Pricing confusion

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

Hawkman

New Member
Recently hired a plaster to do two jobs (now done) and am scratching my head about the pricing of them.

First was skimming the walls (lid already done) in a stripped out extension. 1 wall 3m x 2 m. Another 2m x2m. The rest: beams and window reveals. Ie not a huge area, but fiddly. Took him from 7.30am to about 1.30pm and charged £160.

Second was a stripped out small bathroom 1.8m x 2.3m. Two walls needed a skim only, one wall needed a lot of bonding repair, one wall needed some bonding repair. One window. Took him from 8.30am until 3.00pm and charged £260.

Does this make sense?
 
Probably needed to buy more materials for the bathrooms a lot of bonding out was required.
 
Yeah probably needed a lot more backing plaster (bonding) to get straight....

I use to get £350 all day long for just skimming a bathroom so as long as your happy with the finish then I think you have been charged ok :-)

Danny
 
Are you concerned about the time taken to do the jobs????? Not really sure what your getting at really.

Did you not get the plasterer to quote for the jobs first?????
 
Yes I paid the guy.

i did get him to quote, but I needed the work done quickly so accepted the quote even though I didn't understand why one job cost £100 more.
 
I need more work done, and want to understand more about how things are priced.

i could get a number of quotes, but this would waste people's time.
 
Fundamentally, a tradesman can quote whatever he likes. The client doesn't have to say yes .
Though there is an issue when a client asks you to do a job without asking how much.
As for the price variation between the two jobs , dont know really but neither seem partically excessive.
 
Materials mate ,we all have to buy them ! his price seemed fine as Danny said .Is the man earning to much in your mind ?
 
The only way to see if it the chap is dear or not is to get a few quote for the remaining work and compare.
 
Surely if your happy with the finish then thats what matters. Would you rather post on here that you've paid a plasterer £60 a day and hes made a complete mess of the job or that you've paid a good price for a good job??
 
what i think he is on about is the spread earned £160 for 6 hour's work in one room then £260 for 6.5 hour's work in the other room, with the difference being 1/2 hour costing £100 more now if the spread was on an hourly rate labour only then you would have a gripe ,but as the other guys have said it must be materials making the difference :RpS_thumbup:
 
With respect Gooner ,we were all earning that over 10 years ago ,is it a crime for a tradesmen to earn money today ?
 
Ah fair enough

Bathrooms are awkward rooms (normally small) and you can never be sure what you are going to find. Its hard to really give a good answer as everybody prices differently and we cant see the bathroom as it may have tonnes of angles or the walls may have been a mile out.

Danny
 
I,m with Danny ,the house could have new carpets all over ,pipes ,wall out of plum ,ect ,must not judge a job you have not seen ,we have all been there
 
gooner59 said:
what i think he is on about is the spread earned £160 for 6 hour's work in one room then £260 for 6.5 hour's work in the other room, with the difference being 1/2 hour costing £100 more now if the spread was on an hourly rate labour only then you would have a gripe ,but as the other guys have said it must be materials making the difference :RpS_thumbup:
Click to expand...


IMO time taken makes know difference. The guy is paying to have a job done, so as long as a the job is done well why does it matter.

If I skim a ceiling for example for £150 if makes no difference if it is 2.5 hours and one set or 6 hours and a rolling set £150 is £150.

The price is the price no?????
 
sounds ok to me

but his price might have been less on the first job because it was a first time special offer :RpS_biggrin:
 
keithuk said:
With respect Gooner ,we were all earning that over 10 years ago ,is it a crime for a tradesmen to earn money today ?
Click to expand...

no problem Keith ,i'am a tradesman to, so i have no prob's , i was just trying to explain were he was coming from ( why he was puzzled ) he has it wrong, he got a cheap job IMO :RpS_thumbup:
 
gooner59 said:
no problem Keith ,i'am a tradesman to, so i have no prob's , i was just trying to explain were he was coming from ( why he was puzzled ) he has it wrong, he got a cheap job IMO :RpS_thumbup:
Click to expand...
I was not digging you out mate ,sorry if i worded it wrong ,as i do sometimes
 
Last edited:
sounds like you wanted him last minute for the second job and he was probably busy so you payed a premium on his rates, you could of got ten different quotes all different and probably a hundred pound difference between quotes. Dont try and understand it or guage what things will cost there are too many variants.
 
Yes, I am happy with the quality of the work (the guy has 20 years of experience) and £260 seems to me an ok price for having the bathroom done. Maybe £160 for the kitchen was a bit cheap, since it included materials.

I am trying to learn how to judge if i am being quote a fair price, and judging from your feedback, I seem to be doing ok so far! Thanks for your help.
 
This sort of thread really annoys me,why do you think you have been ripped off at the higher price,thats a good price, you were just lucky at the cheaper price, but you would`nt complain that the guy charged you less would you.
 
Hawkman said:
Recently hired a plaster to do two jobs (now done) and am scratching my head about the pricing of them.

First was skimming the walls (lid already done) in a stripped out extension. 1 wall 3m x 2 m. Another 2m x2m. The rest: beams and window reveals. Ie not a huge area, but fiddly. Took him from 7.30am to about 1.30pm and charged £160.

Second was a stripped out small bathroom 1.8m x 2.3m. Two walls needed a skim only, one wall needed a lot of bonding repair, one wall needed some bonding repair. One window. Took him from 8.30am until 3.00pm and charged £260.

Does this make sense?
Click to expand...
It depends on how you value the job? Did he turn up on time? Was he clean and tidy? Easy to deal with etc. If he's gave you a quote and you were happy with it, and your happy with the job he done, great! Pass on his number. If youve based it on £420 for 13 hours roughly, plus time,fuel pickin up mats, then you have done well he sounds like a guy holdin firm in tough times. Put it this way, if you paid £420 and he was there three days, turned up late, spent half his time on the phone,was a bit off with you and basically left a poor job!! Would you feel as if you owe him money?? Don't undervalue a good plasterer
 
Responding to some replies: I am not trying to get work done on the cheap or not appreciating a job well done by someone with a professional approach. I am very happy to pay the going rate in exchange for a quality job and have done so.
 
I think hawkman was confused as he thought the more expensive job seemed less work. Obviously not being in the trade he probably couldnt understand any extra prep work or involved. He hasn't slagged off his plasterer or Moaned once so why are people having a go at him? From what I can see he is just curious. If he was that angered by it surely he wouldn't have had him back second time round.
 
I think sometimes when you do a job the customers don't realise what work you have had to do before you actually put the skim coat on, background prep, filling out etc.
The well known phrase '..the plasterers will get over it' springs to mind :rolleyes)
 
It's extremely rare for me to work for builders, but one old one I worked for used to say plasterers were the 'glory boys' because "You cover all our sh!t up and make us ALL look good" :RpS_thumbup:
 
This does my nut in!
He got a quote, was happy to accept, let job get done! then comes all 'how come this much' carry on!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page

Back
Top