly for any parts, etc. You should not feel guilty for asking for this amount of money. He is a professional with 40 plus years of experience, he is an artisan. Even a decent haircut by a professional stylist is in the range of $75 at the very minimum.
Ima saver Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 02:36 pm 1222180600
1222180600

Wonderlake, my husband and I did build a house and sold it for $400K. However, that $400K included the lot ($62K) and all the materials for the house, it was not my husband's labor. We made a profit of about $40,000 on the house. I usually charge his time out at $25 an hour, but when gas went up so high, I went up to $30 an hour. I still think he should get more for these side jobs cause no plumber or electrician comes out to a job for $30.

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What would you charge?

14 Responses to “What would you charge?”

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