"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
. com...

Yes, I think you got hosed on this. Rates will vary but the 120/80 you
suggest is not out of line. The problem is finding a good electrician.
The one we use at work charges $65/hr. He does not advertise at all (nor
does he need to) and has an excellent reputation. You have to find
someone like that by word of mouth, not from a half page ad in the Yellow
Pages.

Interesting. Yep, this company did have a half page ad in the Yellow Pages,
which surprised me since I know where the company is located. I picked them
because they happen to be around the corner from where I live and only about
2 1/2 miles from where the house is that needed the work. When I called
them, I was pleased because the first person I spoke with knew exactly what
I was talking about when I said what the job was (replace a 220 line, less
tahn 30 feet, that goes from the main panel to the cutoff box outside).
Then he switched me to a woman who was also very nice and who said she may
be able to have somone come ou this afternoon to do it (I called at about
2:30 PM) or if not, definitely they could do it tomorrow morning before 12.
I'm sure they were thinking what you and I were thinking -- that this is a
staright forward less-than-one-hour job. Then the woman called me back and
said that, yes, one of her men did free up and was on his way over to take
care of it. I didn't even ask how much it would cost because I just assumed
they would charge some hourly rate and the job would be done. Since they
knew exactly what the job was, I thought they would already have 30 feet of
10/3 220V wire in the truck, and since it is a replacement of the existing
line there are no connectors or parts involved -- maybe just some caulk
where it goes through the cinder block wall.

It got strange when the guy (kid) showed up and started making it a federal
case out of it, etc. I ended up just agreeing to have them do the job
tomorrow even though I know the price is more than makes sense. But when I
asked about my other idea of doing more work on an hourly rate basis he said
their hourly rate is $175 per hour. That's what got me wondering what is a
"normal" hourly rate for elelctricians.


FWIW, John would have come to your house ready to work and probably had
the wire in his truck. Half hour later it would be done and you'd both be
$ ahead.