home improvement and maintenance

[SRD]

one man, 90 minutes. cleared the gutters, hosed everything to make sure downspouts were clear, cleared and carried away all the muck. did not attempt to up-sell. total: $100. i'm thinking i won't buy a ladder after all.

At $50 the hour you were ripped off.

[Peter Creasey]

one man, 90 minutes. cleared the gutters, hosed everything to make sure downspouts were clear, cleared and carried away all the muck. did not attempt to up-sell. total: $100.

 

M, You got a great deal...plus, you didn't risk your falling off of a ladder, etc.

 

 

[SeaGal]

one man, 90 minutes. cleared the gutters, hosed everything to make sure downspouts were clear, cleared and carried away all the muck. did not attempt to up-sell. total: $100.

 

M, You got a great deal...plus, you didn't risk your falling off of a ladder, etc.

Seems like a fair price to me too. IIRC, we usually pay in that neighborhood. We have a 2-story house and neither of us is good with heights so I'm always more than willing to pay it.

[SRD]

He'd been quoted $50 the hour, they took one and a half hours, $100 seems like a 30% mark up to me, but then you lot are used to over tipping and the credit crunch hasn't really hit you yet.

[porkwah]

i can't believe it's not gutter!

[Liza]

Aren't ladders a necessary part of home-owning? Or, at least for the not-former-NBA-players amongst us?

[SeaGal]

He'd been quoted $50 the hour, they took one and a half hours, $100 seems like a 30% mark up to me, but then you lot are used to over tipping and the credit crunch hasn't really hit you yet.

I didn't notice what he'd been quoted. I just think it's a pretty standard price for gutter cleaning in my area.

[porkwah]

two quick poems about ladders

 

 

(1)

 

ladders

or as they called them

in kenya

: roofgetters

 

 

(2)

 

itinera]nt

salesman

in

teotitlan del

valle

mx

 

offers thirsty tourist

a ladder

from the back

of his truck

 

[mongo_jones]

He'd been quoted $50 the hour, they took one and a half hours, $100 seems like a 30% mark up to me, but then you lot are used to over tipping and the credit crunch hasn't really hit you yet.

I didn't notice what he'd been quoted. I just think it's a pretty standard price for gutter cleaning in my area.

 

i've yet to come across any home improvement/maintenance contractor type people in the u.s who works on a half-hour rate. $50 an hour means anything from 60 to 120 minutes costs $100.

[SRD]

He'd been quoted $50 the hour, they took one and a half hours, $100 seems like a 30% mark up to me, but then you lot are used to over tipping and the credit crunch hasn't really hit you yet.

I didn't notice what he'd been quoted. I just think it's a pretty standard price for gutter cleaning in my area.

 

i've yet to come across any home improvement/maintenance contractor type people in the u.s who works on a half-hour rate. $50 an hour means anything from 60 to 120 minutes costs $100.

Amazing how many 65 minute jobs there are isn't it?

[SLBunge]

What started as a project to get rid of an intensely ugly ceiling fan and figure out why the wall switches in the living room didn't work turned into an all-weekend project to re-wire everything in the room and the lights on the porch.

 

A few photos of the opportunities for improvement:

 

(Note that four of the seven wires were just coiled up in the junction box when I pulled the fan down.)

 

(Um...neither of these switches worked. Wiring totally fucked up.)

 

(Typical. Yikes.)

 

I'm thinking I'll have a lot of wiring update projects in my future.

[mongo_jones]

once you're done, can you come fix some of our switches?

[SRD]

What started as a project to get rid of an intensely ugly ceiling fan and figure out why the wall switches in the living room didn't work turned into an all-weekend project to re-wire everything in the room and the lights on the porch.

 

A few photos of the opportunities for improvement:

 

(Note that four of the seven wires were just coiled up in the junction box when I pulled the fan down.)

 

(Um...neither of these switches worked. Wiring totally fucked up.)

 

(Typical. Yikes.)

 

I'm thinking I'll have a lot of wiring update projects in my future.

Looks like the whole place could do with a rewire.

 

[SLBunge]

once you're done, can you come fix some of our switches?

You must provide beer. And a few beers in, I probably shouldn't be be trusted.

 

I do promise I'm better electrical wiring than I am at croquet.

[Rail Paul]

The wires appear to be wrapped in cloth insulation, which suggests they're very old. Maybe 1940s or early 1950s old. By the 1950s a lot of wire was wrapped in plastic. I'd suggest ripping them out and replacing them with heavier gauge wire.

 

If you'd rather delay that project, you may want to carve away several outlets, and put them on their own, new circuits. The practical result is far less drain (and risk) placed on the old wires in the downsized circuits. Some old circuits are rated for as few as 10 amps, which is pretty low by today's standards.

 

The preferred installation for ceiling fans is to put a 2x4 between two studs (ceiling beams, not hunky guys for others who may be reading) and support the fan from the beam, rather than using the iron threaded nipple as the main support. The 2x4 also gives you a place to put a junction box for your wires, too.