Homeowner Helpers

[jmellc]

I recently allowed a property owner to help on a job, to save HIM money. He seemed smart enough, answered my questions OK, etc. Last time I do this.

He wanted to do it a certain time, just following Christmas, when he had time off to help. Turned out, the tenants were off work, had kids out of school, had a relative visiting, etc. Working around a family all the time made the job more tedious.

We pulled most of our attic wiring his last day with me. I told him how to route & staple. Checked next day & he'd routed it well, stapled gently, etc. But he wrapped each ceiling joist, ran wire down to ceiling. Over head portions, he wrapped roof rafters & ran wire on roofing boards! Just what we need when a shingle is nailed on or a picture hanger drilled into the ceiling. Took my helper 2 hours to straighten that out. I have yet to call him, need to cool off well before I do.

HO's sometimes know what they are doing but often know a lot less than they think. Shame on me too, I should have checked after our 1st few runs to see how he was doing it. I should have gotten a clue too, when he brought in a box of old used switches & receptacles "in case I needed them". I quickly told him I didn't install used devices, especially non TR receptacles. I had to explain that a couple of years back to a "flower child" too, who screeched that I should "think more green". She had brought in a huge box of old devices from who knows where.

At any rate, no more "homeowner helpers" for me. Not worth the aggravation & winds up costing me.

 

[ptonsparky]

Labor rates:

Standard: $50/hr
Customer watches: $65/hr
Customer helps: $130/hr



or similar.

 

[480sparky]

The only way a HO can help me is to use a broom and a vacuum.

 

[jmellc]

Labor rates:

Standard: $50/hr
Customer watches: $65/hr
Customer helps: $130/hr



or similar.

Yes, I remember that poster in a former employer's office.

$50 an hour
$75 an hour if you watch
$100 an hour if you help
$150 an hour if you worked on it first

 

[Ponchik]

I have had several customers asking me if they can help and my answer is NO 99% of the time. i just recently had a customer do crawl space crawling because it was way too tight for me (i didn't pay him and he didn't save any money on my quoted price either) another time that i allow them to help is when i need a trench. But other than that never ask for help or have them help me.

if something goes wrong i dont want to deal with the liability.

 

[handy10]

I often tell the HO (especially little old ladies) "you can stand by and cuss if the need arises."

 

[Ponchik]

I often tell the HO (especially little old ladies) "you can stand by and cuss if the need arises."

:lol::lol::lol:

i never thought about that.



say S**t Now!! alright next time you will say $%^#@!&....... Ready NOW!!

 

[Cow]

The only way a HO can help me is to use a broom and a vacuum.

This, plus making sure the work area is free from clutter including in front of the panel.

 

[growler]

HO's sometimes know what they are doing but often know a lot less than they think.

I just had a homeowner acting as his own GC on a basement finish build a permanent bench in front of the electrical panel.

OK so the guy didn't know the code where working clearance is concerned.

I explained that the area in front of the panel must remain clear. "What, you mean I just have to waste this space" ( the panel is located in a room that will be a home office). His arguement was that your arms are longer than the 20 or so inches taken up by the bench.

For some reason it's really hard for people to believe there are rules (codes) that must be followed when working in their own homes.

I try to explain that if/when they sell the house they are just like any other contractor that's building for the public.

 

[cadpoint]

As a paraprofessional, I don?t understand how you can afford to do this in any fashion!

How or why would any insurance cover this act? :happysad:

 

[Fulthrotl]

I recently allowed a property owner to help on a job, to save HIM money.
He seemed smart enough, answered my questions OK, etc. Last time I do this.

At any rate, no more "homeowner helpers" for me. Not worth the aggravation & winds up costing me.

i had one guy once, a sherriff in riverside who helped on his own service change....

it was an upgrade and a relocation, and was underground fed under the driveway.....

i showed up in the morning, and there was two sawhorses with a 4x8 sheet of plywood as a table, with
everything i'd need, including a service box approved by edison, for the splice to extend the service feeders.

the line patrolman showed up 30 minutes after me, downed the service, and off we went.

he'd bought everything, and didn't miss a single item, and i didn't give him a shopping list.
he researched it on the net....

he didn't miss a thing, and he'd bought stuff to do it three different ways, depending on which
was was best.... we were done in 5 hours.... he got the inspector back out as soon as we had
a firm completion time, it was signed off, and the line patrolman came back right after, and lit
it up... he handed me a days wages in cash, and thanked me.

truth is, i was trying to figure out how to hire him as a helper........

ususally tho, homeowner helper is about as tasty as hamburger helper......

 

[Little Bill]

I was working for a guy the other day doing some outside lighting. I was running the wire inside his basement and installing the needed switches. He kept asking if I needed help, I kept politely saying no. He finally said, "well let me at least drill through the wall for the wiring to the lights." I said that I would take care of that, but he insisted. So I told him the size hole that was needed and let him have at it. When I went to install the lights he had drilled the hole too far over for the box and light to cover all the hole.:rant: He didn't want to move the lights over so I just showed him how to patch/seal it. I also told him to explain to anyone seeing it that he did the drilling.:happyno:

 

[ptonsparky]

Years ago the customer had an old ladder under the fixture I was to work on. I asked her to steady the ladder while I did the repair. We talked along as I worked but I just couldn't figure out why she was looking at the floor the whole time. About a mile and half down the road I realized my pants were split from not quite mid thigh to mid thigh.

 

[kwired]

another time that i allow them to help is when i need a trench...

When I let them do that 18" deep is usually about 8-10" or if running 2 inch conduit the trench will not be straight enough to even get the pipe into the trench.

 

[readydave8]

When I let them do that 18" deep is usually about 8-10" or if running 2 inch conduit the trench will not be straight enough to even get the pipe into the trench.

Me too, I've started to say that there is no such thing as a task that is impossible to screw up.

 

[cowboyjwc]

One customer asked if he could help and I said "yes, at 12:00 when I yell LUNCH!, you go and get lunch."

 

[ptonsparky]

close call

close call

Yes, I remember that poster in a former employer's office.

$50 an hour
$75 an hour if you watch
$100 an hour if you help
$150 an hour if you worked on it first

We did a service upgrade the last couple days. Customer had asked if we would check the basement stair switches because he could not get them to work. Thought was he just put the wires on wrong. He sure did. He used a single pole switch with ground screw on it. Yup, hot to the EG screw. Older home with no EGs so metal box was energized to. Luckily my help used his non-contact volt probe before opening it up. How in the world no one got hurt was by luck. It had been that way for several years. Concrete floor with barefoot kids all over the place.