My brother runs his own remodel/carpentry shop and he says it's amusing how people think his fees are outrageous just because there's not a college program that teaches what he does.?ÿ He also gives them the option of paying lump sum or buying the materials and paying his hourly rate ($70).?ÿ He says he's noticed the rate rubs people the wrong way if it's more than they make personally per hour.?ÿ Funny stuff, imo.
When I discuss my hourly rates with clients and they seem shocked I usually remind them the last time they paid a plumber, electrician or auto mechanic they were probably paying similar rates..or even higher.
ps - I will gladly pay, without complaining, for anyone to crawl around under my house and unclog sewer pipes.?ÿ My hat's off to those folks.
?ÿ He says he's noticed the rate rubs people the wrong way if it's more than they make personally per hour.?ÿ Funny stuff, imo.
Sure, it is more than they make hourly, but his hourly rate includes his overhead for his business. An hourly employee should know that they have to produce much more than their hourly rate to have a job? That doesn't change when you own the business.
When I discuss my hourly rates with clients and they seem shocked I usually remind them the last time they paid a plumber, electrician or auto mechanic they were probably paying similar rates..or even higher.
I typically undervalued a mechanic as long as I drove old cars that I could fix. Now, I am at their mercy!
My favorite reply when asked for "a ball park" figure is 56,330: the capacity of Dodger Stadium.
And I'm with Paden, I gladly pay those "exorbitant" rates so I don't get electrocuted, fall off my roof, or break a pipe that floods my house.?ÿ I don't even do anything that requires climbing a ladder; I've heard too many stories about older persons falling off ladders.
Right, but the point is he tends to hear it more from someone like a teacher than a lawyer.
Right, but the point is he tends to hear it more from someone like a teacher than a lawyer.
Yeah, and how would a teacher have any concept of such a thing. We have a separate tax that pays for their workspace, another that pays their salary, and another that pays for their work equipment. But, the cost of having them around is all of that combined.
Ironic that you mention teachers, as this is a failing of the education system. Our children should have a basic understanding of economics.
Well, I don't think it's necessarily a matter of being out of touch because their workspace and income is tax funded.?ÿ I meant a teacher probably makes less money than my brother and the lawyer makes more.?ÿ The lawyer doesn't mind paying someone less than what he makes for their services, but the teacher feels like they're being robbed.?ÿ Maybe a better comparison would have been a Walmart cashier and a lawyer or something.
And then there is the story of the doctor who called a plumber to unclog his drain: when the plumber was done he handed the doctor a bill for $250.?ÿ The doctor said, "That only took you ten minutes so your bill is basically $1500 per hour! I'm a doctor and I don't make $1500 an hour!"?ÿ The plumber said, "Neither did I when I was a doctor."
I have a standard answer, I can not stake a line that I have not established or varified by doing a complete survey of the property in question.?ÿ No further explanation is needed.
In PLSSia it can be done with no problem.?ÿ Say the client wants the Quarter Section line marked every so far as it is one of his boundaries by definition and the plan is to doze out an old tree row to build the first new fence in 100+ years.?ÿ Happens rather frequently.?ÿ Of course, it is always good to ensure the adjoiner is not a tree-hugging fanatic.
One poor fellow called many years ago to have me mark out all of his boundaries, which were the perimeter of the internal quarter-quarter sections centered at the section center.?ÿ He had already had all 100+ year old trees and fencing dozed out before I arrived.?ÿ At the courthouse I had discovered that when his tract had been created from the four quarter sections, all of the corners of all four quarter-quarter sections had been surveyed and large, marked stones set.?ÿ Turned out that was true.?ÿ But, they were strung all over Creation by the bull dozer.?ÿ Had he known they existed and left them alone, he would have had no need for my expensive survey.
In PLSSia it can be done with no problem.?ÿ
Said Kent McMillion!
@peter-lothian I tell them; "Because your County Planners require a bunch of stuff they don't even know what they are looking at."
@bstrand the Honest Carpenter on YouTube calls it the Ikea effect. Someone wants an estimate for a custom cabinet job and are shocked by the price. You can buy all that stuff at IKEA for a fraction of that. Of course it??s particle board vs plywood and hardwood face frames and doors.
Well, I don't think it's necessarily a matter of being out of touch because their workspace and income is tax funded.?ÿ I meant a teacher probably makes less money than my brother and the lawyer makes more.?ÿ The lawyer doesn't mind paying someone less than what he makes for their services, but the teacher feels like they're being robbed.?ÿ Maybe a better comparison would have been a Walmart cashier and a lawyer or something.
My point is that the teacher has no idea how much the carpenter makes. The fact that they bill $70 an hour to them provides zero information as to how much they make in a week, year, month, or even an hour. Say they operate on a 2.5 multiplier, then he makes $28/hour. I haven't met a public school teacher that makes that little in over 2 decades.
If a teacher thinks a person billing at $70/hour makes more than they do, they are probably fairly ignorant.
The elephant in the room is liability:
If I come out and mark the line between the 2 points you found, and your neighbor has a proper survey; finding those 2 stakes were in error. You're going to want someone to pay to move your fence.
Wouldn't it be smart to do it right the first time?
I would add too:?ÿ And I could be subject to an action against my professional license, which I have been issued to protect the public like you.?ÿ?ÿ
