Whats the going rate for a handyman?

I agree Craig. There is no way known that I would pay those prices for someone who is not a qualified trade. As far as I'm aware there are no handyman apprenticeships.
 
We got some cheap labour by roping in our 14 y.o. daughter and 16 y.o. son to help us paint our IP and paid them $50 each per day + maccas breakfast + whatever fast food for lunch. Daughter worked 3 days and son 1.

Can I add these expenses to our property reno costs ?

Otherwise, going rate for handyman in Campbelltown area is about $200 for 8 hours.
 
We got some cheap labour by roping in our 14 y.o. daughter and 16 y.o. son to help us paint our IP and paid them $50 each per day + maccas breakfast + whatever fast food for lunch. Daughter worked 3 days and son 1.

Can I add these expenses to our property reno costs ?

Otherwise, going rate for handyman in Campbelltown area is about $200 for 8 hours.

Hi CP,

Won't this be child labour?:rolleyes:

This is a good way of introducing kids to property investing and get some extra cash for them. Good on ya.
 
I do get sick of hearing people say "he's just a handyman".

True, a handyman is not something that is learned in school, but it is a job that has widely varied tasks, which require a lot of experience at times. It is also a business which the individual running it has costs and overheads and risks, just like us qualified tradies do. But we do charge a lot more than $40/hr.:D

Minx, if you're too stingy to pay someone what they're worth, then do it yourself. Easy.

Then get a handyman to fix your stuffups.
 
I do get sick of hearing people say "he's just a handyman".

True, a handyman is not something that is learned in school, but it is a job that has widely varied tasks, which require a lot of experience at times. It is also a business which the individual running it has costs and overheads and risks, just like us qualified tradies do. But we do charge a lot more than $40/hr.:D

Minx, if you're too stingy to pay someone what they're worth, then do it yourself. Easy.

Then get a handyman to fix your stuffups.

You are having a laugh right? IMHO a "handyman" is not worth $40 an hour. Pfft not even $30. Handymen have formal recognised quals from what? Under what do they get registered by the build practitioners board? Last time I checked I didn't see a licensed category for "handyman".

I'm sick of seeing handymen bitchering jobs coa they have no idea, then calling the specialised trade to fix the mess, chances are the qualified trade doesn't want to touch it with a barge pole.

You see I'm not a tight a$$, if I need waterproofing done I'll call the waterproofers, I'll call the tilers for tiling and I'll call a sparky for the electricals.

BTW considering my partner has his DBU and is a qualified chippy chances are I can get the pros in to do my job for less that the going rate of a handyman, and all carpentry stuff done for free. ;)
 
No i am not ! I was exactly that, i ran a small buisiness as property maintenance, it gets all of the expensive jobs other trades could,nt be bothered in chasing, it is good buisiness, and i had some terrific clientell all through the 7 years i ran it.
Some extra courses in Building would do him the world of good, I did'nt want to do the courses i did , but when i did Gee! they were fun and i would do others again tomorrow.
Master Builders Assc run Builder type courses and they also recognise prior learning, i recieved my lic in 8 months or so? so all of your other halfs current clients could now get rooms added, too! you will never look back!;)
 
All the handymen i know are very experienced and good at what they do, and i view them as professionals. They should, and do get well paid. They have no time for tightar$es bitching about their rates or lack of education. They are too busy.

I'm not talking about the nuff nuffs who've been out of school 5 minutes. They're the ones who work cheap, but they gotta start somewhere.
 
Mind, in my time i have seen some, pretty bad work done.
One that has come to mind! Funny!
One of my clients and friends wanted her main bathroom tiled , her husband was not interested in the home so much, and hated spending money on the PPOR, and although i was there on and off through the times i had quoted to re tile this room, it was always left for another time, etc etc..
I get this call some months later, and she begged me to come and fix the bathroom, floor and walls , as her husbands father, offered to tile the bathroom for them , for free, just supply the products, As it turns out the father was a bricklayer, MMmmm, and was cutting the tiles with a brick bolster:D so you could imagine the job:eek:
I must say , dispite the bolster he did a pretty good job, he even did the waste's:p
 
All the handymen i know are very experienced and good at what they do, and i view them as professionals. They should, and do get well paid. They have no time for tightar$es bitching about their rates or lack of education. They are too busy.

I'm not talking about the nuff nuffs who've been out of school 5 minutes. They're the ones who work cheap, but they gotta start somewhere.

How many registered builders take on handymen for anything other than for jubs such as digging trenches or planting trees?

Of all the builders I know, none use handymen. Those that develop and build in Boorandara or Manningham sure don't, not when they are asking over 1.5 mill.
Craig to add rooms you will find will cost in the thousands thus need to be registered building practitioners with a limited license. I could go on but I won't. I'm very familiar with what is required as I went through the process with my partner.

Would use a qualified trade each and every time. Did not use a handyman in my ppor build.
 
Mind, in my time i have seen some, pretty bad work done.
One that has come to mind! Funny!
One of my clients and friends wanted her main bathroom tiled , her husband was not interested in the home so much, and hated spending money on the PPOR, and although i was there on and off through the times i had quoted to re tile this room, it was always left for another time, etc etc..
I get this call some months later, and she begged me to come and fix the bathroom, floor and walls , as her husbands father, offered to tile the bathroom for them , for free, just supply the products, As it turns out the father was a bricklayer, MMmmm, and was cutting the tiles with a brick bolster:D so you could imagine the job:eek:
I must say , dispite the bolster he did a pretty good job, he even did the waste's:p


You think that's funny, saw a friend of a friends place 2 weeks ago. They did an extention ob. The handyman did the frame. It was patch work, wall removed no counter beams or supports for ceilings put in place, walls were straightened with mdf, door openings weren't for specific sizes, jamb was nailed hard to studs with no leveling no height for door, no allowace for clearance for floor under the door.
Shower base put in incorrectly, it wasn't checked onto the wall. Bricks mortared with render mix, walls were not straight. Front door incorrectly installed, door furniture and striker plate not checked into door jamb and front door jamb was incorrectly installed.
Robes were incorrectly framed out, no plaster noggings anywhere.
Roof was supposedly repointed and painted, the finish looked like it was painted with a spray can.
No flashings on any of the external door frames.
Plumbing work was ok, sub standard electrical work though.

As you can imagine when my partner was asked to fix it, he ran a mile.
 
All the handymen i know are very experienced and good at what they do, and i view them as professionals.

Quick side-track.


There are only four recognised professions.....and you must have a degree from a recognised University in one of the four disciplines

Medicine / Law / Engineering / Arms.


These are examples of everyone else who are not professionals ;

Accountants / Brokers / Chefs / Dogwashers / Electricians / Firemen / Geologists / Handymen / Insurance Salesmen / Journalists / Kerbing Installers / Lighting technicians / Miners / Nurses / Oil workers / Physios / Police / Politicans / PMs (lotsa P's) / Quantity Surveyors / Real Estate Agents / Singers / Tradesmen / Urban Planners / Vet / Window cleaner / X-ray technician / Yak farmer and finally a Zoologist.


It doesn't matter how good at their job they are, or how much experience they've got, or how much they earn, or how smartly dressed they are......they are not professionals.


Sorry - Back to the handyman rates discussion.
 
I am a handyman in Toowoomba region, Queensland Australia

I normally work on a rate of $45/hour
Just be careful that when you ask for a quote that if you require a fixed price there will be additional work for quoting, materials pricing and contingency.
In my opinion if you are in control of the budget then you are better asking for work to be done on an hourly rate.

Hope this helps
 
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Sorry to be a wet blanket about the keen teenager (and I'm all for giving kids a go), but I'd be careful that you're not risking voiding your building and landlord's fixtures/contents insurance in the event something goes wrong and you've knowingly allowed an unqualified, unlicensed, under-age person do the work. Really not worth the risk if you ask me...
 
My PM in Canberra uses Wizard Maintenance. I know that my PM gets a special rate, but I think he charges about $50p/h and does an excellent job and always rings beforehand. The PM lists it on their website 02 6258 3985.
 
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