A Tradesmans rant

thechippy

….Other tradesman chime in!

I get increasingly irritated when I see posts saying something like “He wanted £180 per day - WHAT!”

People simply see this as £900 per week, or £3600 per month and often feel it’s expensive and they are being ripped off.

Out of that, we have to pay the following;

1. Tax and NI
2. Fuel
3. Vehicle repairs / upkeep
4. Public liability insurance
5. Tool replacement / upkeep
6. Admin costs
7. Phone

…Just to name a few.

We are not earning a fortune, just an “ok” living - nothing more.

Is this difficult to understand?
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen the work of a “tradesman” who charges maybe £100/120 per day and it’s often appalling. They charge this amount because they are either rubbish at what they do, or they are fiddling their tax.

I recently quoted a guy who has a £750,000 house which was having a £200,000 extension added. He scoffed when I mentioned £180 per day labour rate. Now, what sort of money is he earning to have such a property? Why does he think that his skills (whatever they are) are worth so much more money than mine? Why is HE allowed to earn a fortune, but I’m not?

I get increasingly fed up of people wanting a perfect job, but expect to pay peanuts.

This is not directed to anyone here in particular, I just needed a rant!

Rant over!!

Nile

Hello thechippy

I'll move your thread to the 'Praise, Vent & Warnings' board.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

CHR15

thechippy will be over to post some more comments..... maybe a week on tuesday

dmg24

Sorry thechippy, I disagree. I know of several 'tradesmen' (including my Dad) that charge considerably less than £180 per day and still make a healthy profit. I also doubt that you would find the work of someone with nearly fifty years experience 'appalling'.

phlogeston

thechippy wrote: »

We are not earning a fortune, just an “ok” living - nothing more.

My wife trained 3 years to be a nurse, works long unsociable hours and faces abusive and violent patients on a regular basis. If she makes a mistake, someone dies and she loses her livelyhood.

She would be delighted to earn the same take home pay as someone charging £180 a day as a tradesman.

I sit in an office all day, work 9 to 5 and would estimate I probably take home the same amount as someone charging £180 as a tradesman.

I consider that I earn a very good living and would never describe my pay as just 'ok'.

I have never begrudged a tradesman charging me £180 day for a skilled job. I only get annoyed if the job they do turns out to be worth little more than minimum wage.

People earning a real fortune often seem to begrudge anyone earning a decent wage and see it as challenge to get the cheapest possible price. It applies whether you are a tradesman or an employee.

PS. Most of us also pay:
1. Tax and NI
2. Fuel
3. Vehicle repairs / upkeep
7. Phone
We just can't offset them against our earnings!

Oldernotwiser

We all have to pay NICs and tax out of our income and many of us have to pay travel/vehicle repairs, equipment, professional subs/union fees etc to be able to earn a living.

Why shouldn't people work that out as weekly/monthly income and judge accordingly?

Badger_Lady

I earn £136 gross per working day for my job, which is a fairly senior management job in the private sector. I'm on double what my ex-colleagues (trained nurses) are on. I'm actually just on the cusp of paying higher-rate income tax, well above average. Of course, I will get that every working day throughout the year (no worries about where my next client will come from).

I've actually got a carpenter in at the moment doing some work for me on £400 per week... he's doing an absolutely beautiful job, crafting everything to perfection and judging accurately when I want to be consulted and when I want him to use his initiative. He's even doing a bit of work from home today (Saturday) as part of that weekly rate.

I'd never have a go at someone for charging a high rate, I just wouldn't hire them but if the market where you are allows you to take home the mullar, well done.

latecomer

Most reasonable people will pay £200 a day for a good tradesman. Its when you pay that and get a crap job that people get upset.

Errata

I've never paid workmen by the day, I like a price for a job.

Takoda

£180? And for that you WILL ACTUALLY TURN UP???? Can you guarantee that?

thechippy

Takoda wrote: »

£180? And for that you WILL ACTUALLY TURN UP???? Can you guarantee that?

Yes, I'm very reliable......;)

@dmg24
You are right, there are "some" tradesmen who charge less and do a good job. However, in my experience I have found that most of the cheaper tradesmen have sub standard work and that's probably why they are cheap!

@errata
I have some clients who are happy with a daily rate, but generally I give a fixed quote.