What is this guy thinking

Chuck Thoits

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NH
This is an add on CL today.:doh::doh:
I am currently renovating a duplex in Somersworth, NH and need to get a kitchen installed. I have already gotten a design done at one of the big stores, but would I would rather have someone local do the job.

If you think that you can build a custom kitchen for around the same price that I could buy it from the big box stores, please let me know. I dont need anything facny, just apartment grade cabinets.

I can email the design upon request.

Only insured carpenters need apply, references also required.

Or maybe this guy
Looking to fill 3 positions with experienced helpers. Must pass backgroung check, have own tools (hand) Must have a car. Will work in NH, MA, ME. Will need liability insurance as you will be a sub. Do NOT reply if you have under 5 years in field. He's looking to pay a whole 12 bucks an hour.:thumb:
 
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If you really wanna mess with the CL guy's head, call and ask if he'll take a money order. :D

(Yes, I know he's buying, not selling. Logic has nothing to do with messing with someone's head.) :rofl:
 
in our parts chuck, twelve dollars an hour is a good starting wage....mcdonalds folks get 7.25..and the box stores last year were Payun 10.00 for a manager position..
 
in our parts chuck, twelve dollars an hour is a good starting wage....mcdonalds folks get 7.25..and the box stores last year were Payun 10.00 for a manager position..

In 1985 I was getting paid 12 an hour on the books. Which means my boss was with holding the fed and paying worker comp plus He paid some cheap health ins.
This guy wants to pay as a subcontractor and have you driving all over 3 states to get the pay.
 
You got some doozies over there, Chuck. Sometimes it's just amazing they manage to survive, with that poor a grip on reality. 'Course, we got similar doozies over here... wait! They're EVERYWHERE! They're getting nearly as bad as the zombies! :)
 
$12 an hour (net, not gross) would pay about the same as state unemployment payments here. If I wasn't getting unemployment pay right now, that $12 would be better than nothing.

Now add liability insurance and three states of travel? No stinkin' way. :rolleyes:
 
Heck,

I pay my plumbers and HVAC helpers $11.00 - $12.00 to start with no experience, and we are in the deep south!!

That is insane for a sub anywhere in hte country to work for wages like that.
 
A thought just occurred to me, it could be a typo.

I'm dyslexic, well it only really manifests now when I'm really over tired, but I went through some tough years as a kid, not being able to spell like everyone else. If the number was $21 an hour, would it be that unreasonable? Sure, not a great job, but...... :dunno:

Just saying :rolleyes: :D
 
A thought just occurred to me, it could be a typo.

I'm dyslexic, well it only really manifests now when I'm really over tired, but I went through some tough years as a kid, not being able to spell like everyone else. If the number was $21 an hour, would it be that unreasonable? Sure, not a great job, but...... :dunno:

Just saying :rolleyes: :D

That's still not enough to be paying a sub. No matter where they are, a sub should get at least $30 an hour for dang near anything.

I charge $45/hour in Vermont for any sort of contractor work.
 
That's still not enough to be paying a sub. No matter where they are, a sub should get at least $30 an hour for dang near anything.

I charge $45/hour in Vermont for any sort of contractor work.

I used to be able to get $45:doh: Right now my market is flooded with guys that will do it for just about any price just to have work. One guy even has an add out to name your own price.:doh: We have another guy that brags he'll beat anyone's price by 10%. Not to mention a whole slue of hackers that will cut your price in half get the job than butcher it to the point of no return.
What these guys don't seem to get is the price of doing business has not gone down and at 12 - 25 bucks an hour your real take home is less than flipping burgers for minimum wage.:doh::doh:
 
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It's the same way here in OK. I'm a comercial framer most of my jobs are "hard bid". Prices started dropping way off last year. After cutting out everything one can take out and still do the job, I'm still getting beat at times by as much as 40%. There's no way these jobs can be done for those prices. Wont even cover the material, not to mention the workers comp, the liability ins.,the government, you know they are gonna get theirs. I think what ticks me off the most is, It's other contractors that are doin it and driving prices down. I fully understand taking a job just to keep your guys busy, weve all done it . But they cant all be that way. Things are crazy right now for sure. Sorry for the rant but this one really hits home around here.
 
Just last fall my BIL called for a roof. I figured it normal and it came to just over eleven hundred My cost on the materials was 597. I called him back and gave him a price of 900. He about flipped "I got a guy that will do it for 500 " I said well you better have him do it cause the materials are gonna cost me 100 bucks more than that. The guy did the job and BIL is happy with the out come and the only way I can figure the guy pulled it off was he stole the materials from some place.:dunno:
 
A few months back I bid a job at $84,000 was in the lead all day. There was 2,700 bucks between me and 5th place bidder. 15 minutes before close of bid cat comes in at $43,000. G.C. calls me and asks me to figure if it can be done for this price. I told him no way but let me put a pencil to it and I would give him the actual numbers and breakdown. I didn't even get past the material and the guy was busted. Faxed him over the figures and they still awarded the job to them. How would you like to be responsible for that mess when it falls apart? Oh yea and the kicker is the framing and drywall part was small enough that it didn't reguire a bond.
 
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A few months back I bid a job at $84,000 was in the lead all day. There was 2,700 bucks between me and 5th place bidder. 15 minutes before close of bid cat comes in at $43,000. G.C. calls me and asks me to figure if it can be done for this price. I told him no way but let me put a pencil to it and I would give him the actual numbers and breakdown. I didn't even get past the material and the guy was busted. Faxed him over the figures and they still awarded the job to them. How would you like to be responsible for that mess when it falls apart? Oh yea and the kicker is the framing and drywall part was small enough that it didn't reguire a bond.
Ypu would think that the customer would see red flags when someone comes in that much lower then the rest of the bidders but I guess some deserve to get what they are willing to pay for.
 
I agree Don. The problem is two fold at least. 1 there is no money bein made by anyone and two bond requirements always get more strict after times like these. Problem with that is alot of people wont qualify for bonds after having tough years. As far as the bonding company is concernred a company is only as good as it's worst year. If your worst year happenes to be the last fiscal year, you can forget about bonding anything. Bonding has to be smart on paper. Another small business bites the dust.
 
Maybe he should have said "Illegal immigrants only need apply" :D Michigan is real tough right now. I stopped by a steel/aluminum fabricators shop to talk about a job he's doing and he told me that they have had over 300 applicants for work in the last few months. They aren't even advertising for help. I mentioned that if he needed help sometime I would be willing to work on an as needed basis- just something to do in retirement. WOW 300 applicants. Tends to drive the prevailing wage down. And I used to get over $35/hour. I could probably make more money begging at the side of the road.:rofl: or collecting returnable bottles. :rofl:
 
It's a tough world out there.

This is why Wally world does so well - they are the cheapest.

Prices have been driven down so hard that people cannot even survive.

$12 per hour - and you need to have liability insurance too? And you need to beat the borg? I would rather flip hamburgers! No sorry - but >- I -< cannot beat that price. Sure I can do a better job - but it will cost more. Don't need a better job? Oh well.

It's happening all over - in every corner - in every profession.

Even wages, and benefits are being cut.

Cost of living keeps going up

Wish I knew the answer :dunno:
 
A few months back I bid a job at $84,000 was in the lead all day. There was 2,700 bucks between me and 5th place bidder. 15 minutes before close of bid cat comes in at $43,000. G.C. calls me and asks me to figure if it can be done for this price. I told him no way but let me put a pencil to it and I would give him the actual numbers and breakdown. I didn't even get past the material and the guy was busted. Faxed him over the figures and they still awarded the job to them. How would you like to be responsible for that mess when it falls apart? Oh yea and the kicker is the framing and drywall part was small enough that it didn't reguire a bond.

Kenny an old GC trick that I have seen here is to take the lowest bid even though they know the guy can't do the job. Run the guy for 60 to 90 days how ever long he'll stick around not being paid. Then get some one else in to finish up and never pay the first guy. Job ends up costing less than the original bid. CG wins in court because the first guy 1 can't afford to go 2 the only defense needed in NH is that the work was unacceptably.:doh::doh:
 
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