crazy not do do some of your basic carpentry?

[Anonymous]

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[engineer one]

at last jacob and i agree on something. :lol:

too many people are scared of not getting work so they actually
underprice themselves, and end up with these so called waiting lists,
but by the same token they end up with other clients going elsewhere,
and often the rubbish jobs that no one else wants anyway.

i know there is competition from foreigners, but unless we make
work a profitable activity, what's the point???

paul :wink:

 

[Wanlock Dod]

unless we make work a profitable activity, what's the point?

Thats exactly it. I do some of my own basic carpentry, but that is because when I do it myself it doesn't need to be a profitable activity. More often than not it takes longer than it would take to wait for a pro, and probably costs almost as much, and is probably not done as well, but sometimes I find it quite enjoyable

Dod

 

[tim]

...I'm a fully qualified navigator - neither qualification owes or guarantees me a job.

Oh I dunno, Tim. You could sit on someone's dashboard and they could say "Tim, Tim, which way for the...?"

Coat in hand, heading for the door...

Cheers, Alf

I've only just seen this :lol: :lol: :lol: Getting the destroyer out as we speak..........

Made me think about the cornish version: "Denzel, Denzel, where's that to then...?"

Cheers

Tim

 

[PowerTool]

unless we make work a profitable activity, what's the point?

Thats exactly it. I do some of my own basic carpentry, but that is because when I do it myself it doesn't need to be a profitable activity. More often than not it takes longer than it would take to wait for a pro, and probably costs almost as much, and is probably not done as well, but sometimes I find it quite enjoyable

Dod

Same here - I do work for myself and other people (family and friends)
primarily because I enjoy it.It is not my main source of income,so (like several others on here) it is for cost of materials + pocket money.

I also think that DIY generally is only "cheaper" than employing someone because people do not cost their own labour.You tend to have either the time or the money,but seldom both

Andrew (seeing both sides of the fence,and sitting squarely on it :wink: )

 

[engineer one]

andrerw what concerns me i guess is who built the fence, and where did they leave the nails sticking up. :lol: :lol:

i think we all agree there are two ways of looking at the original question.

if you ask a professional to quote for a job, then pay him the going rate,
but when you do it yourself make sure you charge a sensible price,
not least because it helps craftsmen later. i understand that it is
pocket money, but why work for peanuts????? :lol: :lol:

what is more concerning is that people do not understand the
relationship between hourly rates and the overall costs of running
a business.

paul :wink:

 

[JFC]

Nickson71 .
Thats £50 per door then ?
Thats what i charge for internal doors if its more than 1 .

 

[engineer one]

jason i am sure you have seen the old story about the
woman who comes in to the carpenters' shop and sees a chair,
maybe like that one of alf, and says gee how much?

he says 500 bucks, so she says i have a dozen, and he says that's
10,000 bucks, so she says why "well one is fun a dozen is a pain in
the a**e"

and anyway i did not know you were so cheap :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

paul :wink:

ps i have finally started using the oak mdf.

 

[JFC]

I do like that story and oh so true :lol:
Most houses have seven doors so £50 per door is a nice earner but can be a puppy in an old house and even worse in a new build :shock:
To the original poster ..........
And remember if i mess up the door i have to buy a new one !
Its not always a £20 wicks door .
Some of the work turned out by the people on here is amazing and a real credit to craftsmen . I am a trained master carpenter and joiner and love to see projects and people having a go at woodwork .
But having a look at what i earn per week /month / year really is nothing to do with anyone !
Out of interest what are your outgoings for your job ? £2.99 for a nice pen ?

 

[engineer one]

actually mate it is like the guy in our locality who only does
worktop fitting.

at first glance 75-100 quid for the first cut, then 50 per cut sounds
a puppy, until you figure he has to replace the whole worktop if
he screws up, and also has to buy the tools and the router bits.

as you kow most router bits only last between one and two
worktops, so ain't a lot of money in it.

anyway jas your work ain't too bad either

paul :wink:

 

[Colin C]

I work for my self and have found this very interesting to say the lest, partly because last year I did some work for a woman that for a start had prices in her head that must have been at lest 10 years out of date.
I have bean in my trade for over 20 years ( where did the time go :shock: :? ) and if some of you have seen my work, I can say at lest I hold my own( Some of you can stop right there :roll: )

I have been working for my self of just over 3 years and at times have found it hard to charge a fare price for my work ( I have under priced lots of my work at times) but she had this way of adding little bits to my work and not expecting to pay more for the work being done :evil: .
It got to the stage that I would not finish all of the work and got her to pay me for what I had done
She is a teacher ( I am not haveing a go at teacher, just her) but she told me that she had done painting and decorating with her first husband ( not sure when this was as what she was looking to pay was a joke)

She had had a builder in to build her extension and put in a new kitchen plus plaster walls but was wanting to pay me very little to finish some of her fittings.
What I am try to say is what you might see as a high price come with may be 10- 20 years of knolage and tools that might have been nick once or twice if they here been very unlucky.
I am not saying you have done a bad or good job on your deck ( good luck to you if you have ) but they is also alot you might have missed too.

I know as I have seen lots of DIY jobs on some very nice pieces of antique furniture that I have repaired over the years by people that thought they could do a better job ( that is one of the reasons for my bostick comment)
Any way rant over and I hope you have a deck for many years to come

 

[JPEC]

I have been working for my self of just over 3 years and at times have found it hard to charge a fare price for my work ( I have under priced lots of my work at times)

I know where you are coming from Colin. I have been self employed for four years and have the same problem sometimes. As long as you learn from it and don't under price the same type of job again it's all part of the learning curve isn't it.
I have priced two almost identical jobs (loft conversions) for the same amount and lost them both. When making follow up calls one told me 'it was too much' and the other said 'we got a larger firm in to do it because you seemed a bit cheap'!! Go figure :?
It seems that different people have a very different idea of 'a fair price'. I would have to agree with earlier comments ' one mans 500 quid is another mans 1000'. Whether you price a job low because you are short of work or high because you are very busy is irrelevant to winning the job, it is the clients perception of what is low or high.
Having said that i have never advertised in my 4 years, all my work is by reccomendation so hopefully i am doing something right.
Or i am too cheap!!!

P.S. If you think a quote is too high. Get another one! A lot of the time the second will be higher than the first!


Julian

 

[JFC]

AHHH the "while your here could you just do this" Or "its easier for you to do it because you've got the tools" :roll: Ive been self employed 14 years and these are a housewifes favorite sayings . I have found that as soon as this starts you need to put a price on it and it will soon stop . I make it very clear that i will do all the small jobs but each one will cost £20 . It soon adds up and the husband suddenly finds his tool box :lol:

 

[Colin C]

For me its like JPEC said it is part of the learning curve but it is a downer when you are give your best and they dont want to pay.

 

[JPEC]

Best not get started on the 'while you are here' and 'if you do that there will be a drink in it for you'! #-o ](*,)

Julian

 

[engineer one]

i always wonder why if you are buying the drink they expect to
be able to have a cocktail or some kind of slammer,
whilst when they are buying for you, its a half of mild :twisted: :twisted:
whoops showing my age

it is definately a slippery road when you start doing small jobs just because.

paul :wink:

 

[johnelliott]

Most of the above is why I do only do kitchens. People have got used over the years to thinking in thousands when they think about kitchens.
Still not easy to make a living, though, the outgoings are considerable. I spend at least £200 a week on advertising alone

John