On Jan 26, 2:10 am, "SteveB" wrote:
"marson" wrote in message

...



On Jan 25, 2:02 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
Just going over some proposals from a recently completing project ......

Hang six interior doors
Install baseboard in a 1,000 sf addition
Install door knobs and locks
Install door trim

NO PAINT OR TOUCH UP

$1,524 LABOR ONLY

I did the work myself. First doors I ever hung. A couple of burps, but
the
doors work fine. Locks I know. Bought a second hand DeWalt compound
miter
saw for $50. Bought a used Porter Cable nailer, $40.

Total cost, less than $250. Whoops, forgot the paint, which is another
$25.
And I own the saw and nailer, which are slick. I can use them for lots
of
other projects.

Why do some people think they're worth so much?

I can understand hvac and electric and plumbing and some of the specialty
trades. What's so hard about doors and trim?

Steve

For the simple reason that they need to make a living. While the
amount they charge may seem high, consider that it is their total
compensation package: Overhead (truck and tools), bookkeeping,
liability insurance, license, worker's comp, medical, vacation, sick
pay, etc. A good rule of thumb for a self employed person is that the
real take home is about half of the hourly rate--that is, a self
employed carpenter that is charging 30 bucks and hour is doing as well
as the guy making 15 bucks and hour at a regular job.

On the other had, judging from the tone of your post, they may have
smelled that you are a jerk and charged accordingly. That's what I
would have done.

Been there, done that, got the T shirt. Was a steel erection contractor.
And no, I wouldn't show up with a truck full of equipment and two men for
less than $800 a day. But we were doing REAL work requiring NDT and
industrial inspector's approval, and not using very simple hand tools to do
a VERY simple job that a teen ager could be taught in a week.

Jerk? Hardly. Just someone who can smell a rat. I'm a jerk for asking him
to come into my home, and do work for money? And then I'm a jerk for not
paying a lot of money for a little work?

If that's what you would have done, then you would have been sitting there
idle while your overhead motor was running ............ intake zero, outgo
passing sixty ........... just like he did. He preferred to stay at home
instead of work. Living a half assed life in a manufactured home on
relative's property, and getting unemployment about three months a year.
Driving a piece of **** truck, and living a underachiever life.

Whatever winds yer clock.

Hardly a jerk? My mind's made up.