Average Hourly Handyman Charges in South East

fluffpot

Well it's all about the market I guess - the location, your skills and knowledge and how much in demand you are.... Some weeks I will turnover that amount - but others will be much, much less

leveller2911

nickj wrote: »

i am self employed, thanks , so i do know the costs involved

however there's a big difference with someone doing a job that will take an hour for £35 to someone spending the whole day/week on a job . i would not pay any tradesman £1200 per week

Agree, but there are plenty of chancers out there who will do anything to make a fast,easy buck.I can only comment on the building industry but we all know the same is true in the motor trade. People just need to be aware and use some common sense and do their homework.

Handyman wise they generally have few overheads (tools,van and hopefully insurance) my main gripe is the fct that most don't know how to do a job properly so why pay a lot of money for a poor job when you can get the job done correctly for less money...

I charge £30-00 hr for my Joinery but I have a list of overheads as long as your arm, I would love to know who charges £80-00 hr for joinery.Charging high rates doesn't mean you get a different type of client.I've worked for Rock Stars,Landed gentry,National Trust,Church Of England and Mrs Miggins at the local Pie shop.

leveller2911

leveller2911 wrote: »

Agree, but there are plenty of chancers out there who will do anything to make a fast,easy buck.I can only comment on the building industry but we all know the same is true in the motor trade. People just need to be aware and use some common sense and do their homework.

Handyman wise they generally have few overheads (tools,van and hopefully insurance) my main gripe is the fact that most don't know how to do a job properly so why pay a lot of money for a poor job when you can get the job done correctly for less money...

I charge £30-00 hr for my Joinery but I have a list of overheads as long as your arm.

Added to that the best "Handymen" are the retired/semi retired tradesmen who want to keep their hand in and need to top-up their pension (if they have one)..;)

nickj_2

leveller2911 wrote: »

Added to that the best "Handymen" are the retired/semi retired tradesmen who want to keep their hand in and need to top-up their pension (if they have one)..;)

agreed - there's a big difference between someone who knows what they're doing and someone who thinks they know what they're doing

as a painter myself you would think it's a fairly straightforward operation , but it's amazing how many people haven't got a clue , and once something is done wrong , it's exteremly hard or expensive to put right .
i did a job last year on a huge 5 bed house - iwas only painting the facia boards . the inside of the had been fitted out no expense spared - everthing was top notch and fantastic , and yet , i presume the builder cut costs here and there , none of the exterior woodwork had had any knots sealed or had been primed , just 1 coat of u/c and 1 gloss , all flaking off , despite the house only being a few years old

bluebird

macman wrote: »

Why pay by the hour? Get a quote for the work you want doing, then you know exactly what it will cost.

I echo macman get each job quoted for NOT estimated as this tends to change get a written quote.

leveller2911

nickj wrote: »

agreed - there's a big difference between someone who knows what they're doing and someone who thinks they know what they're doing



I don't know how much a decent decorator would charge a day in your area but I'm guessing £110-£150 a day? so why would anyone pay a handyman £280-00 a day for what would be an inferior job.

I have done small jobs and charged my hourly rate plus a little for diesel and its a struggle to make my day rate however with some planning it can be done. I guess I'm too honest to charge people silly money.

nickj_2

leveller2911 wrote: »

nickj wrote: »

agreed -


I don't know how much a decent decorator would charge a day in your area but I'm guessing £110-£150 a day? so why would anyone pay a handyman £280-00 a day for what would be an inferior job.

.

i aim for 130 per day , sometimes it works out more sometimes less , but i quote 99% of my work so i try to give my customers a good deal , this w/e i've just priced up 10k's worth of work which i expect to get most of as they are all regulars or people i know , however i know some people who charge a lot more and they've not got much on ,l on the other hand are snowed under with work

leveller2911

nickj wrote: »

leveller2911 wrote: »

i aim for 130 per day , sometimes it works out more sometimes less , but i quote 99% of my work so i try to give my customers a good deal , this w/e i've just priced up 10k's worth of work which i expect to get most of as they are all regulars or people i know , however i know some people who charge a lot more and they've not got much on ,l on the other hand are snowed under with work

Think the decent painters around here charge pretty much the same as you. Good to see you have plenty on.

We have just finished a kitchen and started on 2 large glass houses making them out of Western Red Cedar so the workshop smells lovelly .. We are really busy too and have work booked up till the end of August but I know some good tradesmen who are struggling.

Do you get on the decorators forum nick?....www.bib-n-braces.com

I've lurked the site and theres some good threads .

nickj_2

leveller2911 wrote: »

nickj wrote: »

Think the decent painters around here charge pretty much the same as you. Good to see you have plenty on.

We have just finished a kitchen and started on 2 large glass houses making them out of Western Red Cedar so the workshop smells lovelly .. We are really busy too and have work booked up till the end of August but I know some good tradesmen who are struggling.

Do you get on the decorators forum nick?....www.bib-n-braces.com

I've lurked the site and theres some good threads .

can't say i have , but will have a look

good to hear you have plenty of work on , i'm fortunate in that i live in an area where most people are cash rich -time poor , so as long as they're in work then so am i :T

Russe11

Vibrant wrote: »

I will admit that I don't earn much more than min wage, but I don't have much use for money and I enjoy the handyman jobs which are a bit of fun, making a change from gardening.
I used to earn a reasonable wage, managing a factory of about 30 people, but it was quite stressful and I never spent much of my wages. When a colleague died at 61, I thought "do I want to spend another 15 years doing this job" and the answer was no. So I gave notice and became a gardener.

My outgoings are only about £100 per week, so I still bank the healthy surplus.
The rates for gardening are quite low in this area, the highest rate I know of is £16 per hour. Although the landscaping firms charge far more.

Makes sense, often seen a maintenance role advertised as "would suit semi retired" etc as the business does not want to pay the going rates for either external contractor or fulltime employee.