Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The Second Goal

My second of two goals for this month was to get some quotes for some Home Improvement work that must be done at the house.

I got a quote of $350 labor only for someone to come, rip out the old insulation and install new insulation at my home. I have not had a chance to go to the Home Depot or Lowes to price out rolls of insulation or to research it at all. The contractor wants $50/hr to do the work (8x50=250), plus an additional $100 for an assistant to help him out. I have nary a clue if the $50 is reasonable, overpriced or what. To me it sounds a bit much, but I have not hired anyone to do work at the house in a couple years. I'm going to make a few more calls and get a couple more quotes.

I've got a call into a couple people for new gutters as well. My old gutters are not functioning, and that's been on my replacement list since I bought the house.

Just slowly working on that second goal!

3 comments:

Shevy said...

I paid my contractor $1,800 after the rolled roofing on my addition (my living room and master bedroom) was torn off in a winter storm.

He had to rip out the whole ceiling in the bedroom, redrywall the ceiling, replace plywood and at least one rafter above, replace all the insulation and replace the rolled roofing.

He did most of the work himself, with a helper for some of the actual roofing. We disposed of the debris and primed and painted the bedroom.

I think that was at $25/hr, although he's currently charging $35/hr since he formally started his own business (he was working for someone else at the time and doing jobs on the side).

SavingDiva said...

I think $50/hour sounds okay. Not that I knowk anything about contractors! :)

Anonymous said...

Your math is wrong - if it is 8 hours @ $50 p/hour, then the total is $400 (8x50=400).

$50 p/hour is pretty standard where I live if he is a licensed contractor. If he is more of a "handiman" type of individuals, then $35 is more reasonable. The difference is that a license contractor has more liability and insurance obligations that are required by the state to keep the contractor's license in good standing. Either way, when you consider the individual has overhead costs (transportation = gas for his truck, truck payment, auto insurance), plus insurance (general business and liability insurance, not to mention if the individua is self-employed, medical insurance), plus the fact they have taxes to pay.

I have a licensed contractor I use when I have a project that requires a permit (insulation installation wouldn't) or the "finish" appearance is important. I use the handiman for simplier projects (i.e., I changed all of the lighting fixtures throughout my home, a licensed electrician wasn't needed; he also installed my new microwave when the old one died) - I pay this guy $35.

I also have two neighbors who are looking for added pocket money - one is occassionally unemployed and can do pretty complex tasks, so I paid him $25 p/hour to assemble furniture and my new closet system. The other neighbor is "developmentally disabled" and lives on his own - I pay him $12.50 to do my recycling (breaking down boxes) and simple tasks (removing carpet in advance of having a new floor installed). For both of these guys I pay cash.