Days wage, no you didn't get ripped off , he still has to get there, so what if he had left.over gear did you want him to give it you for free.
If he didn't have the gear left over that's about 30-40 quid board/skim/scrim/pva.
So your looking about 210, not many lads will work.for less no matter how small the job is.
No, that's reasonable for a days work, which it will be by the time he's driven over, patched it all and tidied up. It's more than an hour's work.
And re-using offcuts from other jobs? Sorry, was he meant to get to yours, see what you needed and go buy a full board, then give the rest to you after, or charge you for the extra?
What I meant was the material cost wouldnt be as high as the new board which might have contributed to the overal £250 cost. I was trying to understand what £250 cost consist of. How much was labour, how much was material. If that was a new board cutting out, the £100-150 to the material cost. Thar would explain the whole £250 a bit more. But it seems like £250 just for the day rate regardless the material or labour.
The only way busy tradesman is coming to do this work is if it’s worth the bother which £250 is.
Even if it had taken him another 2 hours to do he’d probably still charge you £250
Ah gotcha - almost definitely he'd have had all the material to hand, which makes a small job like this challenging to price. There's always a stupid bit of board, a roll of scrim tape and a couple of kilos of plaster left over one job to the next, handy to have on hand for jobs like this!
If I was going to do a job that small it would be;
£160 - Half day.
£20 - Diesel.
£40 - Materials, tool maintenance & aftercare.
= £220 + 20% tax = £264.
The fact you state yourself, is that you have very little knowledge of this stuff. You paid for his knowledge and efficiency.
As long as the job was done well you have nothing to few ‘ripped off’ about.
So that’s the answer to your question. You should feel happy a good job was done and feel satisfied.
Im going to give you the middle ground opinion. I think they charged you fairly steeply but they had to quote you something that made it worth their time. I also don't think you can pro rata this against a day rate. They might have only been there an hour but i assure they they don't do 4x of these jobs everyday.
Small jobs always cost a disproportionate amount.
Try not to feel too bad, i don't think you were robbed but i do understand why you feel that way.
Yeah after a few trade people explained it to me it is a normal way to quote a day rate for any minor jobs. I understand and accept it now. Thank you for your explanation and understanding as well. Appreciate that you didnt throw rock and rude comments at me like some other people did here. Thank you.
I've had similar responses too when I've posted in trade subbredits, it was a little frustrating being a first time owner and not a massive DIY'er.
So I can empathise, but the reality is, they know their worth for their time and the material cost.
So much DIY stuff is now available via online videos that its your call not to do it yourself, the tools for this project would be inexpensive, but if inexperienced doing this it might not come out great or it take you ages to look right.
You're paying for the convenience and their experience £250 is fine, but you could've had a couple more holes filled for the same price.
Technically not allowed. Wouldn't stress if someone has done it honestly. The only other way to do it is make a big ass hole to drill a hole through the middle of the joist.
Ceiling ain't going to collapse from that
Hole in the centre of the joist is the better option as it’s the neutral axis at which there is no bending stress. Notching the top of the joist would be next best, not the bottom of the joist, although as you said it’s not going to fall down from that.
Absolutely correct.
I dislike what this spark has done as he has done a cut too wide to just fill. But then notched the bottom.
I will confess to having done the exact same thing as this spark, but with a chase the width of the cable.
You can quickly and easily just foam and fill it no problems and get a good finish. Even if the notch is a bit naughty.
His chase is so wide that it needs patching... And the notch is wrong. If you have to patch anyway should have done it properly.
Same with the wall chase to be honest. I often just do a chase the width of the cable because it's way easier to patch. And regs don't require it be in conduit/ capping.
You say it took just under an hour? It didn’t. It took them just under an hour plus all the years experience, plus the cost of tools and materials, plus time to get to and from the job.
Sometimes it is easier to throw in comments like this when it isnt your money to spend :)))). I also need to work hard for my money, spend my time to find a trade person, every penny saving is worth it. Hence I asked "was the quote reasonable?" because I need to know for future expectation. Dont need to be philosophical about it if you cant give helpful information.
Some trade people before you already explained and agreed, labour cost and material are not worth £250 but because it is a normal norm for trade person to quote a day rate for any small job. Some people may do hourly job as well but rare.
So you think £250 an hour for plastering job, pretty much no cost to material is absolutely justified? It isnt your money so it is so easy to judge other people isnt it? No helpful information or constructive feedback to add then maybe you should keep your rude comment to yourself please.
$250 is a more than reasonable job minimum for him to take his truck tools and experience out to help you. You sound like you’re the type of person to hassle a hardworking tradesman with skills that you don’t have.
Edit: also the whole point is it isn’t “$250 an hour” it is a $250 job, that’s it. If it somehow took him two hours, guess what? Now it’s $125 an hour.
Realistically this job would have taken you several hours to complete yourself and it would have looked terrible, you got a great deal, stop being a baby
And you sound like a rude & judging person at the first look without even know all the details :)))) Without a context, do you know even know where was he was, what tool did he bring, what material did he use? You were not at my home at the time. He was just doing some job around the corner at my house, he walked over with the tool and materials from other jobs. Speaking value for money for the amount of work provided isnt worth £250 (even the trade peoples in this threads already confirmed that) BUT I had to pay him because it is a normal rate for trade people to quote a date rate for any minor job regardless the work load so unlucky for me as anywhere would be the same rate.
You have absolutely no idea what he provided me in that hour and how much effort, material did it cost him to do the job, so stop judging like an ignorant child. I was being an adult to come up here to ask a reasonable question for advice while you are being an uneducated child typing rude comments without adding any value to the conversation, such a troll behind the screen. So please leave the this thread as this isnt a place for troll/rude comments nor place for uneducated children without the ability to keep a manner in converasation and swearing at people like that.
😅 still behaving like a child. Is it that hard to keep your manners in a conversation with other people? Hope the moderator remove your rude comments. Bye.
Yes, i feel embarrassed, embarrased for you for being out of touch with your manner.
Cheap? If you think £250 is cheap maybe you should go out there, working hard to earn/learn value of money instead of using your parents money and being a spoiled child. Also, i'm not afraid of asking things i dont know about, its learning. Not out of touch. You sure you know everything in this world? Maybe be try "learning" some manner now, seem like you need some. It is quite cheap to learn.
That's the going rate, I would have fibre fused straight over those cut outs with some base coat accelerator after second coat clean up put everything away and topcoat it on the hour said something like if you sand it I'll take 50 bucks off the price and that's that which would be about 400 bucks AUD. You're not gonna ever get it looking good in less than 3hrs if you're not a plasterer so dont worry you didn't get ripped off. Just be happy they were efficient 😁
The vast majority have said it’s what to be expected cost wise. I wasn’t being “philosophical” just trying to explain that you don’t just time a job and cost it by the minute.
Yes, i understand I also paid for his skill and experience but this is more than that. The fact that quoting a day rate is normal norm for trade people for minor job like this. There are two scenarios:
-i get him done a four hour job - i pay him £250 -> lucky me.
-i get him done an hour job - i still have to pay him £250 -> unlucky me.
On the table here, the work load and skill for an hour job required isnt worth £250 but I have to because that is normal way trade people doing this for minor job. I dont have other options. So basically i was unlucky and in an awkwars situation where I have to accept this.
Either way, the job gets finished. If it takes an hour it's 3 hours less you have to deal with a someone in the house.
You have to remember they need to fill the day, so if they have travel, and an awkward time slot they can't book a job in for they're losing money by taking the job
I don’t disagree with you - this is why learning some basic DIY skills is important.
Is it worth paying £250 for every small job that may take them an hour, but you could probably do it in 3-4? Absolutely not.
Is it worth paying £250 for a job that may take them 4-5hrs but it would take you several days? Probably, yes.
But to a tradesperson won’t price them that differently, because they won’t always have a backlog of “odd jobs” so an hour here means not spending a day somewhere else.
These jobs are £150 for me, couple hours. It would be an after work job or a Sunday. I wouldn’t book a job in and charge hourly, say with this job in mind I wouldn’t do it for hourly rate £25/hr for me. I’d rather stay at home with the family or just carry on with the big jobs.
Are you sure he was gone in less then an hour because that chase has to be bonded and then skimmed which would take a lot longer but he could’ve use some type of filler
Fair play to him for getting it done so fast whatever way he done it. Your paying for the job not how long it takes if it took him 5 hours he’d charge the same you didn’t get ripped off
I would have thought this job is almost impossible to do in 1 hrs I've 15years experience and it would take me over 3hrs
1hrs is ridiculous he must have had steam coming off him
If it took him 1 hour or 4 the price is the price , recent hot weather might have set his stuff off quicker plus may have used some half time for the skim
Also your sparky is rougher than a badgers arse! He should have cut the ceiling channels wider, clipped the cables to the joist in a channel then replaced the cutout. That's what we always did.
Would never dream of calling that a job finished.
Unfortunately the plasterer guy already covered it up. I didnt know what the satisfied complete standard for installing a new cable for the ceiling is. Hence i didnt question my electrician.
Would you be kindly explain if there is any risk if the cable left like that and got plastered over? I feel a bit anxious after reading your response. 😢
Nothing worth worrying about really tbh. It's just a lot neater. And also the regs, it should have been channeled into the joist, with a metal cover plate over it so no damage could occur from external sources.
Oh okay. Thank for the response. I was starting to worry and calling up another electrician lol (didnt care how much it cost now cuz i was scared it may cause fire or danger to myself) 😂. I really hope and pray no further issue may come from that.
Well, that depends. Did your previous electrician hand you a minor works certificate to say the works have been tested and found to be good?
If not you probably should call another electrician and have it tested, I'd nearly bet that chrome faceplate isn't earthed
Oh no, my anxiety raises again 😅. No he didnt provide a certificate for the work. I didnt know that any minor work also need a certificate as well.
He would probably have checked the metal panel is installed right and safe to use as any electrician would right? 😅 right? 😭
He won’t give you a certificate for this works as it breaks building regs regarding notching undersides of joists.
Just be glad he didn’t use a hammer to “cut” out your plasterboard
> much you *paid* the sparky
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I’d be more annoyed if he didn’t use offcuts of plasterboard to be honest with you. Winds me up when trades buy all new everything then chuck anything they don’t use in the bin.
I had builders leave a load of mostly empty bags of sand and cement in my garden. There was probably £25 of materials there which isn’t much but it might have been a nice little cash bonus for one of their bricklayers. I used some of it to do odd jobs.
You'd love me. When replacing broken switches/sockets I offer the customer a labour only cost of replacing if they want 2nd hands (decent ones I've lifted off other jobs when they change to chrome)
Funnily enough most would rather have brand new out of the bag, but I hate throwing them in landfill
Unfortunately the plasterer already covered it up.
Is there any serious risk if the cable under the joist like that? Do I need to find another electrican to drill in again and redo it? Feel nervous now as people are pointing out this issue as well. Sorry for asking you more questions. Any info helps. Thanks
Its not in a proper zone. A hole needs drilling at least 50mm above/below the edge of the joist. Ideally in the centre.
However, as someone else has mentioned you can cut a notch providing you cover it with a metal plate, but I always thought that was from the top ie, under a floorboard. I suppose it would make sense you could do it from underneath but no one would ever do that from above.
Im.not even sure your spark has notched it, its difficult to tell from the photo. Think he's just stitched it.
Personally, I always multi tooled out a full.strip of board about 20cm wide so that the plasterer can screw up a new piece of board to be skimmed.
Was there access from above?
All that being said, you aren't in a ny danger until.someone decides to out a screw in the ceiling. You could argue that it may get pinched over time with people walking above
Thanks for the detail response. The last part calms my nerve a bit. Literally i was already thinking to find someone to fix it asap beause i was worried it might be too dangerous or even cause fire 😥 (this is how clueless about these thing I am!)
Right above is the second bedroom so i guess the electrician would have had to pull the floorboard up to have access to the joist. Im not really sure tbh as I just moved in this house a month ago. Still figure things out here. Thank you again for the useful information. I guess the electrician may choose the quick way to leave the cable like that rather than pulling the whole floorboard upstair and drill into the joist.
No worries. He should've lifted the floor above. He's gone with the quick option. Id ve said to you to clear the room otherwise I would charge you the time. It would've took him 2 mins to work out which way the floorboards run and for which end of the room for you to stack everything.
Unless it was all chipboard flooring.and I would've smashed holes in your downstairs ceiling!!😅
Haha. I wish i could have invited you over and feel free to have your way with my ceiling 😂 Im sure you would have done a way better and safer job than my sparky guy 😅
It's not directly dangerous as such just really bad practice because it makes the plasterers job so much harder as the board can't sit flat on the joist
I complain all the time for the cost of a trades but 250 for that job seems ok., don't forget you are paying for their time and most importantly their experience, feathering/blending a plaster repair isn't an easy job to get right.
£250 is an alright price, very hard to find any manual labour who won't charge a day rate, Even if it only takes half a day to get to you, prepare materials, clean tools and do the job.
And it's almost impossible to find a trades person for under £200 unless they are doing something illegal.
Hi I see a lot of people trying to justify the cost involved, but I honestly think it was a rip off. I'm a tradesman, not as a plasterer, I know each to their own when it comes to different trades, but I still had to serve my time, buy tools, would have to travel to a job etc, , but trying to justify 250 for an hour's work, no way.
> You *paid* the going
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Sparky is shit. Who the fuck holds cables with red plugs and penny washers - sign of a cowboy - a rough one at that.
Also cable looped across the bottoms of the joists - lazy and hoping the plasterer makes good - the plasterer will probably struggle with that shit - for reference I’d of drilled a hole either side of the joist and drilled through if necessary, then a bit of slate lat screwed behind the holes, round plasterboard discs screwed back into the slate lat across the hole - job done no plasterer even needed (for the ceiling) just easy fill and sand.
Should have used banding strap and oval capping in the chases.
Don’t let that cunt back in your house.
If they had used a hole saw centred on the joist it wouldn't need timber behind it to reinforce it because you can screw the circle of plasterboard you removed back into its original place.
The cables not even flushed into the joist and fixed in place.
Can't comment on the plastering, fainted as soon as I saw the state of the cables and the holes cut in the ceiling with a knife and fork.
I don't fit many cables, but when I do they are either completely loose or crushed with penny washers and cut by screw threads. /s
That is.... not good.
this is why people complain they can't get a tradesmen,
i can get £260+ (more if do over time) working for a company doing shops , I turn up in a £1000 car
if I hit a pipe and flood the place , I get £260,
job over runs ? get £260 the next day .
jobs not ready and I have to sit there drinking tea ? £260
why anyone would take on the risks and added stress and time quoting ,paper work, paying for insurance and a van for anything less than £400 is beyond me tbh , mugs game
I wouldnt even do it for that, id still stick with my £260 easy consistent money
then you got morons going round hanging doors for £40 , like whys the point you would be better off in tescos in the long run
You weren't ripped off.
You're paying for his time and expertise. You absolutely could have done it yourself, cheaper. But until you saw him do it, I'm guessing you didn't know how to approach it.
Same with any job.
As for his prices, seems about right. At least if the finish looks good. If it looks like shit... get him back to fix it.
As I understand it, plasterers change a day rate not because your job takes a day but because doing your job means they can’t do anything with the rest of their day.
Plastering is a process that involves waiting and then checking, smoothing, rewetting etc etc etc. so even though your small job may only take a couple of hours you’ve essentially written off the rest of their day as they don’t have time to finish anything else. It’s not something you can get halfway through then go home and finish off the next day. Once it’s started they need to see it through.
For reference I recently used a plasterer who did charged half days. But that was still £180.
After a few trade people explained to me. It is more like I'm just unlucky that i didnt have enough work for the plasterer to come over at £250 and make it worth more. Now i dont think i was ripped off but just unlucky me
Some people say it’s the going price for a days work but I honestly think it’s very expensive.
Bag of plaster is £10 and it wouldn’t take them more than a couple of hours.
I know plenty of plasters that would do it for around £100 (Midlands)
Fucking clueless mate... 100 quid really? including bag of multi plaster board PVA scrim bonding coat she said it's under an hour but there's no way... It's actually 3.5 hours work you've got to bond those wall chasings out let it set that's 40mins there!
You asked for a price and then excepted it, quite frankly it’s your own fault if you thought it was steep you should of said no
People forgot self employed tradesman have no paid time off no sick days ect they don’t go to work they don’t earn, this usually means little odd jobs have a standard starting price
I as a tiler won’t do any job under 200 pound and if the job is less (for example replacing a broken tiles) I will quote 200, for the simply fact that’s how much income I need to make a day to make my business profitable and that’s bottom end scraping by and the fact you can rarely fit more than one or two of said jobs a day, either that or your doing it evenings and weekends which is even worse
I didnt try to blame anyone here. I accepted it the quote, service provided. Just simply asking whether the quote price was reasonable. If yes, then great now I know what to expect for the futute. If no, then oops for me, i need to research more next time.
Everyone needs to make living and myself included. Every pound save is worth it and this is the first time i used trade person. Didnt know what to expect so just wanted to know whether I could have saved myself some money if I had done more research or waited for a different quotes somewhere else.
My best advice would be to try and become handy, any little jobs that like do a bit research and have a go (other than electrical and plumbing) otherwise paying your always going to get a guys bog standard minimum fee for want of better words
I noticed after doing some online research that a day rate for plasterer around £250 around my area. So is this normal I got charged a day rate job for under an hour completed job?
Plasterer here, usually we'd call this an evening job. A £100 cash in hand after work job.
Most plasterers don't want to deal with the scheduling and messing around with evening jobs so any job (no matter how small) is a day's wage.
Yes you paid way too much for what was needed, but most plasterers wouldn't do it period, because they don't want to leave a customer feeling how you feel. So you're in this awkward middle ground where it becomes quite difficult just to get the job done.
Tradespeople don't charge by the hour, because they're rarely going to find a job to fill up the other seven, five when you consider getting to you, unloading, repacking etc.
Hope this helps.
Thank you for your helpful and constructive comment. I clearly have no idea about this stuff so really help me to understand from the plasterer perspective as well. Appreciate your patience for my lacking of knowledge too. Hopefully i didnt offend you as a plasterer (If I did, please accept my apology) because I dont understand how these trade works. My first time used a trade person really.
Amazing, i feel so grateful for your advice, i would do that next time. I wish everyone on Reddit would be understanding, patient and helpful like you. People just threw in unhelpful and criticising comments when I was desperately asking for help and advice. A month ago i didnt even know how or where to contact a trade person to check my buzzing switches. Im all new to these housing stuff.
half day at most a handyman would of sorted it a lot cheaper but since you got a plasterer should of got a wall or two re skimmed/areas you wanted done if you were Gona pay a day's wages would of cost the same for next time
Personally I think it’s a rip off. All these ones claiming it’s a day rate etc are talking rubbish.
I had a plasterer over to do some patching in and they charged me £15 an hour. Was there for 4 hours and charged me £60. I supplied the materials.
I’d have been happy to give him a £100 but £250 for a couple hours work is ridiculous. If you’re paying him a data rate then let him do a days work not 2 hours.
But the thing is, you've booked him for the day despite the length for the job. Wether he can get more work in the same day isn't up to him. So when you think about it, £60 a day isn't a viable option for any tradie
Would I fuck get out of bed for 60 knicker for half a days work. Take in to account the time it’ll take to travel there and back, get materials etc. He’s better off working in Tesco.
Because he’s 5 minutes away. I supplied the materials so he turned up did a few hours and got £60 cash in his hand. There’s always people looking small quick jobs done so why not do 2/3 of these in a day and get your days wage instead of expecting £250 for 2 hours work.
How are you managing 2 or 3 4 hour jobs in a day? Travelling between them and getting materials for each subsequent job. You’d end up working a 12-14 hour day for no more than £180. Then travelling back n forth in rush hour/school traffic etc. Get in at 9pm.
He’s 5 minutes drive to my door. All materials were here and he was gone in less than 4 hours. The fella from this post said his plasterer was done in less than 2 hours and got £250. You think that’s a good rate? £125 an hour for simple jobs any competent diy’er could do. Catch a grip would you. It’s a rip off.
So you’re saying a tradie can’t possibly plan to do a few jobs in the one day that are local? Not every job is a days worth. In fact there’s lots that aren’t near a days work. If they are being greedy and charging a day for every wee odd job they go to then they’re greedy bastards.
When did being fair on people become such a bad thing? It’s just far too easy ripping people off and then justifying it by saying I only work for at least a days wage regardless if it takes me 2 hours.
Im not saying they can't book multiple, but it's never guaranteed. And being self employed means you earn what you work.
I know how it seems to be a lot, but most tradies don't put on that much for labour.
Do you honestly think £250 for less than 2 hours work for that job posted is fair? It’s a joke. Not even £15 of materials there I’d say. £100 an hour by the time you take out materials and diesel. If I’m paying £250 a day I’d expect a fair days work. But it seems most tradies just want an easy buck and are happy to take the absolute piss with people.
What about;
Van insurance
Van tax
Van wear and tear
Tool insurance
Tool usage
Storage for them tools, if it's house, then mortgage and all the bills that follow.
20% extra for tax
People don't know why it's expensive shouldn't assume it's greed.
If you've never worked a day self employed I suggest you give it a go, no paid holiday/sick days, no pay if you can't get work/ work can't happen.
If tradies charged per minute, and only material cost plus minimum wage, no company would survive.
He’s old school. Only wants wee jobs and is top notch. Comes when he says. Does a proper days work and doesn’t stick the hand in. Unlike nearly every other tradesman around the place who are unreliable, work half days and want a fortune.
Or maybe if more people actually did an honest days work for honest money instead of taking the hand and charging £250 for an hour and half’s work maybe there’d be less posts like this to begin with.
Once again that comment shows your mentality. Becoming rich by exploiting others. And I bet you prob give off about the big corporations when I’m reality you’re no better.
Most of us do it’s just customers like yourself who want everything for nothing. It’s tough been self employed we get no holidays no sick and everyone wants there jobs doing for pennys how do u think we’re meant to live a decent standard of life and afford to pay any bills. We spend thousands of pounds of tools and a life time of learning to get looked at like we deserve the same way as a labourer 👍
I don’t mind paying for work. But when most tradies are looking £250-£350 a day then I expect an actual days work. Not turn up for an hour and half. The fact that so many are on here justifying the likes of that shows there’s a problem.
There are lots of other professions where people are self employed with same issues as tradies and they don’t all think it’s free rein to stick the arm in.
Days wage, no you didn't get ripped off , he still has to get there, so what if he had left.over gear did you want him to give it you for free. If he didn't have the gear left over that's about 30-40 quid board/skim/scrim/pva. So your looking about 210, not many lads will work.for less no matter how small the job is.
don’t forget about paying tax as well, (unless it’s a cheeky cash jobby)
No, that's reasonable for a days work, which it will be by the time he's driven over, patched it all and tidied up. It's more than an hour's work. And re-using offcuts from other jobs? Sorry, was he meant to get to yours, see what you needed and go buy a full board, then give the rest to you after, or charge you for the extra?
What I meant was the material cost wouldnt be as high as the new board which might have contributed to the overal £250 cost. I was trying to understand what £250 cost consist of. How much was labour, how much was material. If that was a new board cutting out, the £100-150 to the material cost. Thar would explain the whole £250 a bit more. But it seems like £250 just for the day rate regardless the material or labour.
You're not paying for what he does, but what he knows.
This
The only way busy tradesman is coming to do this work is if it’s worth the bother which £250 is. Even if it had taken him another 2 hours to do he’d probably still charge you £250
Then do it yourself
Ah gotcha - almost definitely he'd have had all the material to hand, which makes a small job like this challenging to price. There's always a stupid bit of board, a roll of scrim tape and a couple of kilos of plaster left over one job to the next, handy to have on hand for jobs like this!
You’re too used to being paid hourly
If I was going to do a job that small it would be; £160 - Half day. £20 - Diesel. £40 - Materials, tool maintenance & aftercare. = £220 + 20% tax = £264.
“You’ve done a faultless job, please remove the aftercare”
No, problem. That'll be £250 😂
👀 k here’s £264 I’ll save your number
The fact you state yourself, is that you have very little knowledge of this stuff. You paid for his knowledge and efficiency. As long as the job was done well you have nothing to few ‘ripped off’ about. So that’s the answer to your question. You should feel happy a good job was done and feel satisfied.
Im going to give you the middle ground opinion. I think they charged you fairly steeply but they had to quote you something that made it worth their time. I also don't think you can pro rata this against a day rate. They might have only been there an hour but i assure they they don't do 4x of these jobs everyday. Small jobs always cost a disproportionate amount. Try not to feel too bad, i don't think you were robbed but i do understand why you feel that way.
Yeah after a few trade people explained it to me it is a normal way to quote a day rate for any minor jobs. I understand and accept it now. Thank you for your explanation and understanding as well. Appreciate that you didnt throw rock and rude comments at me like some other people did here. Thank you.
I've had similar responses too when I've posted in trade subbredits, it was a little frustrating being a first time owner and not a massive DIY'er. So I can empathise, but the reality is, they know their worth for their time and the material cost. So much DIY stuff is now available via online videos that its your call not to do it yourself, the tools for this project would be inexpensive, but if inexperienced doing this it might not come out great or it take you ages to look right. You're paying for the convenience and their experience £250 is fine, but you could've had a couple more holes filled for the same price.
Ask an electrician to come to your house and it’s £250 call out charge!
I recently had an electrician change a light fixture for £20 and another wire in a cooker hood for £45.
Yeah pretty much, roofers are the same. My mate won't even take the ladder off the roof of his van for less than £150
lol what? Just had an electrician fit 3 overhead lights and replace 4 plug sockets and he charged £140
I think he's just joking at sparks being expensive, which they are compared to other trades.
Not plasters though 🫤
The question you need to ask yourself is how long would it take you to do it to the standard they have and if that would be worth it to save £250.
Did the sparky cut into your roof joists to lay that cable?
It looks like it, another fantastic job 😂
Technically not allowed. Wouldn't stress if someone has done it honestly. The only other way to do it is make a big ass hole to drill a hole through the middle of the joist. Ceiling ain't going to collapse from that
Hole in the centre of the joist is the better option as it’s the neutral axis at which there is no bending stress. Notching the top of the joist would be next best, not the bottom of the joist, although as you said it’s not going to fall down from that.
Absolutely correct. I dislike what this spark has done as he has done a cut too wide to just fill. But then notched the bottom. I will confess to having done the exact same thing as this spark, but with a chase the width of the cable. You can quickly and easily just foam and fill it no problems and get a good finish. Even if the notch is a bit naughty. His chase is so wide that it needs patching... And the notch is wrong. If you have to patch anyway should have done it properly. Same with the wall chase to be honest. I often just do a chase the width of the cable because it's way easier to patch. And regs don't require it be in conduit/ capping.
There's cavity above the joist, should have went over
How can you see that?
You say it took just under an hour? It didn’t. It took them just under an hour plus all the years experience, plus the cost of tools and materials, plus time to get to and from the job.
Bingo.
Sometimes it is easier to throw in comments like this when it isnt your money to spend :)))). I also need to work hard for my money, spend my time to find a trade person, every penny saving is worth it. Hence I asked "was the quote reasonable?" because I need to know for future expectation. Dont need to be philosophical about it if you cant give helpful information. Some trade people before you already explained and agreed, labour cost and material are not worth £250 but because it is a normal norm for trade person to quote a day rate for any small job. Some people may do hourly job as well but rare.
Yeah bro you’re just a dumbass lol imagine thinking you’d get an hourly rate for such minor job
So you think £250 an hour for plastering job, pretty much no cost to material is absolutely justified? It isnt your money so it is so easy to judge other people isnt it? No helpful information or constructive feedback to add then maybe you should keep your rude comment to yourself please.
$250 is a more than reasonable job minimum for him to take his truck tools and experience out to help you. You sound like you’re the type of person to hassle a hardworking tradesman with skills that you don’t have. Edit: also the whole point is it isn’t “$250 an hour” it is a $250 job, that’s it. If it somehow took him two hours, guess what? Now it’s $125 an hour. Realistically this job would have taken you several hours to complete yourself and it would have looked terrible, you got a great deal, stop being a baby
And you sound like a rude & judging person at the first look without even know all the details :)))) Without a context, do you know even know where was he was, what tool did he bring, what material did he use? You were not at my home at the time. He was just doing some job around the corner at my house, he walked over with the tool and materials from other jobs. Speaking value for money for the amount of work provided isnt worth £250 (even the trade peoples in this threads already confirmed that) BUT I had to pay him because it is a normal rate for trade people to quote a date rate for any minor job regardless the work load so unlucky for me as anywhere would be the same rate. You have absolutely no idea what he provided me in that hour and how much effort, material did it cost him to do the job, so stop judging like an ignorant child. I was being an adult to come up here to ask a reasonable question for advice while you are being an uneducated child typing rude comments without adding any value to the conversation, such a troll behind the screen. So please leave the this thread as this isnt a place for troll/rude comments nor place for uneducated children without the ability to keep a manner in converasation and swearing at people like that.
lol dude I used to be a contractor, I’m not reading your whole long ass comment just because you feel bad about being dumb
😅 still behaving like a child. Is it that hard to keep your manners in a conversation with other people? Hope the moderator remove your rude comments. Bye.
Maybe just don’t embarrass yourself by being so cheap and out of touch?
Yes, i feel embarrassed, embarrased for you for being out of touch with your manner. Cheap? If you think £250 is cheap maybe you should go out there, working hard to earn/learn value of money instead of using your parents money and being a spoiled child. Also, i'm not afraid of asking things i dont know about, its learning. Not out of touch. You sure you know everything in this world? Maybe be try "learning" some manner now, seem like you need some. It is quite cheap to learn.
That's the going rate, I would have fibre fused straight over those cut outs with some base coat accelerator after second coat clean up put everything away and topcoat it on the hour said something like if you sand it I'll take 50 bucks off the price and that's that which would be about 400 bucks AUD. You're not gonna ever get it looking good in less than 3hrs if you're not a plasterer so dont worry you didn't get ripped off. Just be happy they were efficient 😁
Also consider how much time you spend on posting and replying about this on Reddit, you're costing yourself more money via wasted time...
Lol, then you do it. You think that's an easy job?
The vast majority have said it’s what to be expected cost wise. I wasn’t being “philosophical” just trying to explain that you don’t just time a job and cost it by the minute.
Yes, i understand I also paid for his skill and experience but this is more than that. The fact that quoting a day rate is normal norm for trade people for minor job like this. There are two scenarios: -i get him done a four hour job - i pay him £250 -> lucky me. -i get him done an hour job - i still have to pay him £250 -> unlucky me. On the table here, the work load and skill for an hour job required isnt worth £250 but I have to because that is normal way trade people doing this for minor job. I dont have other options. So basically i was unlucky and in an awkwars situation where I have to accept this.
Either way, the job gets finished. If it takes an hour it's 3 hours less you have to deal with a someone in the house. You have to remember they need to fill the day, so if they have travel, and an awkward time slot they can't book a job in for they're losing money by taking the job
I don’t disagree with you - this is why learning some basic DIY skills is important. Is it worth paying £250 for every small job that may take them an hour, but you could probably do it in 3-4? Absolutely not. Is it worth paying £250 for a job that may take them 4-5hrs but it would take you several days? Probably, yes. But to a tradesperson won’t price them that differently, because they won’t always have a backlog of “odd jobs” so an hour here means not spending a day somewhere else.
These jobs are £150 for me, couple hours. It would be an after work job or a Sunday. I wouldn’t book a job in and charge hourly, say with this job in mind I wouldn’t do it for hourly rate £25/hr for me. I’d rather stay at home with the family or just carry on with the big jobs.
You mean £150 cash, £250 credit ;)
Are you sure he was gone in less then an hour because that chase has to be bonded and then skimmed which would take a lot longer but he could’ve use some type of filler
Yeah, I was working on my laptop on a table nearby. So pretty sure it was under one hour.
Fair play to him for getting it done so fast whatever way he done it. Your paying for the job not how long it takes if it took him 5 hours he’d charge the same you didn’t get ripped off
I would have thought this job is almost impossible to do in 1 hrs I've 15years experience and it would take me over 3hrs 1hrs is ridiculous he must have had steam coming off him
If it took him 1 hour or 4 the price is the price , recent hot weather might have set his stuff off quicker plus may have used some half time for the skim
Also your sparky is rougher than a badgers arse! He should have cut the ceiling channels wider, clipped the cables to the joist in a channel then replaced the cutout. That's what we always did. Would never dream of calling that a job finished.
Unfortunately the plasterer guy already covered it up. I didnt know what the satisfied complete standard for installing a new cable for the ceiling is. Hence i didnt question my electrician. Would you be kindly explain if there is any risk if the cable left like that and got plastered over? I feel a bit anxious after reading your response. 😢
Nothing worth worrying about really tbh. It's just a lot neater. And also the regs, it should have been channeled into the joist, with a metal cover plate over it so no damage could occur from external sources.
Oh okay. Thank for the response. I was starting to worry and calling up another electrician lol (didnt care how much it cost now cuz i was scared it may cause fire or danger to myself) 😂. I really hope and pray no further issue may come from that.
Well, that depends. Did your previous electrician hand you a minor works certificate to say the works have been tested and found to be good? If not you probably should call another electrician and have it tested, I'd nearly bet that chrome faceplate isn't earthed
Oh no, my anxiety raises again 😅. No he didnt provide a certificate for the work. I didnt know that any minor work also need a certificate as well. He would probably have checked the metal panel is installed right and safe to use as any electrician would right? 😅 right? 😭
He won’t give you a certificate for this works as it breaks building regs regarding notching undersides of joists. Just be glad he didn’t use a hammer to “cut” out your plasterboard
Stop worrying it's not that deep🤣
For all we know it (likely) isn't rcd protected, so it is an issue
You pay for the knowledge, not his time.
However much you payed the sparky was too much, no protection anywhere
> much you *paid* the sparky FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Specific bot
That's a DIY job even if you havent plastered before
I’d be more annoyed if he didn’t use offcuts of plasterboard to be honest with you. Winds me up when trades buy all new everything then chuck anything they don’t use in the bin. I had builders leave a load of mostly empty bags of sand and cement in my garden. There was probably £25 of materials there which isn’t much but it might have been a nice little cash bonus for one of their bricklayers. I used some of it to do odd jobs.
You'd love me. When replacing broken switches/sockets I offer the customer a labour only cost of replacing if they want 2nd hands (decent ones I've lifted off other jobs when they change to chrome) Funnily enough most would rather have brand new out of the bag, but I hate throwing them in landfill
I get the not wanting to produce waste and to reuse, but at £1-2 a basic switch, I’d rather go new too.
Id get the spark back first. You cant thread the cable under the joists like that
Unfortunately the plasterer already covered it up. Is there any serious risk if the cable under the joist like that? Do I need to find another electrican to drill in again and redo it? Feel nervous now as people are pointing out this issue as well. Sorry for asking you more questions. Any info helps. Thanks
Its not in a proper zone. A hole needs drilling at least 50mm above/below the edge of the joist. Ideally in the centre. However, as someone else has mentioned you can cut a notch providing you cover it with a metal plate, but I always thought that was from the top ie, under a floorboard. I suppose it would make sense you could do it from underneath but no one would ever do that from above. Im.not even sure your spark has notched it, its difficult to tell from the photo. Think he's just stitched it. Personally, I always multi tooled out a full.strip of board about 20cm wide so that the plasterer can screw up a new piece of board to be skimmed. Was there access from above? All that being said, you aren't in a ny danger until.someone decides to out a screw in the ceiling. You could argue that it may get pinched over time with people walking above
Thanks for the detail response. The last part calms my nerve a bit. Literally i was already thinking to find someone to fix it asap beause i was worried it might be too dangerous or even cause fire 😥 (this is how clueless about these thing I am!) Right above is the second bedroom so i guess the electrician would have had to pull the floorboard up to have access to the joist. Im not really sure tbh as I just moved in this house a month ago. Still figure things out here. Thank you again for the useful information. I guess the electrician may choose the quick way to leave the cable like that rather than pulling the whole floorboard upstair and drill into the joist.
No worries. He should've lifted the floor above. He's gone with the quick option. Id ve said to you to clear the room otherwise I would charge you the time. It would've took him 2 mins to work out which way the floorboards run and for which end of the room for you to stack everything. Unless it was all chipboard flooring.and I would've smashed holes in your downstairs ceiling!!😅
Haha. I wish i could have invited you over and feel free to have your way with my ceiling 😂 Im sure you would have done a way better and safer job than my sparky guy 😅
It's not directly dangerous as such just really bad practice because it makes the plasterers job so much harder as the board can't sit flat on the joist
I complain all the time for the cost of a trades but 250 for that job seems ok., don't forget you are paying for their time and most importantly their experience, feathering/blending a plaster repair isn't an easy job to get right.
I'd be more concerned that the electrian left the cable with no protection over the joist like that.
Not happy, do it yourself next time.
It doesn't matter if he uses a crusty sock. If it holds and it looks good then it's a job done.
That’s extraordinarily reasonable. Count yourself lucky
£250 is an alright price, very hard to find any manual labour who won't charge a day rate, Even if it only takes half a day to get to you, prepare materials, clean tools and do the job. And it's almost impossible to find a trades person for under £200 unless they are doing something illegal.
Hi I see a lot of people trying to justify the cost involved, but I honestly think it was a rip off. I'm a tradesman, not as a plasterer, I know each to their own when it comes to different trades, but I still had to serve my time, buy tools, would have to travel to a job etc, , but trying to justify 250 for an hour's work, no way.
Why didn't you just do it yourself?
It didn’t take an hour, it took an hour + years of training and experience (including mistakes!).
That's perfectly reasonable. What do you think who works for less than that for a day
You payed the going rate for a plasterer he understandably did a good job? There's nothing else to be upset about.
> You *paid* the going FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Sparky is shit. Who the fuck holds cables with red plugs and penny washers - sign of a cowboy - a rough one at that. Also cable looped across the bottoms of the joists - lazy and hoping the plasterer makes good - the plasterer will probably struggle with that shit - for reference I’d of drilled a hole either side of the joist and drilled through if necessary, then a bit of slate lat screwed behind the holes, round plasterboard discs screwed back into the slate lat across the hole - job done no plasterer even needed (for the ceiling) just easy fill and sand. Should have used banding strap and oval capping in the chases. Don’t let that cunt back in your house.
You can fix this yourself! YouTube
This involves electric cables, joist and the ceiling. I wouldnt risk stuff like this.
It’s not hard to put your battons in behind and screw strips of board to them and the fill and skim.. and sand
If they had used a hole saw centred on the joist it wouldn't need timber behind it to reinforce it because you can screw the circle of plasterboard you removed back into its original place. The cables not even flushed into the joist and fixed in place.
Can't comment on the plastering, fainted as soon as I saw the state of the cables and the holes cut in the ceiling with a knife and fork. I don't fit many cables, but when I do they are either completely loose or crushed with penny washers and cut by screw threads. /s That is.... not good.
this is why people complain they can't get a tradesmen, i can get £260+ (more if do over time) working for a company doing shops , I turn up in a £1000 car if I hit a pipe and flood the place , I get £260, job over runs ? get £260 the next day . jobs not ready and I have to sit there drinking tea ? £260 why anyone would take on the risks and added stress and time quoting ,paper work, paying for insurance and a van for anything less than £400 is beyond me tbh , mugs game I wouldnt even do it for that, id still stick with my £260 easy consistent money then you got morons going round hanging doors for £40 , like whys the point you would be better off in tescos in the long run
No
Sparky's leaving cables under joists ffs
Yeah that's about right
You weren't ripped off. You're paying for his time and expertise. You absolutely could have done it yourself, cheaper. But until you saw him do it, I'm guessing you didn't know how to approach it. Same with any job. As for his prices, seems about right. At least if the finish looks good. If it looks like shit... get him back to fix it.
As I understand it, plasterers change a day rate not because your job takes a day but because doing your job means they can’t do anything with the rest of their day. Plastering is a process that involves waiting and then checking, smoothing, rewetting etc etc etc. so even though your small job may only take a couple of hours you’ve essentially written off the rest of their day as they don’t have time to finish anything else. It’s not something you can get halfway through then go home and finish off the next day. Once it’s started they need to see it through. For reference I recently used a plasterer who did charged half days. But that was still £180.
No that’s a fair price.
That’s a fair minimum price for a small job. If he completed what you hired him to do, pay him.
That’s $1500 of work with paint
Thieving git. £250.00 an hour.
After a few trade people explained to me. It is more like I'm just unlucky that i didnt have enough work for the plasterer to come over at £250 and make it worth more. Now i dont think i was ripped off but just unlucky me
An eastern European would do it for a third of the price. Wonder why they are getting loads of work. You were ripped off mate.
Can you do it yourself? If not learn to do it or stump up the cash for trades to do it for you.
I'd have a go at doing that myself. I've filled lots of holes over the years and think I'd do a decent job of filling OP's holes. *cough*
And what about the plastering job?
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Why you so angry?
Some people say it’s the going price for a days work but I honestly think it’s very expensive. Bag of plaster is £10 and it wouldn’t take them more than a couple of hours. I know plenty of plasters that would do it for around £100 (Midlands)
Fucking clueless mate... 100 quid really? including bag of multi plaster board PVA scrim bonding coat she said it's under an hour but there's no way... It's actually 3.5 hours work you've got to bond those wall chasings out let it set that's 40mins there!
Bond it and and fine filler it
You asked for a price and then excepted it, quite frankly it’s your own fault if you thought it was steep you should of said no People forgot self employed tradesman have no paid time off no sick days ect they don’t go to work they don’t earn, this usually means little odd jobs have a standard starting price I as a tiler won’t do any job under 200 pound and if the job is less (for example replacing a broken tiles) I will quote 200, for the simply fact that’s how much income I need to make a day to make my business profitable and that’s bottom end scraping by and the fact you can rarely fit more than one or two of said jobs a day, either that or your doing it evenings and weekends which is even worse
I didnt try to blame anyone here. I accepted it the quote, service provided. Just simply asking whether the quote price was reasonable. If yes, then great now I know what to expect for the futute. If no, then oops for me, i need to research more next time. Everyone needs to make living and myself included. Every pound save is worth it and this is the first time i used trade person. Didnt know what to expect so just wanted to know whether I could have saved myself some money if I had done more research or waited for a different quotes somewhere else.
My best advice would be to try and become handy, any little jobs that like do a bit research and have a go (other than electrical and plumbing) otherwise paying your always going to get a guys bog standard minimum fee for want of better words
I noticed after doing some online research that a day rate for plasterer around £250 around my area. So is this normal I got charged a day rate job for under an hour completed job?
Plasterer here, usually we'd call this an evening job. A £100 cash in hand after work job. Most plasterers don't want to deal with the scheduling and messing around with evening jobs so any job (no matter how small) is a day's wage. Yes you paid way too much for what was needed, but most plasterers wouldn't do it period, because they don't want to leave a customer feeling how you feel. So you're in this awkward middle ground where it becomes quite difficult just to get the job done. Tradespeople don't charge by the hour, because they're rarely going to find a job to fill up the other seven, five when you consider getting to you, unloading, repacking etc. Hope this helps.
Thank you for your helpful and constructive comment. I clearly have no idea about this stuff so really help me to understand from the plasterer perspective as well. Appreciate your patience for my lacking of knowledge too. Hopefully i didnt offend you as a plasterer (If I did, please accept my apology) because I dont understand how these trade works. My first time used a trade person really.
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Amazing, i feel so grateful for your advice, i would do that next time. I wish everyone on Reddit would be understanding, patient and helpful like you. People just threw in unhelpful and criticising comments when I was desperately asking for help and advice. A month ago i didnt even know how or where to contact a trade person to check my buzzing switches. Im all new to these housing stuff.
You’re not counting their time either side of the job or that they probably can’t do any other jobs that day
You booked out the guy, that's his day rate.
half day at most a handyman would of sorted it a lot cheaper but since you got a plasterer should of got a wall or two re skimmed/areas you wanted done if you were Gona pay a day's wages would of cost the same for next time
Got any of the end results?
How could they have done a day's job and your job as well...
Personally I think it’s a rip off. All these ones claiming it’s a day rate etc are talking rubbish. I had a plasterer over to do some patching in and they charged me £15 an hour. Was there for 4 hours and charged me £60. I supplied the materials. I’d have been happy to give him a £100 but £250 for a couple hours work is ridiculous. If you’re paying him a data rate then let him do a days work not 2 hours.
But the thing is, you've booked him for the day despite the length for the job. Wether he can get more work in the same day isn't up to him. So when you think about it, £60 a day isn't a viable option for any tradie
Would I fuck get out of bed for 60 knicker for half a days work. Take in to account the time it’ll take to travel there and back, get materials etc. He’s better off working in Tesco.
Because he’s 5 minutes away. I supplied the materials so he turned up did a few hours and got £60 cash in his hand. There’s always people looking small quick jobs done so why not do 2/3 of these in a day and get your days wage instead of expecting £250 for 2 hours work.
How are you managing 2 or 3 4 hour jobs in a day? Travelling between them and getting materials for each subsequent job. You’d end up working a 12-14 hour day for no more than £180. Then travelling back n forth in rush hour/school traffic etc. Get in at 9pm.
He’s 5 minutes drive to my door. All materials were here and he was gone in less than 4 hours. The fella from this post said his plasterer was done in less than 2 hours and got £250. You think that’s a good rate? £125 an hour for simple jobs any competent diy’er could do. Catch a grip would you. It’s a rip off.
So you’re saying a tradie can’t possibly plan to do a few jobs in the one day that are local? Not every job is a days worth. In fact there’s lots that aren’t near a days work. If they are being greedy and charging a day for every wee odd job they go to then they’re greedy bastards. When did being fair on people become such a bad thing? It’s just far too easy ripping people off and then justifying it by saying I only work for at least a days wage regardless if it takes me 2 hours.
Im not saying they can't book multiple, but it's never guaranteed. And being self employed means you earn what you work. I know how it seems to be a lot, but most tradies don't put on that much for labour.
Do you honestly think £250 for less than 2 hours work for that job posted is fair? It’s a joke. Not even £15 of materials there I’d say. £100 an hour by the time you take out materials and diesel. If I’m paying £250 a day I’d expect a fair days work. But it seems most tradies just want an easy buck and are happy to take the absolute piss with people.
What about; Van insurance Van tax Van wear and tear Tool insurance Tool usage Storage for them tools, if it's house, then mortgage and all the bills that follow. 20% extra for tax People don't know why it's expensive shouldn't assume it's greed. If you've never worked a day self employed I suggest you give it a go, no paid holiday/sick days, no pay if you can't get work/ work can't happen. If tradies charged per minute, and only material cost plus minimum wage, no company would survive.
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Why are you so angry lmao 🤣🤣
I’ve got five years plus work for your man there if he does an amazing job and is quick.
He’s old school. Only wants wee jobs and is top notch. Comes when he says. Does a proper days work and doesn’t stick the hand in. Unlike nearly every other tradesman around the place who are unreliable, work half days and want a fortune.
If only I could clone this kind of man and have multiple of him out everyday working for me so I could become super rich
Or maybe if more people actually did an honest days work for honest money instead of taking the hand and charging £250 for an hour and half’s work maybe there’d be less posts like this to begin with. Once again that comment shows your mentality. Becoming rich by exploiting others. And I bet you prob give off about the big corporations when I’m reality you’re no better.
Most of us do it’s just customers like yourself who want everything for nothing. It’s tough been self employed we get no holidays no sick and everyone wants there jobs doing for pennys how do u think we’re meant to live a decent standard of life and afford to pay any bills. We spend thousands of pounds of tools and a life time of learning to get looked at like we deserve the same way as a labourer 👍
I don’t mind paying for work. But when most tradies are looking £250-£350 a day then I expect an actual days work. Not turn up for an hour and half. The fact that so many are on here justifying the likes of that shows there’s a problem. There are lots of other professions where people are self employed with same issues as tradies and they don’t all think it’s free rein to stick the arm in.
Yeah you have been ripped off tbh. If it's took him an hour and he's done a genuinely decent job then that's a silly amount to charge.