Tradesmen

eazybee

Goodness.
There are some extremely entitled people on here.

Entitled to what?? What a strange comment!

M0nica

Well we have just moved house and taken on a renovation project..........................

Good for you! I envy you as I love doing stuff like that. When my husband was alive, we took on all sorts of household tweaking by ourselves, including decorating, and loved it. The only tradesmen we needed were those who did electrics and plumbing.
Since he died, I haven’t had the nerve to do things on my own and, given my advanced age, don’t have the energy now. Also, my family has banned me from going up a ladder (even a step-ladder) ever again. In fairness though, since then, they do any decorating I need, as long as I make copious cups of tea!

We have been quoted £500 a day for unskilled worker, £750 ofr a skilled. This is by a company who employs them, so not self employed so will cost more.

Unfortunately we need the special skills this company has, so beyond limiting ourselves to only the specialist wrok, that is allw e can do.

I am not complaining. We chose to buy a Listed house that needed renovation. We went into this with our eyes open.

eazybee

Goodness.
There are some extremely entitled people on here.

How are posters entitled?

Spending money on maintenance of your home saves money in the long-term.
Some people spend money on cars, holidays, expensive clothes, some can afford all of that.
Others save to have necessary work done and it's frustrating when you remember just how much you could do yourself but can no longer.

Goodness.
There are some extremely entitled people on here.

Is that to me WWW? We can’t really afford that, tbh. We had no choice. It had to be done due to a water leak. Lived with it looking a mess for a few years, whilst I put money aside.
I put £500 to one side & borrowed more off my mum- so yes shocked at the pice.

You are lucky you can afford to have them in. We need work done but can’t afford it. Stop moaning.

Worked out plasterer did 10.5 hrs, roughly over three days to plaster 18ft x 13 foot living room ceiling. Counted in 5 bags of plaster, tub of poly bond. 1.5 hrs preparation of ceiling. £900

I think cleaning is a skilled job- I wouldn’t pay £230 a day though

My point is he’s getting £230, whether he does 4hrs, or 6hrs. A day rate of £230 to me means coming at 9am, hr for lunch knocking off at 5pm.
I paid for materials on top of that.

I never pay anyone by the hour - I get quotations for the ‘job’.
My d.i.ls father, recently retired from his regular job. He has a flair for painting and decorating - so decided to do that as his post-retirement job. He charged me £900 for the kitchen, utility, dining, living, hall stairs and landing. He brought the paint, (I paid for that).
He has done a fantastic job. He was here one week plus a couple of days the following week.
Tea was flowing and for lunch corn beef pies or sandwiches from the local bakery. He’s one who likes to talk, So we got on well .

Yes, we seem to have disruption for a good part of this year outside and indoors and still have curtain rails etc to put back up.

The problem with having some rooms done is that you notice others that might need doing.

It's not cheap but yes, they have all the business expenses as well as earning a living.

Mt61

I absolutely hate workmen, most have no respect for our property. Either late, or have some family excuse as to why they have to have a day off.
I feel I have to be at the back of them all the time.
Just had a plasterer in, came late, finishes early wants £230 a day- nearly dropped through the floor when I received the bill.
Thank the lord last room to be done & that will have to see us out, as I can’t bothered anymore.
Luckily my husband can do everything else so had saved us a fortune.

£230 a day = £1,150 a week = £52,900 a year (46 weeks, 4 weeks holiday, 2 weeks sickness, other).

Out of that £52,900 he has to pay for all his business expenses purchase and running van business insurance, materials, professional iinsurance, sickness insurance. I would say that is going to to knock at least £10,000, probably more of the income.

Let us say his take home pay is £40,000. The _median- ( 50% earn less, 50% earn more) wage in the UK is £37,430.

I think you were very fortunate to only be paying £230 a day. Plastering is a skilled job and they are much in demand.

What did you expect the day rate to be and what income would that have given the plasterer?

I've had a lot of work done to my present home and I've been very fortunate with all of the different trades people that I have employed.I keep wondering what I can have done next.It's a bit like a weird hobby and I love the end results.

Ilovedogs22

Kiwiqueen, I have one thing to say.
Pull your self-together dear! Only teasing. 😊
I too get into a fluster whenever we have tradesmen in.
Why? I have no idea, I'm normally calm and confident & have an easy C'est attitude to stuff. Yet when the chaps turn -up,
I become a demented twit offering....tea, coffee biscuits, water,
the Loo! (for goodness sake!)
On the bright- side at least your found some available tradesmen!
Deep-breathes & lots of lovely tea, for you all. 😊

You mean you killed them with kindness 😂

Cabbie21

I had a wonderful electrician here today. Excellent worker and both he and his mate were so respectful of me and of my property. Having said that, I feel as though I have wasted half the day, firstly waiting for a phone call to give me his arrival time, and secondly waiting for the power to be switched back on to do certain things. Not his fault of course, but it is unsettling.

What did he charge you? Full day rate?

I absolutely hate workmen, most have no respect for our property. Either late, or have some family excuse as to why they have to have a day off.
I feel I have to be at the back of them all the time.
Just had a plasterer in, came late, finishes early wants £230 a day- nearly dropped through the floor when I received the bill.
Thank the lord last room to be done & that will have to see us out, as I can’t bothered anymore.
Luckily my husband can do everything else so had saved us a fortune.

We renovated our current house when our children were 11 and 8. Teams of men in every working day for 8 months, gutting everything apart from the roof.
I came back from work one day to find the kitchen, dining room, utility and loo all one huge space, with nothing but a single cold tap left!
Never again!

I had a wonderful electrician here today. Excellent worker and both he and his mate were so respectful of me and of my property. Having said that, I feel as though I have wasted half the day, firstly waiting for a phone call to give me his arrival time, and secondly waiting for the power to be switched back on to do certain things. Not his fault of course, but it is unsettling.

M0nica

Well we have just moved house and taken on a renovation project..........................

I envy your resilience. I hate strangers in my home and the disruption caused by having tradesmen in my space.
I wish you good luck with your renovation.

Kiwiqueen, I have one thing to say.
Pull your self-together dear! Only teasing. 😊
I too get into a fluster whenever we have tradesmen in.
Why? I have no idea, I'm normally calm and confident & have an easy C'est attitude to stuff. Yet when the chaps turn -up,
I become a demented twit offering....tea, coffee biscuits, water,
the Loo! (for goodness sake!)
On the bright- side at least your found some available tradesmen!
Deep-breathes & lots of lovely tea, for you all. 😊

I quite enjoy it, I find it quite exciting. Yes, in the past we did almost everything ourselves. I swear DH was born clutching a screwdriver, but currently our new home is being renovated and,to be honest i would rather have tradesmen in than wait 2 years for a new kitchen installed because DH has to fit it in between being absent abroad for weeks on end and not having the right bit/tool/glue at 5.00 on a Sunday evening.

That should have been 'going to get lunch'

No edit button makes me grumpy, too.

I'm another who hates having daily life dictated by having work done. It's little things like having to be up and dressed early instead of drinking coffee in my dressing gown while reading the news, and feeling 'watched' as I go about my day.

I hate following people into the bathroom, or having them follow me, and when they turn the power on and off it drives me mad, even though I know they aren't doing it for fun.

That sort of thing, plus having to think ahead to what you might need out of different rooms (eg a spare knitting needle or a coat with a hood) just makes it stressful, as does going to get much and finding the microwave is being used to heat a smelly lunch by the workers.

I'm not sure it's about getting older, so much as valuing my privacy, which I've done since I was young. We did most things around the house ourselves when we were younger though, so I can't make a reasonable comparison. Maybe I've just always been grumpy🥳

If you don't have to have things done, don't bother. If it has to be done, be pleased that you are in a position to do it.

If it's really getting to you, focus on how lovely it'll be when it's done. You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.