Builder's day rate - is this normal the rate?

mrsjanejane

£150 (includes his labourer) is this normal the rate per day as I am thinking that it is a good deal, but curious of people's experience.

jblack_2

That's a very good price for a decent builder. A labourer will be on at least £50
a day (normally more). So it's £100 for a builder. Seems too good to be true really.

J

Airwolf1

I think it is reasonable. A joiner I know charges £20ph, so his day rate would be roughly the same.

eco-friendly_2

Does appear cheap for a 'builder'


What 'building' work is being carried out?

lagi

I have used loads of different trades and i would say some work harder/quicker/better than others. I haven't found this to be dependant on their rate either. I am not a slave driver but if somebody has offered their services for a price i would expect to see a good days work done.

If you are happy with their price and more importantly their work then surely thats worth it.

If their on a day rate and they are not performing get somebody else in. If its a big job it will cost you in the long run.

27col

I would have thought that £150 per day for both was very reasonable. Provided you get what you pay for, ie, a good days work.

shinjukumaster

Sounds a bit cheap to me. But then there's a lot of builders sitting around with no work. Have you seen his previous work, or received a recommendation?

nic_santorini

our builder is £175 on mates rates, so that is good, if he is good that is!

mrsjanejane

He was honest and said that work is slow for a lot of people at the moment and that he wants my work. So far he is definitely worth it. He also said that he wants me to recommend him to other people if I think his work's good as he gets business like this. I got a quote from a carpet place to fit a large bedroom floor with laminate for £250, they completed it in a day and moved on to something else for the last couple of hours. So it cost me £150 for the room instead of a carpet shop place. He was recommended though a friend of a friend. He did say that the day rate was cheap than if he quoted me for all of the individual jobs.

He quoted me £160 for plastering the master bedroom ceiling. However, as I took him on by the day rate, he got this done in hal a day.

My main message for people is that because the rate seems too good to be true, it does not mean that they are dodgy builders.

jason_s_2

Mrsjanejane, even on price work that is still a good for that size ceiling.

Canucklehead

Good morning: Customers can end up paying more for day rates as opposed to fixed quotes for completion of a job. The OH always quotes a fixed price for plumbing and heating jobs as his clients prefer to know the costs and timelines before setting out. If it takes him longer than he anticipates he absorbs the cost.

Very cheap day rate, btw.

HTH

Canucklehead