A coworker/friend asked me to repair a busted raised panel door from his kitchen cabinets. I guess his kids ran into it somehow. 3 of the 4 joints blew out and then some, requiring me to reglue it in stages. The panel itself had not been finished prior to the original glue up, so I sealed the exposed edges to limit the effects of any unseen glue squeeze out. All that being said, it took a while.
I’m a hobbyist, not a pro. Took me a little over 90 minutes of direct hands on time. My friend offered to pay me, but I did not give him an estimate. What would be a reasonable fee for 90 minutes of work.
For what it is worth, this is the 3rd kitchen cainet door of his that I have fixed…a mix of poor craftsmanship using staples/glue starved joints and kids who need more ritalin. I did the other two doors for free.
Replies
$50 then he has a deal and you get a starbucks coffee!!!You never make money on rubbish but it can lead to other work
First of all, funny name.
About $30/hour sounds good, so $45 or so. My greatest weakness is unwillingness to charge what I deserve. Someone once asked me, do you want to be referred to as "this guy works cheap"?
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Thanks. Sadly with $4 gas my username is closer to reality than funny. I can't afford to fix up my new shop. Guess I better find some more friends with busted doors....
I had been thinking $25/hr, so I guess I wasn't too far off from what you and others think.
Well Norm ,
Since he is a co worker / friend and you already fixed a few for free , '
guess what ?
If you just want to be a nice guy some more no harm done ,do you want to do jobs like this for money ? In the future when he brings you the broken drawer let him know up front that you hoped it helped them out by fixing those doors for free but I will have to charge you $25 to fix those . Or you could be just too busy to take on any more work .
dusty , who carefully works for friends
The best arrangement you can have with friends, if you must do the work at all, is a barter. There's always something that the guy (or his wife) has that you'd like. (Hey, I wasn't meaning THAT, but I'm not to blame if your mind is wandering from the subject...)
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
Funny. My wife is laughing over my shoulder. I hadn't thought about bartering for anything. Maybe he has a nice new bottle of bourbon sitting around.
You fixed two already for nothing, I'd ask for a case of beer or something similar.
mike
BBNorm,
I think $25/hr is fine.
Now for my rant.
I'm a semi-pro, or a hobbyist for hire. Like you, I have shopspace with tools. We have invested a lot of $$ in our shops, and our shopspace cost us even if it's a basement shop. We buy tools, sharpen and buy cutting tools, use electricity, water, heating/cooling, and buy consumable supplies like sandpaper, and glue. Don't forget the $4 a gallon it cost to get these supplies. All this cost you money. And you should/must try to get a grip on what you're shop cost you. My last calculations(cost keep changing) were that my shop cost me $7/hr on average based on what I spend divided by how many hours the shop is used. So if I performed a 90 min job like you did, and didn't charge them, I would have worked for free AND given them $10.50 out of my pocket. Nice gift, but one I can't can't afford to do often. So if a friend is looking for a little work, it's best if you at least charge them your overhead rate. In doing so, you're still working for free. But you're not paying them to do their work.
End of Rant. (for now)
GRW
It's tough with friends. I'm like the others who say it's hard to ask for pay. I spent an entire weekend and my own (expensive) wood restoring (minus the finishing) a friend's antique barbershop cabinets that he bought for a song (maybe even got for nothing - he never went into detail). I couldn't say no, and it angered me that he asked, even though he did "offer" to pay after the fact. People think because you have the tools and the know-how, it's a breeze and takes no time and effort at all. "Hey, don't you have a tablesaw and router?" Like that's all it takes. I blame myself. When he came to me again beating around the bush about another antique job, I quickly changed the subject.
That is just not right. We have a friend who has a wonderful shop and I gave some thought to asking him to make a drawer for a table I had found. But I would have insisted on paying him, or buying him the best Scotch there is.Gretchen
AS someone who would be the consumer in this case I thought $50 right off, and since you have done it before, I think it would be a REAL bargain. But others bring up good points about friendship and no prior agreement. So I suggest you suggest a good bottle of ______ if you are an imbiber or something like that--MORE than a case of beer!! And if it happens again (whassup with that!!) then a price tag. I really think you have been mildly taken advantage of. ;o)
I recently received a home made fresh Blueberry pie for cutting a butcherboard countertop (which I didn't have to help move) and a six pack of Red Seal Ale for putting a lamp back together. I'm building a hall bench in exchange for a friend giving me their 30% employee discount on a flat screen TV (after the sale price=~$1000 off).
Barter, for me, has always been the safest way to go with friends/neighbors. Most of my freinds and neighbors are toolslexic but they have something else to offer.
Magnus
"Remember, a bad carpenter always blames his tools" -Joe Conti-
In the world of Antique Reproduction and Restoration, the going shop rate for me is $75.00/hr. 1hr. minimum.
However, when good friends are involved then working on trade isn't a bad idea. You've done several doors for him already. Is there a product or service he could provide you with in exchange?
Just a thought.
Fine Furniture and Antique Restoration
If you charge for your time then your "friend" can expect to receive a certain level of work/service. This may place a demand upon you that you could find uncomfortable.
Well, I'm pleased to say the reckoning went very well. I told him I would charge $25/hr, but since I didn't tell him up front about it I asked for $30 total. (I decided I could use the $ better than a bottle of Knob Creek.) He was totally fine with it and very appreciative that I did the job.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
bbN
I do a lot of these small repairs for friends, family & neighbors. Barter is the way to go - those are the people I call to help move furniture or equipment, borrow a truck or paint the house. I would charge for bigger jobs.
You could also offer to show him how to fix them himself. That's how I got interested in woodworking to begin with - home repairs.
Bartering is good, but as a rule I've found that mixing friends, neighbors, or family with business is generally not such a good idea (although I do it all the time!)
Coming to expect things in return from others (unless its a clear business relationship) is asking for heart each, hurt feelings, and misunderstandings.
Unfortunately most of the neighbors , friends and such that have had me make or repair things for them often (even though it was agreed upon before hand) suddenly find themselves with out cash or want to post date checks or say "I'll catch you tomorrow" but tomorrow often comes latter than I would like it or in some cases never at all.
Its not that they are bad people or are trying to screw me or something like that, its just human nature to put off the inevitable when its going to cost you.
But who knows I could be wrong!
Here is a case in point. I repaired some chairs free of charge for a friend and after some time they had more to repair. Me not having any free time on my hands, I told them I couldn't.
A while has gone by and just the other day I saw her in the grocery store, she asks me again to repair her chairs! After another claim of no time she says "you know I priced the repair out by a refinisher and they would cost me about 100 bucks each!" she then says she'd be willing to pay me but not a $100. I told her she should invest another $25 on top of the$100 and buy new chairs!
I guess she couldn't talk the other guy down in price. Is this typical of human nature or what?
Chaim
Chaim,
Maybe I'm oversimplifying this but to me it seems that real friends are not out looking for a free ride at their friends expense.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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