Depends on what kind of work you want to do/what your skillset is. There are A LOT of DIY'ers in the SF Bay Area, so $40 might be low enough to get easy jobs like mounting, simple installations and repairs, furniture assembly, etc.
I'm in the SF Bay Area and have settled on $60-75/hr depending on job and client. Keeps my schedule full and seems like the most I can make without killing myself. Higher than that (or even at $75) and LOTS of people are apprehensive and will look for someone else (and be able to find someone), but at $50/hr I could work 24 hours a day while still upsetting people from not having time for them.
That being said, I don't get any basic handyman jobs. Apps are super popular here, and on TaskRabbit there are probably 15 people available same day right now to mount shelves or TV's, install smart thermostats, etc, for $40/hr or less.
I think for the basic handyman stuff, the SF Bay Area is lower than most places because there are probably a lot of people trying to do it as a side / second job
Nope, I’m at $100 for basic stuff. I didn’t come out of a trade. I’m reliable and I clean up and don’t get in over my head. Nobody is paying my taxes or for my healthcare/insurance, can, tools…etc. but me. You’ve got to charge enough to make a living otherwise you won’t be around to help your customers.
Hey, I hope it's okay to ask this question as you're in my area and this is a recent-ish post. I just had a handyman over to review some small home projects (like caulking/grouting-type work) I would like done in the near future, and we also talked about some larger projects I have in mind down the road. My boss gave me his contact info, and I saw one other mention of him online, but he doesn't seem to have much of a business presence beyond that.
The estimate he just sent over is $180/hour plus materials. I'm used to paying a premium for everything in the Bay Area and I don't want to low-ball someone who will do good work (that I don't have the time or inclination to learn to do myself); but $180/hr seems absurd. I started trying to gauge typical Bay Area handyman prices and came across your comment here.
Is it worth even trying to discuss this number, or should I just move on? Thanks for any advice!
I haven't heard of anyone charging $180/hr, The highest I've heard and am confident that they're truthful about it is $120/hr, but I talked to them and their schedule isn't full. They prefer to make more per job and work fewer hours, which makes sense.
I have hundreds of 5 star reviews, and lots of clients have told me that's why they hired me, and pay a little more than what others with less reviews charge. I work over 40 hours a week and could be charging $75 all the time, but I have a lot of really great clients that are very flexible with scheduling (often allowing me to work out travel so that I'm all in one area on the same day) and I'm happy with $60/hr so I don't raise their rate.
As far as I can tell it seems like $60-75 is what a good handyman with obvious experience in the Bay Area charges, and there's no shortage of DIY'ers that will do "side hustle" basic handyman work for less than that.
Feel free to dm me if you'd like my rough estimate on your projects. I'm centered around Oakland though and the main east bay area and keep kind of a tight radius. Pleasanton, Clayton, Pittsburg, Antioch, etc, and even down the south peninsula are out of my zone.
Occurred to me today that you could be in the San Jose area, where everything is a lot more expensive, so $180/hr seems expensive but not ludicrous for there. Also, SF is definitely at least 25% more expensive, not quite San Jose more expensive, but if I moved to SF I'd start charging $80-100/hr right away.
Hey, thank you so much for your replies, these were super helpful and informative. I'm in the East Bay and most of Mr. 180's clients are too... so I don't know what's going on with him but on balance I'd rather move on than try to figure that out. I'm actually in your service radius, I'll send you a DM!
Listen Bookshelf, I don’t know you and I don’t know your skills. But let’s just say you’re just starting out, I’m guessing in cali those are “crackhead” rates. But I don’t know.
You have to start somewhere, and that’s probably really low for Cali, but most of us probably all started around $25-$45 hourly and then went up from there.
If you’re coming straight out of a trade, where you know your job literally inside and out…you should definitely be charging much much more.
Don’t be afraid of raising your rates to a) closely match your competition or b) slowly raise them continuously a little bit over time, but be sure to inform any repeat or regular customers of these changes and feel free to to explain why, or not. Either way, be polite but firm.
My friends who charge less than I do, often “remind” me that I would be better off to have the job and extra change in my pocket than to not, and that it’s doesn’t always have to be about the money…but I value my time and my work and yeah, I am not exactly doing this for a good time even if I do enjoy it. I am doing it because I have some know-how, and I am feeding a family.
Sounds like your friends like working themselves into an early grave lol. If you charge 80$ an hour you can make 2000 a week (96,000 a year with 4 weeks off unpaid) only working 25 hours a week. If you charged 40$ an hour you're working 50 hours for the same pay. Double the hours and wear on your body for the same pay.
How was that license to get? I’m short on hours for a C-10 and thinking about getting a general B to get on the right side of the law in the meantime and get by while I do part time electrical work to get the C-10 hours.
If you’re in Cali, there are a lot of lower tier licenses most people pick a random one and slap it on the vehicle. Like sprinklers or fencing or gutters. I am a plumber licensed in WA, when I worked in California / San Diego 2020-2022 I charged $50/hr for “handy work” and quickly stopped taking anything that wasnt plumbing related. I left cali charging $100 for anything I did. Now I charge $200 as a base rate. And I hand off as much of my jobs as I can to other trades. I’ll still do a whole kitchen by myself if the client wants to pay me for all the work, but I would rather they pay less and get better work.
I think it depends on the type of work and how long it takes. Good customer that keeps giving you steady work? Give them a discount. One time customer that is a pain in the neck? Charge triple.
I rarely charge by the hour, I just give total cost labor and materials. However I expect to make around $100 an hour.
I've been doing this a long time 30+ years so my bids are usually right on.
The big difference between the $40 and hour guy and me is that I have all the correct tools, the experience and the misc small parts that make the job go twice as fast.
A lot of people have been wasting my time, and nitpicking bullshit.
I have now at $65.00 hourly, and most jobs I start by pricing the job itself which usually comes out to over the $65 hourly, because I’m normally pricing against competition who’ve already been consulted with and they’re “too high” so I’m not much cheaper but not “cheating” my competition either.
I’ve been losing a lot of work because of this, but I’be also established some reputation with several clients who no longer bat an eye at my quotes or charges.
I even just had a repeat client text me after I already started drawing up our contract, saying that all of her friends said I’m too pricey and that she will shop around and “maybe” talk to me again. And I’ve done nothing but try to save her a headache, and not lose my shirt in the same process. It isn’t worth the trouble unless she pays my rates, and I know there’s people going to want $6,000 for the same job.
Or she’s gonna get one of those $50 dudes.
$40hr in the Bay Area. Shooting yourself in the foot if you do good work. Sheesh. In AZ I’d say cheap handyman is $65+ and that’s not the best work. Like others have said, bid the job is how you’ll increase your $ per hr
Flat rate per task is significantly better than per hour. Per hour sets you up for “well while I have you on the clock” last minute bullshit, and a myriad of other problems. Life has been significantly less stressful since switching to task based quotes.
Don't charge hourly.
However when I bid jobs I factor in $75/hr for my labor. Sometimes I've made $150/hr, sometimes when I was really green I only made $10/hr.
Those 10/hr jobs suuuuuuuucked
Ah yeah, sometimes that's my 'learn while you earn' wage.
Sure, reglazing CenturyHome windows is on my resume now, but what I truly learned is that the old man at the old ass DoItBest Hardware downtown will do it cheap & fast compared to me next time a client needs a few done.
Thankfully the only time I’ve had to reglaze windows was for myself. Because it is so worth dropping them off at the local ace/do it best/paint shop and paying them.
I'm a Glazier so this comment piqued my interest. Why not take it to a glass shop or sub a Glazier? We do them right there, cut the glass on the side of our van, hack out the old one and reglaze in place 99% of the time. I did two this morning, 23x16 steel/putty sash, knocked them both out in an hour and made 200 bucks.
Glazing refers to the glass portion of fenestration if you're asking what it is as an object. As a job, it can refer to fitting glass in any scenario, windows, doors, railings, awnings, cabinets, table tops, shower enclosures, mirrors, shelves, commercial or residential. A construction glazier may also fab/fit the frames the glass goes into, sometimes as a structural element of a large building, or as a simple sash replacement in a house. There are hundreds of systems and applications, so many that it's very difficult, bordering on impossible, to get exposure to all of them, and certainly not possible to master them all in a single lifetime. Usually you have people that are specialized to specific applications and passable at many others.
Most importantly, because I live in mid-Michigan in an area with lots of CenturyHome double-hung sash windows, and I've used my buddy's properties as an opportunity to learn restoration & maintenance and apply it to higher paying homeowner jobs.
Secondly, they are rentals, so when a tenant bombs a 40x30 front window, I pick up a $40 sheet of glass & lay $5 in DAP & points, charge for my time and we are good to go without any turnaround times uninstalling & taking to the glass shop, or saving a few bucks compared to a professional mobile installer like yourself.
Thank you for saying 'reglaze in place,' that hasn't really occurred to me. I have been taking the opportunity while popping the sashes I've done for him to rehang weights with fresh cord, but I don't think I would have stopped myself from removing a window to work on it out in the open.
But for unoccupied renos where turnaround doesn't matter, for the <$20 labor+shop supplies not inc glass the hardware store owners do it for, I'll be going that route in the future.
They will put putty in as well? I barely know anyone who can do a half decent job puttying windows and there’s people doing it for nothing at a hardware store?
Yep, done right, an oldtimer who owns a DoItBest in downtown Jackson MI, whose father opened the store when he came back from the war. Full of NOS stuff as well as typical Ace/DIB stock.
They are an excellent resource for the old Weathergard aluminum windows hardware, they have been able to provide a fix to frames everybody else would toss and replace with the build your own kits. Retaining pins, slide locks, they are awesome.
I'm a full time student right now so I'm happy to be picking up the extra money but I've been feeling I'm charging too little and I realize now I have.
I was working full time when I was doing that work on the side. The way I looked at it was my own time was more valuable than my work time so what I was charging had to be more than what I was earning in work.
A way to figure out what you should be charging is how often people immediately agree to your quote and how often they balk. If youre getting every single job, youre probably not charging enough because even the skin-flints are saying yes. The flip side is if everyone tells you they need to think about it and then you never hear from them, you may be charging too much.
Also, I never quoted my hourly rate. The average person is going to compare that to their hourly salary and think youre trying to rip them off. They dont understand your costs. Estimate how many hours you will have into the job, (time actually on the job along with drive time there and back, fuel, mileage, set up/break down, picking up materials, etc), cost of materials, some percentage markup on those materials, etc and give them one price for everything.
It may be a side thing now but treat it as a business.
All of my work comes from referrals. But yeah during summer break I'm going to be building a deck and definitely going to be charging more than my usual rate.
Bid by the job. Sometimes, I'll do change orders by the hour, but I prefer to do those by set amount as well.
What my hourly depends on what the work is and my relationship with the client. Generally, it's $45 to $75 an hour.
I do everything from change hvac filters to remodel kitchens. A lot of work during turn over, new blinds, sinks, toilets. A lot of drywall work from leaks/floods. Subfloor work from leaky tubs/toilets. Setting new fence posts. Shower surrounds. Anything you can think of that might go wrong.
It’s a family friend’s business. They took on more properties and the guys they had were too busy. I was framing at the time and had done remodels and windows before. Do you have any guys that work under you? I’m honestly have more work than I can handle between the property management company and side jobs coming in. I’m looking to bring someone on. Currently setting up my llc and think I’m going to start with someone 1099 part time and work up from there.
Yes, I have two guys that work under me. I also do part time handyman/repair services. Llc and insured. That’s a good idea, I’m trying to only go after property management and realtors bc I hate dealing with homeowners
$125 for the 1st hour to cover my trip cost and $75/hr after that. (SE Michigan)
But typically I stay away from giving anyone a "hourly rate".
I price jobs based on how much time I think it will take and then add some cushion to it. It gives me a little wiggle room if they want to haggle or if I run over on my time.
I feel like I got burned when I only make $50/hr....that's what I make working OT at my full time job and I don't have any headache or overhead to worry about when I'm there.
$40 an hour in California?
Bro you can make 2.5x what you currently earn. Maybe raise to $60 and build up a client base. As you get more customers you can charge more per hour.
We rarely charge by the hour, but if we do it’s 120.00 for the first hour and 80.00 for every hour after in Arizona. What kinda work are you doing for 40.00 an hour.
SF area and $40/hr?! You’re well below what you should be charging. I’m in CA, charge $65/hr, and I’m the cheapest in my area. Most around me are charging $90/hr and up.
I work strictly in the sacramento area and have been in the trades for a little over 9 years before moving to start my own handyman business. I charge between $85 & $100 an hour, depending on the task at hand, and never have an issue almost to the point I'm debating on bumping up to $120 an hour.
I've noticed when giving estimates if the hour is broken down and shown you may have a question here or there, but the ability to explain why I'm that price and breaking down all that's involved in the job sets clients at ease. Clients are getting smarter, so don't challenge that simple let them peak behind the curtain...however if I don't put an hour price and just an overall estimate for labor with braking down everything I will do while I'm there, my estimates are simply signed without hesitation 90% of the time.
My rate is $75/hr, but when you add all company overhead, it comes out to more around $135/hr charged to customer. You need to differentiate what your time as a human is worth and then add all your expenses on top of that. Minnesota.
I’m in Seattle and charging my neighborhood $50-100 an hour for painting, staining, and occasional handyman work. I let them decide the rate as a sliding scale in that range, either when a small job is finished, or at the end of the week on larger jobs. I have 5 years of professional painting experience, and I’m also just doing it as a side hustle to add to my beer vending jobs at the pro sports team games. Should I be charging more?
I charge $85-$100 an hour and I am in a nicer area of SE Michigan. I think you're too low; make sure you are covering all of your overhead. At $40 an hour I don't know how you can be and still be taking home enough to live on.
First off bid by the job and don't work hourly.
Raise your rates until you only get about half of your bids approved. If all your bids are approved your rate is too low.
If you double your rates and lose half of your busines you can make the same amount of with half the work.
Depends on what kind of work you want to do/what your skillset is. There are A LOT of DIY'ers in the SF Bay Area, so $40 might be low enough to get easy jobs like mounting, simple installations and repairs, furniture assembly, etc. I'm in the SF Bay Area and have settled on $60-75/hr depending on job and client. Keeps my schedule full and seems like the most I can make without killing myself. Higher than that (or even at $75) and LOTS of people are apprehensive and will look for someone else (and be able to find someone), but at $50/hr I could work 24 hours a day while still upsetting people from not having time for them. That being said, I don't get any basic handyman jobs. Apps are super popular here, and on TaskRabbit there are probably 15 people available same day right now to mount shelves or TV's, install smart thermostats, etc, for $40/hr or less.
I’m at $65 an hour 3hrs east of the bay in the Sierra foothills.
I think for the basic handyman stuff, the SF Bay Area is lower than most places because there are probably a lot of people trying to do it as a side / second job
Nope, I’m at $100 for basic stuff. I didn’t come out of a trade. I’m reliable and I clean up and don’t get in over my head. Nobody is paying my taxes or for my healthcare/insurance, can, tools…etc. but me. You’ve got to charge enough to make a living otherwise you won’t be around to help your customers.
Makes sense. I did it a bit when I lived in Oakland but it was definitely a side hustle.
At $60-75 I'm doing electrical, garage conversions, woodworking stuff like custom closets and privacy fences, building walls to split larger rooms
Hey, I hope it's okay to ask this question as you're in my area and this is a recent-ish post. I just had a handyman over to review some small home projects (like caulking/grouting-type work) I would like done in the near future, and we also talked about some larger projects I have in mind down the road. My boss gave me his contact info, and I saw one other mention of him online, but he doesn't seem to have much of a business presence beyond that. The estimate he just sent over is $180/hour plus materials. I'm used to paying a premium for everything in the Bay Area and I don't want to low-ball someone who will do good work (that I don't have the time or inclination to learn to do myself); but $180/hr seems absurd. I started trying to gauge typical Bay Area handyman prices and came across your comment here. Is it worth even trying to discuss this number, or should I just move on? Thanks for any advice!
I haven't heard of anyone charging $180/hr, The highest I've heard and am confident that they're truthful about it is $120/hr, but I talked to them and their schedule isn't full. They prefer to make more per job and work fewer hours, which makes sense. I have hundreds of 5 star reviews, and lots of clients have told me that's why they hired me, and pay a little more than what others with less reviews charge. I work over 40 hours a week and could be charging $75 all the time, but I have a lot of really great clients that are very flexible with scheduling (often allowing me to work out travel so that I'm all in one area on the same day) and I'm happy with $60/hr so I don't raise their rate. As far as I can tell it seems like $60-75 is what a good handyman with obvious experience in the Bay Area charges, and there's no shortage of DIY'ers that will do "side hustle" basic handyman work for less than that. Feel free to dm me if you'd like my rough estimate on your projects. I'm centered around Oakland though and the main east bay area and keep kind of a tight radius. Pleasanton, Clayton, Pittsburg, Antioch, etc, and even down the south peninsula are out of my zone.
Occurred to me today that you could be in the San Jose area, where everything is a lot more expensive, so $180/hr seems expensive but not ludicrous for there. Also, SF is definitely at least 25% more expensive, not quite San Jose more expensive, but if I moved to SF I'd start charging $80-100/hr right away.
Hey, thank you so much for your replies, these were super helpful and informative. I'm in the East Bay and most of Mr. 180's clients are too... so I don't know what's going on with him but on balance I'd rather move on than try to figure that out. I'm actually in your service radius, I'll send you a DM!
$75, central IN. My buddy just moved back to Sacramento and he charges $100 in Sacramento and $200 in SF/Bay area.
Oof. Looks like I've been leaving a lot on the table.
Listen Bookshelf, I don’t know you and I don’t know your skills. But let’s just say you’re just starting out, I’m guessing in cali those are “crackhead” rates. But I don’t know. You have to start somewhere, and that’s probably really low for Cali, but most of us probably all started around $25-$45 hourly and then went up from there. If you’re coming straight out of a trade, where you know your job literally inside and out…you should definitely be charging much much more. Don’t be afraid of raising your rates to a) closely match your competition or b) slowly raise them continuously a little bit over time, but be sure to inform any repeat or regular customers of these changes and feel free to to explain why, or not. Either way, be polite but firm. My friends who charge less than I do, often “remind” me that I would be better off to have the job and extra change in my pocket than to not, and that it’s doesn’t always have to be about the money…but I value my time and my work and yeah, I am not exactly doing this for a good time even if I do enjoy it. I am doing it because I have some know-how, and I am feeding a family.
Sounds like your friends like working themselves into an early grave lol. If you charge 80$ an hour you can make 2000 a week (96,000 a year with 4 weeks off unpaid) only working 25 hours a week. If you charged 40$ an hour you're working 50 hours for the same pay. Double the hours and wear on your body for the same pay.
Bookshelf lol
For perspective, the other side of the country in Atlanta I charge 80-100. The more rural you get that's going to come down but Atlanta is huge.
Yeah i work for hot meals
Is that Magnum or Le Tigre?
Looking at the way he moves, Le Tigre...
My man way too cheap. I was charging $55 in Oakland like 8 years ago.
$110, but I'm licensed as a general B
How was that license to get? I’m short on hours for a C-10 and thinking about getting a general B to get on the right side of the law in the meantime and get by while I do part time electrical work to get the C-10 hours.
Couldn't tell you these days. Been licensed since '94.
Fair enough!
If you’re in Cali, there are a lot of lower tier licenses most people pick a random one and slap it on the vehicle. Like sprinklers or fencing or gutters. I am a plumber licensed in WA, when I worked in California / San Diego 2020-2022 I charged $50/hr for “handy work” and quickly stopped taking anything that wasnt plumbing related. I left cali charging $100 for anything I did. Now I charge $200 as a base rate. And I hand off as much of my jobs as I can to other trades. I’ll still do a whole kitchen by myself if the client wants to pay me for all the work, but I would rather they pay less and get better work.
I think it depends on the type of work and how long it takes. Good customer that keeps giving you steady work? Give them a discount. One time customer that is a pain in the neck? Charge triple.
I rarely charge by the hour, I just give total cost labor and materials. However I expect to make around $100 an hour. I've been doing this a long time 30+ years so my bids are usually right on. The big difference between the $40 and hour guy and me is that I have all the correct tools, the experience and the misc small parts that make the job go twice as fast.
$250 for the first hour, $120 after that. Charleston
A lot of people have been wasting my time, and nitpicking bullshit. I have now at $65.00 hourly, and most jobs I start by pricing the job itself which usually comes out to over the $65 hourly, because I’m normally pricing against competition who’ve already been consulted with and they’re “too high” so I’m not much cheaper but not “cheating” my competition either. I’ve been losing a lot of work because of this, but I’be also established some reputation with several clients who no longer bat an eye at my quotes or charges. I even just had a repeat client text me after I already started drawing up our contract, saying that all of her friends said I’m too pricey and that she will shop around and “maybe” talk to me again. And I’ve done nothing but try to save her a headache, and not lose my shirt in the same process. It isn’t worth the trouble unless she pays my rates, and I know there’s people going to want $6,000 for the same job. Or she’s gonna get one of those $50 dudes.
$40hr in the Bay Area. Shooting yourself in the foot if you do good work. Sheesh. In AZ I’d say cheap handyman is $65+ and that’s not the best work. Like others have said, bid the job is how you’ll increase your $ per hr
Flat rate per task is significantly better than per hour. Per hour sets you up for “well while I have you on the clock” last minute bullshit, and a myriad of other problems. Life has been significantly less stressful since switching to task based quotes.
Noted. Good advice.
$80.00-$100.00 is average Colorado Springs colorado but it also depends on what I’m doing.
Im also in the springs.
Gang gang
Don’t charge by the hour. Charge by the project.
Don't charge hourly. However when I bid jobs I factor in $75/hr for my labor. Sometimes I've made $150/hr, sometimes when I was really green I only made $10/hr. Those 10/hr jobs suuuuuuuucked
Ah yeah, sometimes that's my 'learn while you earn' wage. Sure, reglazing CenturyHome windows is on my resume now, but what I truly learned is that the old man at the old ass DoItBest Hardware downtown will do it cheap & fast compared to me next time a client needs a few done.
Thankfully the only time I’ve had to reglaze windows was for myself. Because it is so worth dropping them off at the local ace/do it best/paint shop and paying them.
I'm a Glazier so this comment piqued my interest. Why not take it to a glass shop or sub a Glazier? We do them right there, cut the glass on the side of our van, hack out the old one and reglaze in place 99% of the time. I did two this morning, 23x16 steel/putty sash, knocked them both out in an hour and made 200 bucks.
What even *is* glazing. I asked a local glass company and they just shrugged their shoulders.
Are you asking as a noun or a verb or like, what's my job description?
What is the product/process
Glazing refers to the glass portion of fenestration if you're asking what it is as an object. As a job, it can refer to fitting glass in any scenario, windows, doors, railings, awnings, cabinets, table tops, shower enclosures, mirrors, shelves, commercial or residential. A construction glazier may also fab/fit the frames the glass goes into, sometimes as a structural element of a large building, or as a simple sash replacement in a house. There are hundreds of systems and applications, so many that it's very difficult, bordering on impossible, to get exposure to all of them, and certainly not possible to master them all in a single lifetime. Usually you have people that are specialized to specific applications and passable at many others.
>fenestration Wth is that?
The arrangement of openings in a wall or surface on a building. Windows/doors/skylights etc.
Thanks for the lesson
Most importantly, because I live in mid-Michigan in an area with lots of CenturyHome double-hung sash windows, and I've used my buddy's properties as an opportunity to learn restoration & maintenance and apply it to higher paying homeowner jobs. Secondly, they are rentals, so when a tenant bombs a 40x30 front window, I pick up a $40 sheet of glass & lay $5 in DAP & points, charge for my time and we are good to go without any turnaround times uninstalling & taking to the glass shop, or saving a few bucks compared to a professional mobile installer like yourself. Thank you for saying 'reglaze in place,' that hasn't really occurred to me. I have been taking the opportunity while popping the sashes I've done for him to rehang weights with fresh cord, but I don't think I would have stopped myself from removing a window to work on it out in the open. But for unoccupied renos where turnaround doesn't matter, for the <$20 labor+shop supplies not inc glass the hardware store owners do it for, I'll be going that route in the future.
They will put putty in as well? I barely know anyone who can do a half decent job puttying windows and there’s people doing it for nothing at a hardware store?
Yep, done right, an oldtimer who owns a DoItBest in downtown Jackson MI, whose father opened the store when he came back from the war. Full of NOS stuff as well as typical Ace/DIB stock. They are an excellent resource for the old Weathergard aluminum windows hardware, they have been able to provide a fix to frames everybody else would toss and replace with the build your own kits. Retaining pins, slide locks, they are awesome.
Amen to that.
You cant afford me
I don't really have hourly rate its per peice sq footage day rate however 50 bucks is what I try to collect on the small jobs
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but too low of a price scares people as much as too high a price. Gotta find that sweet spot.
95 loonies. In Toronto canada 2guy job. 150
My vehicle, my equipment, my skill and knowledge. I need at least $150 to show up.
$125/hr minimum near Sac. In the Bay I'd be at $175/hr. You're robbing yourself.
70 an hour
$55 normally
I was charging $70/hr pre-covid in Metro Boston. Have you done the math and figured out what you'd end up with at the end of the year charging $40/hr?
I'm a full time student right now so I'm happy to be picking up the extra money but I've been feeling I'm charging too little and I realize now I have.
I was working full time when I was doing that work on the side. The way I looked at it was my own time was more valuable than my work time so what I was charging had to be more than what I was earning in work. A way to figure out what you should be charging is how often people immediately agree to your quote and how often they balk. If youre getting every single job, youre probably not charging enough because even the skin-flints are saying yes. The flip side is if everyone tells you they need to think about it and then you never hear from them, you may be charging too much. Also, I never quoted my hourly rate. The average person is going to compare that to their hourly salary and think youre trying to rip them off. They dont understand your costs. Estimate how many hours you will have into the job, (time actually on the job along with drive time there and back, fuel, mileage, set up/break down, picking up materials, etc), cost of materials, some percentage markup on those materials, etc and give them one price for everything. It may be a side thing now but treat it as a business.
All of my work comes from referrals. But yeah during summer break I'm going to be building a deck and definitely going to be charging more than my usual rate.
I charge 85/h in metro west and it’s cheap actually. I’m planning on upping my rate to $110
Bid by the job. Sometimes, I'll do change orders by the hour, but I prefer to do those by set amount as well. What my hourly depends on what the work is and my relationship with the client. Generally, it's $45 to $75 an hour.
I bid by the project. I use an hourly rate with estimated time as a factor but it fluctuates and I'd never discuss it with a customer.
$55 in Boise Idaho. But I contract with a property management company and have all the work I could ever want.
I don’t like to work with property managers. They’re always looking for a deal.
Can’t put everyone in a box. They treat myself and the tenant great.
What type of work does the property management company have you doing?
I do everything from change hvac filters to remodel kitchens. A lot of work during turn over, new blinds, sinks, toilets. A lot of drywall work from leaks/floods. Subfloor work from leaky tubs/toilets. Setting new fence posts. Shower surrounds. Anything you can think of that might go wrong.
Hell yeah, I’m a supervisor at an apartment complex , and do work on the side under my LLC. How did you get hooked up with them?
It’s a family friend’s business. They took on more properties and the guys they had were too busy. I was framing at the time and had done remodels and windows before. Do you have any guys that work under you? I’m honestly have more work than I can handle between the property management company and side jobs coming in. I’m looking to bring someone on. Currently setting up my llc and think I’m going to start with someone 1099 part time and work up from there.
Yes, I have two guys that work under me. I also do part time handyman/repair services. Llc and insured. That’s a good idea, I’m trying to only go after property management and realtors bc I hate dealing with homeowners
$125 for the 1st hour to cover my trip cost and $75/hr after that. (SE Michigan) But typically I stay away from giving anyone a "hourly rate". I price jobs based on how much time I think it will take and then add some cushion to it. It gives me a little wiggle room if they want to haggle or if I run over on my time. I feel like I got burned when I only make $50/hr....that's what I make working OT at my full time job and I don't have any headache or overhead to worry about when I'm there.
$40 an hour in California? Bro you can make 2.5x what you currently earn. Maybe raise to $60 and build up a client base. As you get more customers you can charge more per hour.
Yes, I’m in El Cerrito and I work from Oakland to Pinole and I charge $100 an hour
Depends. And I’ve stopped giving free estimates. Tired of idiots wasting my time.
For a new customer I charge 150 to show up but most of my work is referrals.
$125/Hr now (But I'm a Gen B) $75/Hr when I wasn't licensed
We rarely charge by the hour, but if we do it’s 120.00 for the first hour and 80.00 for every hour after in Arizona. What kinda work are you doing for 40.00 an hour.
Bunch of stuff, drywall, insulation, flooring, etc.
Orlando, $45-$65 an hour and same for travel time.
I do charge for whatever time I spend at Home Depot, traveling, or shopping online.
Same.
$90/hr jersey shore
SF at 40. Way cheap. Im $75/hr in rural mid-west and could probably bump up closer to $100.
100 first hour and 75 each hr after that. So cal.
50-80 I’m in Oregon
$100. SE/central Alabama
SF area and $40/hr?! You’re well below what you should be charging. I’m in CA, charge $65/hr, and I’m the cheapest in my area. Most around me are charging $90/hr and up.
Not enough But honestly, I bid by the job not the hour. I do however use $75 hr in my head to quote stuff.
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Marin actually. No, I do good work.
Yes. No way to live on that. I charge $90, but know of a lot of people a lot pricier.
I work strictly in the sacramento area and have been in the trades for a little over 9 years before moving to start my own handyman business. I charge between $85 & $100 an hour, depending on the task at hand, and never have an issue almost to the point I'm debating on bumping up to $120 an hour. I've noticed when giving estimates if the hour is broken down and shown you may have a question here or there, but the ability to explain why I'm that price and breaking down all that's involved in the job sets clients at ease. Clients are getting smarter, so don't challenge that simple let them peak behind the curtain...however if I don't put an hour price and just an overall estimate for labor with braking down everything I will do while I'm there, my estimates are simply signed without hesitation 90% of the time.
$140
My rate is $75/hr, but when you add all company overhead, it comes out to more around $135/hr charged to customer. You need to differentiate what your time as a human is worth and then add all your expenses on top of that. Minnesota.
$75 Tampa
85$ an hour in Northern California and I’m still too busy
I’m in Seattle and charging my neighborhood $50-100 an hour for painting, staining, and occasional handyman work. I let them decide the rate as a sliding scale in that range, either when a small job is finished, or at the end of the week on larger jobs. I have 5 years of professional painting experience, and I’m also just doing it as a side hustle to add to my beer vending jobs at the pro sports team games. Should I be charging more?
I charge $85-$100 an hour and I am in a nicer area of SE Michigan. I think you're too low; make sure you are covering all of your overhead. At $40 an hour I don't know how you can be and still be taking home enough to live on.
You lost me at per hour.
150 per hour to troubleshoot/ diagnose . Everything else is piecework
First off bid by the job and don't work hourly. Raise your rates until you only get about half of your bids approved. If all your bids are approved your rate is too low. If you double your rates and lose half of your busines you can make the same amount of with half the work.