The "when A Man Needs Help" topic got me to thinking about the trials and tribulations of hiring the help you need, and more importantly the way they get paid or don't.
During a remodeling job my wife said that one of her clients that has done a lot of contracting work had offered to help me with the things that go better with two guys, I was doing siding, tile, hanging doors, etc.
My wife's assistant knew the guy and told her that the guy had a tendency toward being a my way or the highway type of guy even when he was being paid to do jobs. Jeanne laughed and said she saw that flying about as far as he could throw me.
So he was one of these take charge sort of guys, the only problem with that being a tendency toward doing things half azzed, nobody has ever accused me of that. First day he had mounted a door hinge poorly so I was telling him it needs to be straightened, he'd need to drill use longer screws because of the holes. He was going to argue about it being good enough (until we went to hang the door) and I figured it was time to set the record straight.
I told him I am a bit of a perfectionist, I'll do the tricky stuff myself, but if he can't or doesn't want to do things my way to my standards that I don't need the help. He said he had no problem doing things how I wanted them, we were good, and I never had another problem with him over three or four weeks.
Then there is the difference between hiring skilled workers at an hourly rate, versus the contractor that gives you a price to do a job. A contractor can object to taking the extra time to do things right because it's costing him money. That can be a problem if a contractor isn't the type that automatically does things right. I tend to have a problem with a contractor doing a deck if they won't do things like true up the top surface of deck stringers that the top boards laid on. Lumber is cut so inconsistently that boards can be and often are off as much as 3/16ths in width. I've seen guys saying they only work to an 1/8th of an inch, if they wanted to work to closer tolerances they would be a cabinet maker or doing finish remodeling.
Paying guys who know what they're doing an hourly rate based on what they can get done in a given time frame is what works best for me. My favorite thing is the guy who is being paid hourly that complains about being asked to take the time to do things better or a different way. I had a guy saying he didn't have time to do things nicer. I laughed and asked him who's time it was, his or mine. I made the point that it was up to me whether it was worth it to take the time, it shouldn't make any difference to him, it was more work.
I had a guy that did fantastic crown molding and baseboard work, but he was slower than another guy I had working, the one that has the contractor's license was saying he could do it twice as fast (but he wasn't as neat). I pointed out that he was getting $35 an hour and the other was getting $15. The guy at $15 really appreciated being able to take his time without me being on him about how much time he took. I look at it like so what if the job takes a couple of extra days. He did some of the nicest baseboard work I've seen, his corners and edges matching to door frames were perfect. The $35 an hour guy would have been done quicker but not nearly as good.
Good help is a balance between cost and quality.
During a remodeling job my wife said that one of her clients that has done a lot of contracting work had offered to help me with the things that go better with two guys, I was doing siding, tile, hanging doors, etc.
My wife's assistant knew the guy and told her that the guy had a tendency toward being a my way or the highway type of guy even when he was being paid to do jobs. Jeanne laughed and said she saw that flying about as far as he could throw me.
So he was one of these take charge sort of guys, the only problem with that being a tendency toward doing things half azzed, nobody has ever accused me of that. First day he had mounted a door hinge poorly so I was telling him it needs to be straightened, he'd need to drill use longer screws because of the holes. He was going to argue about it being good enough (until we went to hang the door) and I figured it was time to set the record straight.
I told him I am a bit of a perfectionist, I'll do the tricky stuff myself, but if he can't or doesn't want to do things my way to my standards that I don't need the help. He said he had no problem doing things how I wanted them, we were good, and I never had another problem with him over three or four weeks.
Then there is the difference between hiring skilled workers at an hourly rate, versus the contractor that gives you a price to do a job. A contractor can object to taking the extra time to do things right because it's costing him money. That can be a problem if a contractor isn't the type that automatically does things right. I tend to have a problem with a contractor doing a deck if they won't do things like true up the top surface of deck stringers that the top boards laid on. Lumber is cut so inconsistently that boards can be and often are off as much as 3/16ths in width. I've seen guys saying they only work to an 1/8th of an inch, if they wanted to work to closer tolerances they would be a cabinet maker or doing finish remodeling.
Paying guys who know what they're doing an hourly rate based on what they can get done in a given time frame is what works best for me. My favorite thing is the guy who is being paid hourly that complains about being asked to take the time to do things better or a different way. I had a guy saying he didn't have time to do things nicer. I laughed and asked him who's time it was, his or mine. I made the point that it was up to me whether it was worth it to take the time, it shouldn't make any difference to him, it was more work.
I had a guy that did fantastic crown molding and baseboard work, but he was slower than another guy I had working, the one that has the contractor's license was saying he could do it twice as fast (but he wasn't as neat). I pointed out that he was getting $35 an hour and the other was getting $15. The guy at $15 really appreciated being able to take his time without me being on him about how much time he took. I look at it like so what if the job takes a couple of extra days. He did some of the nicest baseboard work I've seen, his corners and edges matching to door frames were perfect. The $35 an hour guy would have been done quicker but not nearly as good.
Good help is a balance between cost and quality.