WARNING VENTALATION Had it up to Here

[Palmbay]

What is wrong with charging $55 per fixture to remove and reinstall a new HO supplied fixture?

I had a contractor question this price on a renovation and I asked him what was he used to being charged.

His answer.....


NOTHING $0.00

I could not beleive it. I asked who did this for free because I needed a good free electrician.

Then I told him I had plenty of practice removing and installing fixtures, and I was trying to get paid for doing that now a days.

Am I off base?

 

[roger]

Just tell him to call one of his old contractors or pay you, end of conversation.

Roger

 

[chris kennedy]

LOL:grin:, How was the rest of your day Mike?

 

[mdshunk]

Depending on how much work I did for that contractor, I might do one for free here and there if it was easy. If he's a once in a blue moon customer, he's gonna pay.

 

[Palmbay]

I crawled around in an attic like a rat for about 5 hours before that conversation.

First job for this guy and am having regrets. Had a bunch of changes and I think he was just trying to pull a fast one.

My mouth keeps tasting worse and worse.

 

[ultramegabob]

Well, 55 bucks could be low, could be high, it depends on what type of fixture, how high the ceiling is, etc... either way, the contractor is an idiot if he expects you to do work for free, tell him to go jump in a lake.

 

[Palmbay]

Oh I will do things for my customers all the time.

This is a kitchen, 3 bath, change all devices and fixtures in the house kind of remodel.

 

[Palmbay]

Chandelier 10' off the ground.

Ceiling Fan 10' off the ground.

Dont know.

I think its a dag on good dag on price.

 

[mdshunk]

Chandelier 10' off the ground.

Ceiling Fan 10' off the ground.

Dont know.

I think its a dag on good dag on price.

Yeah, too cheap. I agree. There's no way I'd R&R either of those for free while I was there doing other work, regardless of how much I liked the contractor or homeowner. It often takes right around an hour to get a paddle fan or chandelier put together and hung, so you're losing money at 55 bucks.

 

[jaylectricity]

Chandelier 10' off the ground.

Ceiling Fan 10' off the ground.

Dont know.

I think its a dag on good dag on price.

$55 a fixture is good for your basic 3 wire nut, 2 8-32 screw installation. A ceiling fan or chandelier must be higher than that.

I think the real question is, why are you giving this guy such a good price if it is the first time you are working for him? I used to think I should give a deal to a guy the first time so he'd give me more work but I was mistaken. Once he gauges your price he'll be upset when you try to get what you're worth.

I think I read somewhere on here recently that you should tell the contractor if he has more work you can work out a deal down the road, but not on the first job.

 

[ultramegabob]

that sounds like a very, very reasonable price, I sure wouldnt make a trip across town to hang a chandelier or ceiling fan at those prices, but if your doing a bunch of other stuff while your there, you wont totally lose your butt... I figure if they can afford a chandelier, they can afford to pay you a decent rate to install it.

 

[petersonra]

What is wrong with charging $55 per fixture to remove and reinstall a new HO supplied fixture?

I had a contractor question this price on a renovation and I asked him what was he used to being charged.

His answer.....


NOTHING $0.00

I could not beleive it. I asked who did this for free because I needed a good free electrician.

Then I told him I had plenty of practice removing and installing fixtures, and I was trying to get paid for doing that now a days.

Am I off base?

I think I would ask why it needed to be removed and reinstalled in the first place.

 

[petersonra]

$55 a fixture is good for your basic 3 wire nut, 2 8-32 screw installation. A ceiling fan or chandelier must be higher than that.

I think the real question is, why are you giving this guy such a good price if it is the first time you are working for him? I used to think I should give a deal to a guy the first time so he'd give me more work but I was mistaken. Once he gauges your price he'll be upset when you try to get what you're worth.

I think I read somewhere on here recently that you should tell the contractor if he has more work you can work out a deal down the road, but not on the first job.

The first post mentioned only removing and reinstalling. It would appear that means the boxes are already there, so it ought not to amount to much. but somewhere the OP said he crackled around in the attic for 5 hours. Somehow that sounds like more than a remove and reinstall kind of thing.

If all he had to do was take down the old fixture and put in a new one, $55 sounds like hes making a good buck. But i can't see how that would involve crawling around in the attic at all.

I suspect there is a "rest of the story" part of this we have not heard.

 

[growler]

If all he had to do was take down the old fixture and put in a new one, $55 sounds like hes making a good buck. But i can't see how that would involve crawling around in the attic at all.

Bob, he wasn't crawling around in an attic to change the light fixture that's just what he had been doing before his conversation with the contractor.

Working in attics when it's hot tends to put everyone in a bad mood. Nine months a years it's hot in attics. Some are even worse because you have to literally crawl like a snake or swim in insulation.

$55 dollars is a cheap enough rate for any sort of add on. If he was already making a ton of money on the job then he probably would have done the job for free and we never would have herd about it.

Remodeling contractors want everything at rock bottom prices and then they cry and complain when you stick it to them for additional work.

Don't worry folks the contractor actually charges the homeowner he just doesn't want to give any of the money to the guy that actually did the work.

 

[ike5547]

...I asked him what was he used to being charged.

His answer.....


NOTHING $0.00

I would tell him he can do it himself for that price.