[YVEYANT]

Okay so we needed a Handyman to do some odds & ends around the house. Normally, I do everything myself, have all the tools and experience, but I just don't have the time lately.
We started to call around and found the average Handyman in our area charges $80-$100 an hour. I first thought that was a bit high, but after inquiring around, I found this to be the norm as the Handyman is multi-talented and can do all without the hassle of having five different strangers coming to your house.
I tossed the idea around a bit and decided to go with it.
The Handyman we went with was a licensed contractor, fully insured, bonded and pretty much could do anthing under the sun. His credentials were impressive I have to say.
This guy was good, showed up on time, was professional and really knew his stuff.
In five hours, he replaced/sweated in a leaking cold water shut off for one of our toilet bowls as well as a broken garden hose spicket, cleaned out all of our gutters and down spouts, bleached/powerwashed our house & deck.
Now I know for a fact that a plumber would have charged us $200 minimum just to walk in the door. The powerwashing/bleaching we were quoted a best price of $600 and another $150 to clean the gutters and this was the best price from the three quotes we received. So all in all this should have cost us around $950.
We gladly paid the Handyman his five hour labor charge totalling $400. I am sold.
The Handyman is well worth every penny.

[Paul Brezinski]

Wow , I don't charge enough. I only get $30 / Hr !!!

[lighthouseman]

Wow . . . must be a big house. In Eastern Pa . . . if they (and I am saying Good Ones too) get $25 - $40 and hour . . . that is high. Plenty of out of work construction guys here wanting to work, till they can get back to a full time gig.

[Goatster69]

I am going to keep track of all the time I spend doing handyman stuff around our place (which is a lot with a couple of acres of lanscaped yard, house with a big front/back porch, hot tub, shop, garden etc) and tell her look at all the money we saved. Maybe I can spend the extra money on parts for the GTO. Not sure it will fly though....she seems to be quicker than that.

[lighthouseman]

Dang man . . . let me know if that works, will ya. (but we don't have a hot tub) ?

[78 GHOST]

Originally Posted by Paul Brezinski

Wow , I don't charge enough. I only get $30 / Hr !!!

FL. meet NY prices.

This is actually a great idea for a home business. My wife and I can do pretty much anything between the two of us and rarely farm stuff out. From rough framing, plumbing, flooring, tile, sheetrock, finish carpentry, etc.

In our last house, we probably saved 30-40K easy in renovation costs by doing the majority of the work ourselves. Interesting thing is, our friends look at us like we're from Mars when we explain that we actually do this kind of thing regularly.

[lighthouseman]

Must admit I do the same thing. Makes me want to buy a condo (but I can't get rid of my shop/garage that I built too) ! I'm getting too old to do much that requires crawling around the floor though.

[YVEYANT]

Don't limit those prices to NY only. I have family who lives out in San Diego, California and they have told me the hourly HandyMan charge is the same and more.
Worth every penny to us.

[66Post]

You would think you where living on Long Island!

[Stuart]

As mentioned, the hourly rate will vary all over the map, depending on what part of the country you live in.

Remember that this is the handyman's billable rate, not his hourly wage...People hear he charges $100/hour and mistakenly think he's making $100/hour. He has to cover all his overhead and operating costs - buying and maintaining all his tools, vehicle and other equipment, insurance and licensing fees, income tax and insurance, and so on - before he can think about paying himself a salary. It's the same thing for any business, I know the rate my company bills out my time at is a LOT bigger than what goes in my paycheck.

[drailed]

Sounds like his prices were very reasonable if you were satisfied with his work. its so hard to find good contractors these days who actually do what they bull**** you into believing they will do. Or the other big thing is the kick in the balls price hike at the end of the job for no legitmate reason other than something he might have botched and had to go back and fix again. Stuart also mentioned a good point about the billable rate. Id keep his number.

[fyrffytr1]

Originally Posted by Goatster69

I am going to keep track of all the time I spend doing handyman stuff around our place (which is a lot with a couple of acres of lanscaped yard, house with a big front/back porch, hot tub, shop, garden etc) and tell her look at all the money we saved. Maybe I can spend the extra money on parts for the GTO. Not sure it will fly though....she seems to be quicker than that.

My wife has already thought of that. Any work I do, she spends the money that we saved!

[mike nixon]

A GOOD contractor is worth whatever he wants. If I've called him it's something I don't want to do or can't do on my own!

[Txbobcat]

Maybe I ought to sell my rent houses and suck up some of that $80 an hour.

[guccieng]

Originally Posted by mike nixon

A GOOD contractor is worth whatever he wants. If I've called him it's something I don't want to do or can't do on my own!

true, but sometimes their prices are so astronomical that they temp alot of folks to go pick up some illegals hangin' around the local home depot... especially here in cali where the prices are inflated and illegals are plentiful.

[bastard]

What kind of warranty do you get out of the HD parking lot?

[guccieng]

none. not even a warranty that they won't come back and rob you blind.

[YVEYANT]

Not to mention not being legal, licensed, insured, bonded etc..
I would rather help my fellow NORTH American, period.
I will pay the well deserved hourly and have piece of mind knowing I am not liable if anyone falls off a latter or gets injured.

[carcrazy]

Typical rates here in Raleigh, NC are $30-$50/hour. While there are some good ones, most are not. The majority are not licensed contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc. In NC they are not permitted (by state statute) to perform any electrical work unless they hold a valid license.

[Big Mike]

Anybody have feedback on what a handyman rate might be in South Texas?