What is your deck builders time worth?
Two people were sitting discussing a recent experience one of the had with a contractor. The person was given a proposal to get their deck redone. They were complaining how high the proposal was and said they should just it themselves.
The part that really caught my attention was what the friend said to them. It seems they had experience in redoing a deck and they offered to show them how to do it. Here is how their conversation went:
The one said it would cost $5,000 to tear down my deck and build a new one, it’s a small deck, it shouldn’t cost that much.
How much do you think it should cost?
I don’t know, like half that.
Ok, I will show you how to do it and it should cost about that much for the materials and the stuff you need to do it. You will need some tools ready to go so we can get started, you will need a chop saw, table saw, cordless drill, bit set, router, skill saw, jig saw, tool belt, hammer, etc..
But I don’t have any of those tools and I can’t justify buying all of these for one job.
I can rent my tools to you to use for this project, I will rent them to you for $300 for the week. I will be there Monday at 6 am and we can head to the store to get the supplies, it should take us probably 4-5 days to get it finished.
I have to work Monday, can’t we do it on the weekend, it should take us a couple weekends to get it done?
If you want to learn from me then you will need to work when I work.
I can’t take that much time off of work, I don’t have the vacation time and if I don’t work then I won’t get paid.
I understand that, but you want to save the money and do the work yourself.
You know, I’m realizing that a lot more goes into a job than what a customer sees in the finished project. Maybe I will hire that contractor after all.
Here is the moral of the story:
When you pay for a job, especially a custom job, you get what you pay for. You are not only paying for the materials, but you are paying for the expertise to have the work to be completed properly. The things you are paying a professional for are:
✔️ Knowledge
✔️ Experience
✔️ Custom Skills
✔️ Tools
✔️ Time to plan
✔️ Time to prepare
✔️ Professionalism
✔️ Work Ethic
✔️ Excellence
✔️ Discipline
✔️ Commitment
✔️ Integrity
✔️ Taxes
✔️ Licenses
✔️ Sacrifices
✔️ Liabilities
✔️ Insurance
If their proposal exceeds your budget, you must make the decision if you want to have the work completed. There is nothing wrong with waiting if you need to.
Always remember, you get what you pay for.
