Neighbor wants me to help tile his floor

Terry said:

I plumbed an entire home for a good friend.
I didn't want to do it, but,

It should have been a $17,000 job.
I only charged him $5200, and he argued about that,
Had to wait nine months for my final payment, something like $2700, because he was earning interest on the money.
I had paid for all of his material up front.

When I invited him to my birthday party last Winter, he said it was too far to drive.


Work for friends?

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Terry,

I've been in that situation so many times. I've hardend up over the years.

Tom

It's typical builder grade sheet vinyl, over a concrete slab.
Of course, that price is way low, if you ask me.
But at least it's not me. You all have brought up enough great points to make me realize I made the right decision.

With the exception of a couple churches

and a few nice old ladies.....


I stay away from anything or anybody who's telling me of "easy job" or "hard times" rhetoric. Or someone that calls me and says, " I need you to solder up a couple couplings and a valve, maybe a foot of pipe, How much does something like that cost?"

$XX an hour plus materials, the charge covers up to the 1st hour.

There's a church up in town that has a parsonage where two deadbeats stayed in the home for 2 years without paying rent.

The only reason these people paid their water bill was to get it turned on in the next place they are going to rob from. Apparently the woman plays the ill card very well and plays the sympathy of others to a tee.

I blame the church though for letting it go 2 years, that is just uncall for.

I try not to work for people on my street....with a couple exceptions to some realistic ones that know I have to charge a fair price to keep the business running. Everyone else thinks I should give my work away for nothing.

Will be doing work for my brother soon and i am keeping the cost low because he will try to do the work him self. I have seen his plumbing work. I would rather make less than let him think it is to much and do it him self.

I never lower my work prices. when ever i do it ends up being the worst job ever as in hardest. People always say it will only take 10 minutes. why so high?

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Business is business....

wether it is a neighbor or a freind....

never lend money to a freind,

never trade out work for a return
favor sometime down the road...

never BARTER with a freind...they will surely
screw you


also doing something for a neighbor can hook you into
troubles for a lifetime.....even if you charge a fair price.

and usually you lose a freind over the whole ordeal, or at the very least you end up with a very bad taste in your mouth



if they found someone to do the work for 500 bucks and you dont have to fool with anything.......

that is like a blessing....

steer clear of the whole thing.

I have a really good friend who owns a rental unit. Occasionally, he asks me to install a door or do some minor plumbing. In return, I get a great homecooked meal from his wife, who's an excellent cook.

He's helped me out in the past, and I like helping him out when I can. That's what good friendship is all about.

That's what good friendship is all about.

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true true

I help a buddy who has very little $$ and takes care of his very sick mother. Some of his water lines are brass, and I just removed his old lav and tub trains that were old lead. I made no $$

Gary Swart said:

NEVER trust a homeowner's judgment on what will be an "easy" job. It isn't that they are necessarily trying to put anything over on you, they just don't know. That's why people are often shocked when they find out what a professional charges. It's true in many professions. Auto body, electric, plumbing, etc.. A lay person just has no concept of how much time is involved to build, fix, or replace things.

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Except for the time I found out the dentist pays 35$ for an appliance he sells for 700!

Last night I spoke to friend of mine and the first thing that popped into my head was this thread. Here is the background. My friend is a girl and she is pretty hot. She wanted me to do a construction project on her house a while back and I told her I would pass because I'd have to charge her too much to do it right. (ie no buried junction boxes, properly headered doorways, lots of drywalling small pieces, formica etc...)

Well she found a friend of hers to "help" her with the project. He said he would do it for free. No doubt to get into her pants of course but that is a complete side bar entirely. Anyway. The guy spends several months to do the job all the while improperly doing headers, burying junction boxes etc... He does good work but not to code. Not sure how to phrase that but that's how I'd classify it right now.

Anyway for the final stage of the project he needed to re-formaica her kitchen counter top that is kind of like a countertop with an attached bar sitting area. He screws it up a couple of times and finally throws his hands in the air and told my friend to just pay to have it done and he will cover it. No doubt thinking "there is no way she is going to charge me for the counter top when I did all this work for free" etc... Well my friend is going to make him pay the $500 to have the formica done professionally.

I would estimate the project to have cost about $3500 in labor to have done by a professional. I would likely have charged her $2500 to do it. The guy does all the work for free and now is going to shell out $500.

I think this fits in quite nicely with this thread.

Tom

statjunk said:

My friend is a girl and she is pretty hot. Well she found a friend of hers to "help" her with the project. He said he would do it for free. No doubt to get into her pants of course. Well my friend is going to make him pay the $500 to have the formica done professionally.

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Maybe that guy should think about hiring a "professional" himself--like a Call Girl. It'd be a lot cheaper.

Good point. He didn't get any either! However I did! LOL.

Tom

positive correlation.

one guy who isn't signed in here, gets to work for free, gets used and abused.

one other guy signed in here, gets results that suit him.


i see a correlation here.

david

David,

It's your turn next. May good fortune fall upon you! All a result of Terry's Forum...

Tom

Quote: Well she found a friend of hers to "help" her with the project. He said he would do it for free. No doubt to get into her pants of course but that is a complete side bar entirely.

Now, I wonder...who was using who?

I hope she also collected the sales tax.

If there were any extras done would he put it on a running tab?

What if there is a margin call?