Craigs List Labor

John T · May 21, 2012

A while back there was a post about Craigs list so I will share how I hire workers who advetrtise there and so far Ive had great success BUT I DO MY HOMEWORK.

I have some rough mostly unskilled grunt work and exterior rough carpentry I needed done so I decided to get 3 bids after I scoped out the adds for labor and "skilled" trade work.

1) Dude A shows up in a $50,000 dually pickup so I knew right off he needed big bucks to make a truck payment and he bragged about how good he was AS I FIGURED HIS BID WAS OFF THE CHARTS HIGH

2) Dude B (20 something) shows up in a beat up rusty Ford truck and spends a great deal of time measuring and figuring and looking up n down and really really inspecting the job and in a few days gives me a very detailed itemized price for labor and materials. I called a few places and got good references about him

3) Dude C shows up and asks SO WHAT WERE THE OTHER BIDS I say look no way Im telling you what others bid, you give me your best price and I will let you know. I saw right off he wasnt my man.

So days go by, I decided to give B the job and C calls and I tell him he was underbid and he again says tell me the price I will beat it !!!!!!!! Then he goes on to say KNOCK $400 OFF MY PRICE DO I GET IT NOW

YEAH RIGHT I SAY YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE IF YOU WANTED TO DO IT FOR $400 LESS YOU SHOULD HAVE BID IT WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE !!!!!!!!!

Anywho B shows up this morning right on time when he said he would (hes under the house right now) and once the work is done and I can see and inspect it all and it suits me I will pay him in cash. I already paid for the material and had it delivered

Moral of the story,,,,Do your homework,,,,,,,Check references and look at jobs the dudes have done,,,,,,,,,Pay for your own material and ONLY pay the labor AFTER its done and you approve it,,,,,,,Dont expect low bids from older dudes in $50,000 pickups, the young guy in a beat up rusty old Ford is who to hire IFFFFFFFFFFFF its work you can see and observe and inspect and approve BEFORE you pay him. That way you cant get hurt all that bad

Im gonna go offer the guy a break and lemonade

John T
Untitled URL Link

Anonymous-0 · May 21, 2012

Glad you found your man...Up here in the boonies..nwND you just take what ever you can get or find....For the most part if you cant do Carpenter work .ruff or finish...pluming..electeral...You know..Wire it up and the barn door dont fly open..Itel work...Your probably all ready NOT here.. :? :? :? :?

Ya..It would be nice to be able to get some help once in a wile

Chris(IA) · May 21, 2012

YOU are the person I like doing work for. No nonsense on either part. The customers I don't care for are those that can't visualize what the finished product will look like and change their mind partway through the process, expecting me to eat their error in judgement. IF they are willing to pay for the time and or extra material involved, then as far as I'm concerned, all is well. It goes under "The Customer is Always Right". I get more work than I can handle and I have Never advertised. You would be one of my top customers as YOU paid for the material up front; so many people don't want to or feel they are being 'scammed' somehow.

John T · May 21, 2012

The reason I bought the material myself and had it delivered to my house was I prefer that to paying the contractor up front and trusting he will use it to buy the material and deliver it to me. I GLADLY pay him for changes or additions. Im gonna offer him lunch and a drink soon and once done if its good and he has showed up on time I usually pay a pretty good tip also. I like a decent hard working young man (in a rusty Ford pickup) who is dependable. He will still be like half what the big shot in the $50,000 truck wanted

John T

Ray · May 21, 2012

We needed a new roof on our house and new rafters over the garage.We waited all last summer for a local contractor to show up and do the job,he never did.This spring i talked to 3 more contractors who looked it over and kept saying"this is going to be expensive".I finally called an amish guy from berne indiana,about 60
miles away.He shows up,gives me an estimate in the ball park with the other estimates.I told him to go ahead.Less than a week later i have new rafters,a new roof and a beautiful job.I'm thinking of putting up a new building,probably let the amish do that also.The heck with these local guys.

Eldon (WA) · May 21, 2012

(quoted from post at 07:11:59 05/21/12) A while back there was a post about Craigs list so I will share how I hire workers who advetrtise there and so far Ive had great success BUT I DO MY HOMEWORK.

I have some rough mostly unskilled grunt work and exterior rough carpentry I needed done so I decided to get 3 bids after I scoped out the adds for labor and "skilled" trade work.

1) Dude A shows up in a $50,000 dually pickup so I knew right off he needed big bucks to make a truck payment and he bragged about how good he was AS I FIGURED HIS BID WAS OFF THE CHARTS HIGH

2) Dude B (20 something) shows up in a beat up rusty Ford truck and spends a great deal of time measuring and figuring and looking up n down and really really inspecting the job and in a few days gives me a very detailed itemized price for labor and materials. I called a few places and got good references about him

3) Dude C shows up and asks SO WHAT WERE THE OTHER BIDS I say look no way Im telling you what others bid, you give me your best price and I will let you know. I saw right off he wasnt my man.

So days go by, I decided to give B the job and C calls and I tell him he was underbid and he again says tell me the price I will beat it !!!!!!!! Then he goes on to say KNOCK $400 OFF MY PRICE DO I GET IT NOW

YEAH RIGHT I SAY YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE IF YOU WANTED TO DO IT FOR $400 LESS YOU SHOULD HAVE BID IT WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE !!!!!!!!!

Anywho B shows up this morning right on time when he said he would (hes under the house right now) and once the work is done and I can see and inspect it all and it suits me I will pay him in cash. I already paid for the material and had it delivered

Moral of the story,,,,Do your homework,,,,,,,Check references and look at jobs the dudes have done,,,,,,,,,Pay for your own material and ONLY pay the labor AFTER its done and you approve it,,,,,,,Dont expect low bids from older dudes in $50,000 pickups, the young guy in a beat up rusty old Ford is who to hire IFFFFFFFFFFFF its work you can see and observe and inspect and approve BEFORE you pay him. That way you cant get hurt all that bad

Im gonna go offer the guy a break and lemonade

John T
Untitled URL Link

I guess I'd have to agree to a point as I have seen the guys like you describe in #1.....however, successful people have the right to drive nice trucks (I do, even though it is 8 yrs old it looks like new). I doubt that you know that he was making payments on it...and...how do you know #2 doesn't drive an old truck because he doesn't know how to save a buck?? Maybe he will take the cash you give him and go hit the liquor store. Now #3...he sounds like the worst of the bunch. Just saying, don't always judge a book by its cover.

huskers86phone · May 21, 2012

I agree with you John T. It seems those who boast too much know very little and are not that skilled.

Billy NY · May 21, 2012

Lowest responsible bid, key word "responsible" !

Lowest bid is not always, matter of fact, usually never the best bid, funny how each of them varied, but the guy with a tape measure, pencil, paper, camera etc. takes the time get the details gets the job, Mr. dually could have done that, so could the other guy, just not smart enough, yet its common sense when you are in that business.

Even a small job, most owners should be able to figure a scope of work for what needs to be done, have the bidders do their thing and then review each bid to make sure it complies with what you want done, and within a price range. Its not all that difficult to visualize, 1 day 2 guys, or 1 week 3 guys or what have you for labor, to get an idea before hand, so when that curve ball bid, that has an unbalanced $10,000 extra in it can be identified and avoided. Its also good for an owner to do this exercise of labor to see if a bidder made a mistake and left something out. Some jobs are more complicated, harder to price, but an owner who takes a close look and can do his/her own "engineers estimate" for both labor and materials, is well ahead of the game when it comes time to write a scope of work, and have it bid. Once bid and you are close to selecting, then you can pre-qualify the contractor, check their insurance certificate, check their other completed jobs, references etc. prior to awarding the contract. Owner provide materials can be a good thing, contractor can't mark up the materials, and there is no excuse as to material being on the job, but said owner does need to make sure all materials are their and quantities, quality etc. is acceptable. Payment is best done by percentage of completion on larger jobs, and or substantial completion on smaller ones, never pay up front, never pay for materials until they are checked, verified, accepted and on site, period.

da.bees · May 21, 2012

Buying your material is a good idea in Texas because if the contractor buys it on credit and doesn't pay,the supplier can put a lien on the property. Doen't matter if you have reciepts from the contractor proving you paid for all material and labor,they can still get the lien and courts back them up.

Errin OH · May 21, 2012

My dad was a self employed tile setter / contractor. He did something similar with those day labor places. He go in find three or four guys and hire them for a day. The best one would be brought back to complete the job. I couldn't count the number of guys dad ended up hiring full time this way. With a couple exceptions all went on to better jobs and not back to the day labor market.

When dad passed I was blown away by the number of former employees / ex day labors who showed up at the service. I couldn't count but if they didn't out number friends and family it was close. It really solidified in me how you conduct business, says everything about you.......

John T · May 21, 2012

I can ONLY speak from my own personal experience but after many years of hiring labor or contractors off and on over the years I can say THE DUDE WITH THE $50,000 TRUCK HAS ALWYAYSSSSSSS BID WAYYYYYYY HIGHER THEN THE DUDE WITH THE RUSTY FORD LOL

Sure price isnt the ONLY factor I use when awarding a job, I consider references, quality, dependability but on many jobs Ive hired the finished product is right in front of me to judge and review so I can see the quality BEFORE I pay.

As far as what the dude does with the money (gets drunk, makes truck payment etc etc) I pay him I dont know or care I only care to get the best quality work for the best or near best price and thats what has worked for me and I plan to continue. I agree I NEVER judge a book ONLY by its cover, look at references and past work and consider the price and quality and only then do I make the call.....

Fun chat, thanks yall

John T

John T · May 21, 2012

Ive also hired Amish labor, they built my 60 x 40 pole barn and shop. They have "modernized" nowadays in our area with their cell phones on their belt lol and over the years their prices have pretty well raised to the same level as the local dudes with the $50,000 dually trucks. Lately the non Amish have done me the jobs at a better price and about the same quality HOWEVER THE AMISH ARE BEST AT GETTING IT DONE QUICKLY

John T

Anonymous-0 · May 21, 2012

Friend of mine was in the tree removal business. He seemed to get every job he bid on, so finaly he asked a customer if his bid was way below the competition. The answer was "No, you werent even the lowest, but we trusted you."

Wile E · May 21, 2012

So what type of work did you have done?

Geo-TH,In · May 21, 2012

JT,
Would you hire a HVAC mechanic if he showed up wearing a uniform, in a $50,000 truck that had $5000 worth of lettering or would you hire a HVAC mechanic that came in a rusted out turck, no uniforms, he didn't look like a professional and he gives you the low ball figure?

George

John T · May 21, 2012

The flexible ductwork in the homes crawl space needed replaced,,,,,,,, minor patching of the main fiberglass box trunk,,,,,,,,,,sump pump installed in the lowest corner of crawl space (I dont do crawl space work anymore),,,,,,,,pole barn needed new outer exterior horizontal top band boards replaced and new guttering,,,,,,,,,,,vertical poles needed braced up and wrapped with new treated lumber,,,,,,,,,some pole barn (its 32 yrs old) lumber power washed and cleaned/bleached then sealed with preservative,,,,,,,,,power washing some metal barn siding,,,,,,other miscellaneous rough exterior carpentry work.

Materials were around $800 lookin at a couple man days of labor......

During 32 years of farming and raising a family I had to negleect some routine maintenance so now Im gettin caught up. Next is one of the heat pumps has leaked its freon so thats next on the agenda buttttttttttt thats more skilled specialized labor then my grunt workers and will cost more. Im gettin my shop and barns cleaned up with stuff burned,,,,,,stuff to scrap iron,,,,,,,,stuff to auction,,,,,,,,stuff cleaned and organized and put back

John T

Wile E · May 21, 2012

Having labor like that is nice.
But......be careful that a guy doesnt fall off a ladder and sue you.
I have a 18 year old kid helping me do some landscape work, I remember when I was 18, lots of energy and lots more strength then I have now at 43. I will likely have this kid over my place 1 time per week for a few hours helping me with trees, some painting, some landscaping.

Anonymous-0 · May 21, 2012

OK, But what the ell's wrong with a hard working young man (in a rusty chevy pickup)

omahagreg · May 21, 2012

As a contractor, I can say I will NEVER allow my customer to buy materials. I got burned really bad the last time I tried it, he had gotten all the wrong stuff, I had to take it all back, get new, could not charge him labor to do all this running around! Could only charge him cost on materials-can't stay in business very long that way!

Eldon (WA) · May 22, 2012

(quoted from post at 14:10:03 05/21/12) Friend of mine was in the tree removal business. He seemed to get every job he bid on, so finaly he asked a customer if his bid was way below the competition. The answer was "No, you werent even the lowest, but we trusted you."

Works for me...came $17 shy of making $1000 today and nobody made a comment about the nice truck I drive LOL! They do like the work I do for the money....the key is the right equipment to do the job!

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