How much should I pay for someone who do different jobs around the house?

It’s pretty hard to tell without knowing where you live or what the economic circumstances are in your town. In New York City you’d have to pay $25 an hour. Where I live, upstate, I could probably find someone for $7.50.

I’m actually building a fence for a neighbor right now. I’m charging fifteen per hour. This is in Portland Oregon.

I live in Miami, FLorida

How long do you think the job should take? I’m just curious if it would be best to pay by the hour or a set amount for the job.

The fence I am doing will end up taking about two weeks so I asked to get paid hourly. But if it was something simple that only took a few hours I would have just asked for 50 bucks.

I think he already worked for about four hours and he still needs to replace one screen section on the screen patio and re attach another loose section

@pdworkin: $7.50? Please PM me asap with names. I pay my teenager from Chatham for his two hours of hard labor $36. And I just had a young woman (from Ghent) sand and refinish parts of my wooden floors at $35/hr.

Maybe I am just not looking hard enough.

Sanding and refinishing floors is a profession, not an “odd job.” I don’t know why you would pay a kid $18 an hour around here, though. That’s a mystery.

Strong, fast, follows orders, can be left alone, takes recycleables to his house, has his own car, is smart and fun to talk with, helps me both with computers and carrying huge boulders from stream.

I get my two hours’ worth because I overpay. I’ve been using 17 yrs olds for 20 years. They always go the extra mile for me. Then I write them a college recommendation and they invite me to theirHS graduation party. With one exception we have remained friends. And likewise with their parents.

If it’s just manual labor, $10 an hour. If skill is involved, $25 an hour.

@gailcalled Those are great reasons. I wish I could afford to pay for help. You should see what a mess my house is.

Get 3 bids from different people. No one can really give you much of a price without looking at it.
I would veer away from cheap labor. If they get hurt in your house they can say you are they’re employer and you can be liable for any injuries they incur.
Always use legitimate contractors. Ask for proof of liability insurance and if they have employees ask for proof that they have workers comp insurance.
An hourly rate means nothing if the person is going to school on your job or doesn’t have the proper tools. You may get off cheaper hiring someone with a $100.00 an hour rate who has the tools and experience to slam the job out than pay a $25.00 an hour rate to someone who will take 5 times longer and do a crappy job.

Didn’t you two discuss price before he started? Did he give any indication as to what he would charge?

@pdworkin: Maybe you can find cheaper labor at the Middle School in Hudson or Ichabod Crane, whichever one is closer. (Or Taconic or Hawthorne Valley.)

My kids went to Hawthorne Valley.

@pdworkin: Nice. My ex was the head of NYS Ass’n of Independent Schools from 1986 until a few years ago. His organization set up the committee that did the evaluations and .—accreditation.

I loved their store even though it is very pricey. Now we have our own Food Coop in Chatham

It not only where you are but who is doing the work. A professional handyman might charge a minimum $50/hr. But if you are having a neighborhood 17yo help you, you might get away with $10–12/hr plus pizza for lunch