Handyman charges (Hilo: for sale, insurance, attorney)

[gohula53]

When a handyman send you an invoice, shouldn't that invoice include the work that was done, the number of hours it took to do the work, and the hourly rate charged? I got an invoice with cost/receipts for materials and a flat rate for labor, with no breakdown. This is for miscellaneous work done on prepping a home for sale. I requested an invoice with a breakdown and received a breakdown of work done for each room, but there is no breakdown on hours worked and rate charged. Is it unreasonable to request a breakdown of hours worked and rate charged???

[whtviper1]

It seems that way on the surface (unreasonable) - did you get an estimate up front? And was the work in line with the estimate. A basic handyman isn't an attorney accounting for every hour and there - I've never had any of the handymen who do work for me break it down like you'd want it - you should have set that expectation up front.

[leilani007]

Alota times a handyman will ask the homeowner to supply the materials, and then the homeowner and handyman agree upon a set rate for the hourly amount for the work to be done. On the Hilo side usually ranges from $12.00 to $20.00 /hour depending on the difficulty. Probably should get estimate written up front, but doesn't usually happen if it just gonna be couple hours

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by gohula53

When a handyman send you an invoice, shouldn't that invoice include the work that was done, the number of hours it took to do the work, and the hourly rate charged? I got an invoice with cost/receipts for materials and a flat rate for labor, with no breakdown. This is for miscellaneous work done on prepping a home for sale. I requested an invoice with a breakdown and received a breakdown of work done for each room, but there is no breakdown on hours worked and rate charged. Is it unreasonable to request a breakdown of hours worked and rate charged???

Why on earth would you not have asked about hourly charges, or gotten an estimate, up-front?

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

Why on earth would you not have asked about hourly charges, or gotten an estimate, up-front?

I should add that I have owned a home-improvement/construction-related business since 1979.
I cannot recall a single client who has given my business carte-blanche to do work, and then "spring" the bill on the client. That simply isn't DONE. At least not in the three states I've done business in and I don't imagine Hawaii is all that different.

I give estimates, or sometimes state upfront in writing what the hourly charge plus materials will be.

If someone were to just tell me and my crew to go ahead and work and bill later, then no. They likely wouldn't get a detailed break-down of what everything cost and what I pay my guys (or make myself) per hour.

[mdand3boys]

In Hawaii, due to the laws regarding licensed contractors, anything over $1,000 generally requires the handyman to be a licensed contractor. You may have noticed advertisements in the paper, etc, that mention, "To $1,000". That basically means that the individual is not a licensed contractor.

[terracore]

A good handyman is like a good mechanic. When you find one, you are almost reluctant to share them, but I would never expect any kind of detailed invoice from a handyman. A handyman, almost by definition, is somebody who is unlicensed. You hope they have insurance, pay their taxes, etc, but the reality is that you don't really know. Would you expect an invoice from the kid who mows your lawn? From a day laborer? From a handyman?

[smarino]

You're not paying for the work hourly. You're paying what that individual thinks his/her work is worth to do the job. Please only do business w/ people that you can call references on, and try to use regular "businesses", not someone from a craigslist ad. We had bad contractors cost us over half or our life savings in another city. It was a total nightmare, what w/ the incompetent contractors, the drug addict contractors, the stealing contractors, etc. So many times I would hire someone, and IF they finished the job (about 30% probability), I would have to call another contractor to redo it, and in over half of those instances the second contractor would botch it up and I had to do the job myself. Imagine paying out thousands of dollars to different people, having to do the job yourself anyway, and that scenario playing out over and over for a year. By the by, getting an expensive contractor is no guarantee either. You NEED verifiable references, and if they don't have that or won't give them to you, move on. There is a reason contractors (and realtors) have such bad reputations. I will refrain from talking about the realtors who also stole nearly all of the rest of our money. The only good thing to come out of that experience was that I now have experience fixing pretty much any home repair issue that comes up. Nowadays, I fix things myself, and buy and sell property the same way.

[ILoveLidoBeach]

With all due repect Smarino, many responsible people do advertise on Craigslist. BUT once you find them, you can ask them for references, licenses, proof of insurance, etc.

As far as Realtors stealing the rest of your money? Really? I am thinking there there might be a pattern here.

Realtors can't go around stealing money from people. Realtors are regulated by the state, so if you had an issue of someone stealing your money, the state would be interested in hearing that story.

[dchanmer]

I'm a small contractor in California, but when I do small "handyman" type jobs I always detail what I have done, my hours worked and break my materials out. Always.