On Mar 24, 5:28 am, "3G" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...
On Mar 23, 10:33?pm, "RicodJour" wrote:





Eigenvector wrote:
I have a good friend at work who's a GC for the company that I work
for. He
gets hired to build walls, paint, install ceilings, that sort of
thing.
He's as good as any GC I've had to work with. (I just escort them
and make
sure they don't run off with company secrets).

Anyway he approached me and said that if I needed to have some work
done
he'd be willing to work out a price for small jobs on the side. I'm
willing, but I get the impression the conversation's gonna go like
this

"So, I'm wondering if you could help me replace a damaged support
post in my
crawlspace"
"Sure, what do you think it's worth to you?"
"Uhh uhhh I uhhhh, ummmmm fumbling around because I don't have a
clue what
these guys make on the sly 500 bucks???"
"Yeah sure whatever asshole. Call me back when you're serious."

I know what he makes, I know what the materials cost, but for on the
sly
jobs he isn't making union wages (or is he?).

So I'm wondering if it should go like this
He makes 100 bucks an hour (roughly) so maybe go for 70 bucks an
hour for
the job and estimate 2 hours to do the work - call it 300 bucks and
start
from there. For someone who doesn't do it for a living you're really
at a
disadvantage when working with these guys because you really don't
know how
much this stuff costs. You either end up ending a good relationship
or
getting fleeced like a lamb.

If the guy's a good friend, let him lead. Start with a small job.

R- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
have him look and give you price, small job first pay him cash and be
nice. can save tons of bucks and get good job too

it is always better to work for free for a friend or family.
this way no one is insulted and you still end up friends in the end.
or as "hallerb" said pay him what he estimates...do not make an
insulting offer.
or maybe barter for some work.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


If your idea is he normally charges $100 an hour and because you know
him he's going to give you a great deal of $70 an hour, you must have $
$$ to burn, as those rates seem over the top to me here in NJ for
someone that paints and installs ceilings.

If you want to engage him, I would expect him to come over, give a
price for the job, not by the hour and write a contract, just like
any contractor would. As suggested, I'd start with something small.
If it's a larger job, then surely get multiple estimates to compare
him against.