. After my first carpenter walked off the job, I contacted 2 other carpenters. One, recommended by a friend of mine, said he could come over to look at the shelves last night, but late, around 9 pm. He never showed up.
The other one came over this morning and carefully looked at the already purchased materials in my garage and listened to what I wanted.
He agreed it would be about a day's work but wanted to bring in a helper who would make the same rate as him, at $45/hr. He said the job would go faster with one guy cutting in the garage and the other working inside.
So I'll be paying $90/hr x 8 hours = $720, but I asked about a cash discount (ALWAYS do this) and he offered 10% off, so I'd pay him $648.
So while the hourly rate sounds high, it's just one day and it's possible they could finish up sooner.
Just for comparison purposes, this rate is considerably more than my original carpenter would have charged, which would have been $200 for a day's work. What a difference!
However, according to my calculations, I still owe the first carpenter about $250; he hasn't tried to collect it, nor have I heard from him since he walked away last Saturday. I may have figured his time spent more generously than he did.
The new carpenter can't start til Thursday morning. My new contract job could start the very next day, so it's pretty important they finish this up same day. I had a dentist appointment on Thursday but miraculously I was able to move it to tomorrow.
I was surprised to be able to find someone else to do this so quickly. The 2nd carpenter was recommended by a builder I found on Craig's List who often employs him. That guy at first recommended a cabinetmaker who also works for him, but it turned out the cabinet maker (who charges $65/hr) was busy working on someone's yacht.
Crossing my fingers this will all go well. It always makes me a little nervous employing someone for the first time. There's a lot of trust involved.
Revised bookshelving plans
May 2nd, 2017 at 02:38 pm
May 2nd, 2017 at 06:33 pm 1493750005
May 3rd, 2017 at 01:27 am 1493774821
May 3rd, 2017 at 02:57 am 1493780230
May 3rd, 2017 at 07:29 pm 1493839758