Secret password for hiring a plumber?

Software Engineer now. Before that, Electronics Technician and Nuclear Power Plant operator. But I didn't learn how to fix things around the house by doing any of that.

Reply to
User Example
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Did your employers pay you enough to put your kids through college? That would be foolish of them.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

It's the same...

You're paying for a product--that product is somebody's time and expertise and their investment in their equivalent overhead costs--in the trades that's tools, transportation, training, etc., etc., ...

Well, you go paint some houses for a living and see what you end up charging as a working wage... :)

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

No, what I resent is when they charge 3 or 4 times what it costs to actually do the job, and that is including paying the labor and the materials. That's just downright ridiculous. I'm happy to pay them for their time and the materials they use. But at the rate a lot of them charge, you are paying a day or two of work to people who don't even go out to your job site. That just doesn't seem right to me.

I don't mind paying a high price for some work if it is done to perfection but so far just about all the work I have hired out has been full of mistakes or ugly work. For instance, I had my chimney resided because it is too high for me to do. Well, they left Tyvec hanging out from under the siding boards... the painters just painted over the Tyvec. The caulk had all kinds of gaps in it. And I paid a lot for the job because I expected they would do good work.

Until the quality of work goes up I will complain about it.

Reply to
User Example

That's not the same. They are paying for a product and they are have to pay for R&D. That goes for anything you buy off the shelf whether it is software, a toilet valve, or an A/C. I am not complaining about the price of building supplies, now.

I have done contract work where I had to go to the customer's site to write software. But even then, we negotiated on a rate (time and materials) and that's all I charged for. Granted my rate was very high but they knew that going into the deal. So, I expect the same when some workers come to my house to do work. I don't see the justice in paying mexican's $150/hr to paint my house, which is about what it works out to when you do the math.

Reply to
User Example

What a guy, with your payment they can actually stay in business for a few days.

What about associated costs of running a business such as: liability insurance, workman's comp insurance, vehicle insurance, SS and Medicare taxes, office expenses, rent, and on and on?

Do you know how much you earn? No, really, do you know what it costs your employer to keep you on the payroll? Health insurance can add $5 or more per hour. You probably get paid holidays and vacation that is figured in. Event though you have a safe office job, he still has to pay workman's comp insurance, albeit at a lower rate than a foundry worker. He may be paying property taxes on the desk and computer you use. Measure your office space and check out rental costs.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Well I give up. It is obvious to me that the reason that contractors charge outrageous rates and do shoddy work is because the majority of homeowners don't know the difference in shoddy work and good work. I'm sure I piss the hell out of the contractors that work for me when they don't do a good job. For instance, when the guy installing my $1800 frameless shower finished up the job and there was a chipped piece of glass, smeared caulking, and scatches on my brand new marble shower enclosure you are darn right I told him to get back and fix it and I told him that I didn't appreciate him leaving a job that way. If it had been done right the first time I would have been happy. Even still, after 2 months of dealing with the shower guy, it still looks pretty sloppy. I'll end up taking the glass down sometime down the road and reinstalling and recaulking the mess. $1800 for 3 pieces of glass and it took 2 months and 3 call backs just to get it satisfactory. That's what I am talking about. And that's why I do anything I can do on my own. You don't like my view? Well, then you are probably a sucker so I don't care.

Reply to
User Example

Luckily there are people like you who glady will pay all of that and more.

Reply to
User Example

Yep, or your ass would be on welfare instead of gainfully employed. If we don't pay a fair price for things, the employers would be out of business and we'd be paying tax dollars so the ex employees can sit on their asses and collect from the government. Funny how it works.

Nothing wrong with saving money by DIY and if you do contract, you deserve good quality work. But there is a cost to it.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Try Rotor rooter

Reply to
Art

The difference between poor workmanship and the cost of doing business are two separate arguments...you've changed the target.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

So since you get yours you begrudge some else theirs?

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

On 08/27/05 03:43 pm Duane Bozarth tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

But according to the post that started all this, the plumber had quoted his rate per hour, the material cost, and the length of the job, but the total estimated price for the job was far more than the sum of these, even allowing for it taking longer than estimated.

When we were living in NY and getting our car fixed and they told us that the parts would cost $200 and it would take 3 hours labor at $90/hr., do you think we would have been happy to end up with a bill for $850?

That's the kind of thing that the OP was complaining about.

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

So it's okay for you to work for a company that gouges but you won't hire companies that charge more than straight materials and labor. Right. R

Reply to
RicodJour

Your rate was high....for what? You have no materials, unless you print out your code for reference purposes. If that's the case, what's a case of 500 sheets of paper? $25.00? Your expertise is worthless. Unless you print out your code, you should work for free. Since it's nobody's business how much money you need to pay your mortgage and other expenses, or what your education cost, you're certainly not going to reveal that to them. So, you have no way of justifying anything other than pro bono work.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

You must be the darling of the instant oil change places. :-)

Reply to
Doug Kanter

I don't go to those places. Those places are for women.

Reply to
User Example

I didn't set my rate. My company did.

Reply to
User Example

And yes, it was a ripoff...

Reply to
User Example

Thank you. Finally someone gets it.

Reply to
User Example

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