painting and decorating price

skippy2u

I have a decorator due to start he has quoted me £80 per day to paint kitchen, conservatory and play room. Says it will take max. 5 days to do ceiling walls and woodwork. As the rooms are all open plan to kitchen there are no large expanses to paint but a lot of fiddly bits. I will supply paint.

Know this i a good price and suspect he is not on the books.

My query is I have seen examples of his work (excellent) and would like to use him for further projects. Do I push my luck and offer him a lower daily rate for more days work or just be grateful to get the work done at this price.

thanks

Frankenburger

I only hope the poor bloke is not so desparate to feed his family that he would get hammered down on price by cheapskates like you.

If you or your partner have a job, does you boss say on a monday morning "oh yes, I'm going to be keeping you busy this week so how about you knock 20% off your pay packet?".

You've already aknowledged this bloke is worth the money, why not pay a decent rate for a good job? Or does your obsession with "shopping" blind you to the fact that the self-employed don't have any safety net. If work is drying up in the present state of the housing market, then maybe some are forced to accept pennies from ruthless homeowners just to eat!

If he's good, and the price is ok, pay the man a going rate. He isn't Tesco's, he's a working man trying to support himself and his family by working hard and using his skill, he's not a slave.

jason_s_2

To be honest skippy, and don't take this the wrong way, but your taking the p***. The bloke is working for you for £80 a day. Thats is bare minimum for a tradesman.Your lucky it isn't £150 - £200 a day, which is the norm.
Be grateful you have that price.

rdpro

be grateful! Ask him if he'd sell his soul for a hot bacon sarnie afterwards

jason_s_2

And dont forget the tea urn

skippy2u

Frankenburger wrote: »

I only hope the poor bloke is not so desparate to feed his family that he would get hammered down on price by cheapskates like you.

If you or your partner have a job, does you boss say on a monday morning "oh yes, I'm going to be keeping you busy this week so how about you knock 20% off your pay packet?".

You've already aknowledged this bloke is worth the money, why not pay a decent rate for a good job? Or does your obsession with "shopping" blind you to the fact that the self-employed don't have any safety net. If work is drying up in the present state of the housing market, then maybe some are forced to accept pennies from ruthless homeowners just to eat!

If he's good, and the price is ok, pay the man a going rate. He isn't Tesco's, he's a working man trying to support himself and his family by working hard and using his skill, he's not a slave.

so sorry didn't realise self employed meant claim every benefit going, don't pay tax, national insurance, vat etc then still expect to be paid the same as the next man. Because you have no safety net.
I work for myself too. Big diffe'rence is I don't sign on and i pay a lot of money in tax and insurance etc. could well afford to take a 20% pay cut if i was going to let tax payers subsidse me.

skippy2u

Frankenburger wrote: »

I only hope the poor bloke is not so desparate to feed his family that he would get hammered down on price by cheapskates like you.

If you or your partner have a job, does you boss say on a monday morning "oh yes, I'm going to be keeping you busy this week so how about you knock 20% off your pay packet?".

You've already aknowledged this bloke is worth the money, why not pay a decent rate for a good job? Or does your obsession with "shopping" blind you to the fact that the self-employed don't have any safety net. If work is drying up in the present state of the housing market, then maybe some are forced to accept pennies from ruthless homeowners just to eat!

If he's good, and the price is ok, pay the man a going rate. He isn't Tesco's, he's a working man trying to support himself and his family by working hard and using his skill, he's not a slave.

so sorry didn't realise self employed meant claim every benefit going, don't pay tax, national insurance, vat etc then still expect to be paid the same as the next man. Because you have no safety net.
I work for myself too. Big diffe'rence is I don't sign on and i pay a lot of money in tax and insurance etc. could well afford to take a 20% pay cut if i was going to let tax payers subsidse me.

rdpro

skippy2u wrote: »

suspect he is not on the books.

Big difference to knowing

Frankenburger

But can't you see, by paying him under the going rate, you are actually forcing him to sign on as well (and you are assuming that he is claiming benefits when he might not be).

Would you rather have a "tradesman" who works for small amounts of cash because he signs on, is therefore uninsured, not been in the business very long, un-motivated or even interested, probably feeling resentful of the people he/she works for.

There have always been home owners who are prepared to undercut legitimate businesses by employing shady "hack's" to do the work, whilst congratulating themselves on how cheap the job is getting done, and justifying it all by assuming the "tradesperson" must be on benefits.

And when it all goes wrong, homeowners complain about rip-off tradespersons and the state of the industry.

Its very simple: pay peanuts - get monkeys

skippy2u

rdpro wrote: »

Big difference to knowing

You are either very naive or very clever.

phill99

Sorry skippy but you really need to wake up or grow up. You and many other people on this forum seem to think that all tradesmen are out to rip people off and don't pay any tax, NI etc and are also signing on. Well this is absolute rubbish. Most decent tradesmen just want a fair days money for a fair days work. I pay Tax, NI, VAT etc etc, as do most people. I pay over £1000 a year just in insurances (van, Liability etc), £6000 in Corporation tax, Income tax, vat etc. Thats why, I, and many other tradesman wouldn't set their alarm clocks for £80 / day. If you think the guys work is good, then don't bloody well insult him by offering him less. Pay for quality. I'm sure you can get it done for £50 / day if you want somebody to apply paint with an egg whisk and make a right lash up. People think dedcorating is just about moving paint up and down, but the difference between a professional and an amateur finish is a decent day rate!!!