I've read that most self-employed people have a difficult time establishing their hourly rate, or may even feel embarrassed to charge what they're truly worth. I'm beginning to appreciate the syndrome.
Spouse and I are home-improvement junkies, and one of the ways we keep up with the latest styles & tools is to help out our friends & neighbors. I'm not looking for a job but, around our neighborhood, we could turn it into one. That might be about to happen for one neighbor, and I'm trying to figure out how to set a fair rate or a good total price.
The neighbor is a single parent with an extremely sucky commute and long working hours. With little free time their family willingly admits that they choose to have no home-maintenance skills, and even a simple jammed disposal would result in a call to a plumber. I've managed to train the youngest son to unclog a sink drain and to fix a disposal but my services are still popular. We get along great and we enjoy each other's company, so to avoid awkwardness we've agreed that I'll be paid $25/hour. Barter is not an option. I do quick jobs for free and baked goods are always appreciated (along with karma points) but if I'm there an hour then it's $25.
I know that plumbers and electricians routinely charge $50-$75 for service calls so I figure that $25 is a fair handyman price. We also both know that nobody's time will be wasted because one of us is paying and the other one of us is on the clock-- a market arrangement that makes us both happy.
This week's query was (ruh-roh) peeling paint on the ceilings of both bathrooms, each about 12'x6'. They share a common wall (and a common attic) and neither one has been painted for over 18 years-- they're still on the builder's original single coat of latex paint. One bathroom is on an outside wall with a window and had only "minor" peeling. The other bathroom has only a vent fan, totally clogged and not even connected to the ductwork, and was peeling its ceiling in sheets.
After I fixed the fan, spouse and I agreed to patch, prime, & paint the ceilings & walls. (She's the décor & paint expert, I'm just labor.) We scraped off the old paint, cleaned & patched, and started priming. Most of a gallon of Kilz vanished before we got a good coat on the ceiling & walls. Even by my standards it was hard work-- today's temperature was in the high 80s but the ceilings were closer to 100 degrees and I sweated off two pounds in two hours.
We're skilled labor and we work neatly with the latest speed tools & techniques. But based on our progress, I estimate that the job will take a total of 8-10 man-hours of labor. $200-$250 of labor seemed like a lot for two bathrooms until I saw a family on HGTV happily pay $2000 (thousand!!) to have their livingroom & kitchen painted by contractors. OTOH a few minutes' Internet research turned up a range of salaries for Hawaii painters between $18-$23/hour. I've never paid someone to paint any of our property so I have no clue.
This job is too small to fret over the hourly rate, but I'm getting questions about painting the rest of the house (inside & out). That's a whole 'nother hairball that I'd rather steer to a painting contractor, but when I've done this for other low-priority tasks they've languished for months or even years. Yes, the exterior is also on its first coat of paint, and IMO if they wait much longer their Masonite will rot.
Is $25/hour a good rate for single-story exterior painting? The neighbor will take care of the association's permit and also pay for the paint & power washing. We'll just be applying the pigment at that hourly rate and spouse will get to try out some new tools she's been lusting after. Is there a better way to price this job?
Spouse and I are home-improvement junkies, and one of the ways we keep up with the latest styles & tools is to help out our friends & neighbors. I'm not looking for a job but, around our neighborhood, we could turn it into one. That might be about to happen for one neighbor, and I'm trying to figure out how to set a fair rate or a good total price.
The neighbor is a single parent with an extremely sucky commute and long working hours. With little free time their family willingly admits that they choose to have no home-maintenance skills, and even a simple jammed disposal would result in a call to a plumber. I've managed to train the youngest son to unclog a sink drain and to fix a disposal but my services are still popular. We get along great and we enjoy each other's company, so to avoid awkwardness we've agreed that I'll be paid $25/hour. Barter is not an option. I do quick jobs for free and baked goods are always appreciated (along with karma points) but if I'm there an hour then it's $25.
I know that plumbers and electricians routinely charge $50-$75 for service calls so I figure that $25 is a fair handyman price. We also both know that nobody's time will be wasted because one of us is paying and the other one of us is on the clock-- a market arrangement that makes us both happy.
This week's query was (ruh-roh) peeling paint on the ceilings of both bathrooms, each about 12'x6'. They share a common wall (and a common attic) and neither one has been painted for over 18 years-- they're still on the builder's original single coat of latex paint. One bathroom is on an outside wall with a window and had only "minor" peeling. The other bathroom has only a vent fan, totally clogged and not even connected to the ductwork, and was peeling its ceiling in sheets.
After I fixed the fan, spouse and I agreed to patch, prime, & paint the ceilings & walls. (She's the décor & paint expert, I'm just labor.) We scraped off the old paint, cleaned & patched, and started priming. Most of a gallon of Kilz vanished before we got a good coat on the ceiling & walls. Even by my standards it was hard work-- today's temperature was in the high 80s but the ceilings were closer to 100 degrees and I sweated off two pounds in two hours.
We're skilled labor and we work neatly with the latest speed tools & techniques. But based on our progress, I estimate that the job will take a total of 8-10 man-hours of labor. $200-$250 of labor seemed like a lot for two bathrooms until I saw a family on HGTV happily pay $2000 (thousand!!) to have their livingroom & kitchen painted by contractors. OTOH a few minutes' Internet research turned up a range of salaries for Hawaii painters between $18-$23/hour. I've never paid someone to paint any of our property so I have no clue.
This job is too small to fret over the hourly rate, but I'm getting questions about painting the rest of the house (inside & out). That's a whole 'nother hairball that I'd rather steer to a painting contractor, but when I've done this for other low-priority tasks they've languished for months or even years. Yes, the exterior is also on its first coat of paint, and IMO if they wait much longer their Masonite will rot.
Is $25/hour a good rate for single-story exterior painting? The neighbor will take care of the association's permit and also pay for the paint & power washing. We'll just be applying the pigment at that hourly rate and spouse will get to try out some new tools she's been lusting after. Is there a better way to price this job?