Going hourly rate for handyman

[Jwestercamp]

Anyone have a sense of what a good going rate to pay a good carpenter per hour?

 

[Daniel Dudley]

NY or AZ ? Where you are makes a difference.

 

[Roots]

Also, are you talking about their hourly wages or their hourly billing? Professional journeyman or craigslist special?

 

[djjsr]

Handyman, $20-$25. Good carpenter, $35-$40. (small town in the Midwest)

 

[mayday0017]

Also does this carpenter work for someone who pays him his hourly rate or does he work for himself have all his own tools and find all of his own jobs? Another HUGE difference there...

 

[mayday0017]

In Houston & Arkansas talking with the guys who worked in the crew doing different parts of the build most guys make 12-20/hr working under someone else who bid the job, has the overhead, and has the insurance.

Honestly was shocked to see how many guys on the crew were in their late 20's early 30's and making $12.50 an hour. (Those were the guys I got info from if they worked hard and hired later for small jobs finishing up the house, they were happy to make extra $$ paid them $15/hr, I was happy to have help that knew what the tools were and how they worked)

 

[Automatic Slim]

There is alot of undercutting in Arkansas as well, last 10 hispanic explosion has dropped labor wages down in landscape and light construction. Agree with mayday that lead man usually makes about 20$ hr, and help about 12, but lots running crews for 8$ hr w/ hispanic/dom. repub. labor force that aren't governed. Roofing has been one of those professions.

Have a friend who runs a landscape business that charges by the hour 30$.

Most builders bid by the job whether it's a picnic table or McMansion. But reliability and workmanship is spotty.

Basic "handyman" stuff, rates at about 20$ - $25 hr. "rent my husband" etc.,, LOL. People are willing to pay more to have someone they know in their house unattended. Clean shaven, not an ex-con, etc..... several house hubby's have ventured into this realm who have professional wife,

 

[signcrafter]

There is no real way to answer your question based on the limited details you gave. Location makes a huge difference. The other thing is if the guy is legit or not, by this I mean is he licensed and insured? By your use of the term handyman I will assume you are just looking for a guy to do some work and not a real business. License and insurance cost a decent amount of money so if he is a legit contractor he will have to charge more. Just keep in mind if you are looking for the lowest price and hire someone with no insurance and they get hurt on your property it can turn into a nightmare for you, unless you can drag him across the street and say you never knew him!

 

[tcianci]

I'm up in the Boston, MA area and I usually charge $55-60 per hour depending on the job and conditions. Also, I have adopted a minimum service call charge of $75.00.

We too have some pretty good competition from the Hispanics but most prospective customers are more comfortable with American, older guys who have an established track record, insurances, licenses, and a long list of referrals. All of these things add into the cost and customers know that.

A lot of the work around here by non American, younger guys is actually pretty good but they are just going to have to wait to overcome any stigma attached to their station. Just yesterday we were finishing up a deck job and the homeowner had a couple guys in to install a rug. one could barely speak English and the other not a word of it but they did a perfect job. To get a track record, they usually charge less than more established guys. Of course, being "established" means I'm getting closer to the retirement that I probably can't afford

 

[scarpozzi]

This is what I've found out around here...
General Labor = $10-15/hour
Skilled Labor = $20-40/hour
Bobcat/Excavator Operator = $50-80/hour

 

[connorzpewell]

NY or AZ ? Where you are makes a difference.

Have to agree. It differs mainly on the location.

 

[Fyrme]

I'm in Oklahoma. My rates are as follows for remodel work.
General framing/drywall=$40hr
Electrical=$60hr (I am licensed)
Combination jobs=$50hr
Large lengthy jobs for friends/family=$25hr
Small jobs for friends/family=free
And I've NEVER had. Customer complain about my rates.
I bid all of my small jobs

 

[djjsr]

This hangs in my workshop ...

 

[Kevin54]

I've found that around here, I won't pay by the hour, but I'll pay by the job. Anytime I've paid by the hour, I've gotten burnt by the screwoffs

 

[ADSR]

I've found that around here, I won't pay by the hour, but I'll pay by the job. Anytime I've paid by the hour, I've gotten burnt by the screwoffs

It works both ways. I've seen people that want a bid on a job. If they had done it by the hour, they would have saved over 10 grand.

 

[ADSR]

Handyman, $20-$25. Good carpenter, $35-$40. (small town in the Midwest)

^^^This

How could you afford to insure and put fuel in your truck for any less?

 

[ADSR]

BTW, i charge 35/hour for anything i do. Add in my truck at .75 cents a KM.

 

[Fyrme]

I've found that around here, I won't pay by the hour, but I'll pay by the job. Anytime I've paid by the hour, I've gotten burnt by the screwoffs

When I bid a job I always bid in an extra 1 1/2-2hrs longer than I think it should take. However, I usually under estimate my time so it evens out. I find the older I get, the slower I am, yet I still seem to bid jobs as if I'm still 20years old. The best way to treat a contractor that's working by the hour is to be present while they are working. If I'm by the hour, I will let my cel phone go to VM more often than if I bid it...

 

[Kevin54]

I've found that around here, I won't pay by the hour, but I'll pay by the job. Anytime I've paid by the hour, I've gotten burnt by the screwoffs

It works both ways. I've seen people that want a bid on a job. If they had done it by the hour, they would have saved over 10 grand.

When I bid a job I always bid in an extra 1 1/2-2hrs longer than I think it should take. However, I usually under estimate my time so it evens out. I find the older I get, the slower I am, yet I still seem to bid jobs as if I'm still 20years old. The best way to treat a contractor that's working by the hour is to be present while they are working. If I'm by the hour, I will let my cel phone go to VM more often than if I bid it...

I don't have a problem with paying someone for what they're worth, it's the thing that I won't pay them for what they THINK they're worth.

And I don't have a problem with someone bidding in an extra hour or so.

Through the years, I've done a lot of different jobs withing holding down a regular job. I've ran 'dozers, skidsteers, I've roofed, I've painted cars, I've done remodeling, I've built room additions, decks, and so on. So I pretty well know what it is going to take to do something and about how long it's going to take. I also know my work ethic and compare others to that, then give them a little bit more time. I can usually tell up front when someone starts handing out the ********. If they say they get so much an hour, then start telling you how big of job it is, and it's going to take this and it's going to take that, and they've only ran into one other job that size..........That's when I tell them, I'll pay by the job and not the hour. And that's if I would hire them at all.

 

[GTO]

In the Northeast,$150-500 day,depending on experience and ability.

 

[WQ59B]

I also charge $40/hr (NJ). I prefer hourly rate vs. job price - not because I milk things but because jobs ALWAYS take longer than you think (renovation; new construction is more straightforward IMO). I'll do some electrical & plumbing work too at the same rate, so the client gains ground on the money normally spent there.

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

sidework=200 a day + materials

 

[Jwestercamp]

Sorry live in Iowa typical carpenter handyman my feelings if you find the cheapest you get what you pay for thanks for all the input

 

[Kevin54]

Standing on the other side of the fence, anytime I did work for someone, I always like to bid it by the job and not by the hour. For one, they know upfront what it's going to cost them, for another it shows that I'm honest and going to give them what was told. And it also kept me ******* to make the money. The job may be a $400 job. If I did it in a day, it made me $50/hr. If I milked it out to two day's I only made $25/hr.

I guess it's a personal preference as to how you want to charge people. Myself, on either side of the fence it's usually by the job, although I have done a few jobs by the hour, and at that, the ones that I do it by the for have gotten some great deals.

 

[Norcal]

If one does not have a contractors lic. in a State that requires them, you then run afoul of those laws. Here in CA if the job exceeds $500 in labor & materials a contractors lic is required, & no the job cannot be broken down into smaller portions so to not exceed the $500 limit.

Hiring unlic. help can leave you on the hook if they are hurt, but how many homeowners get workman's comp when they hire someone for a job????

 

[Mandres]

I would never pay hourly wages unless I'm directly supervising/managing in a field I'm an expert in.

It's just bad business. The incentive is to fill the hours doing as little work as possible and pad the bill as much as you can get away with. Not that all, or even most, do that. But that's the the incentive ...

I accept bids for a job done, and don't pay until it's done to my satisfaction. hourly wages are fine for automatons but skilled labor needs to have that ownership interest in their work, and that comes when the incentive is to get it done quickly to maximize their own profit.