Why are tradesmen so expensive

[fez]

We have been doing up our flat for a while now and whenever I have to get someone in to do something I can't do I am absolutely amazed at how much they can charge. You can tell me that being an electrician or plumber is a skilled job as much as you like but its a really simple job. Anyone with half a brain could learn to do it very quickly.

I assume its due to supply and demand because I can't think of that many other jobs that require no real education, limited intelligence and basic training which allow you to earn as much as plumbers, electricians, carpenters etc earn.

How much are you guys paying for these trades on a day rate basis?

 

[fez]

If it's a really simple job then why don't you learn get accredited and then can sign off jobs yourself.

I would expect to pay a tradesman around £100 at least (We've got a decorator coming in and it's £700 for the week) but as it's less than I earn then it makes sense to pay it rather than take time off myself.

Because I can earn more than that doing a job that I am already skilled at. I think you misunderstood as well. I'm not expecting to pay £50/day but I have just had a quote to hang 4 doors and they want £240 for a days work. A plumber came in a wanted around that as well. I don't mind paying for things but I resent paying a lot for work that is not very skilled in the grand scheme of things.

Thats why you should learn basic plumbing and electrics. These guys will rip you off!

Oh I do. The thought of paying someone £60 to fit a new wall socket or plug blows my mind. I have plumbed in a new sink, replaced almost all our sockets with double sockets, replaced bathroom fans etc and its all really simple. I know you don't pay someone for the difficulty of the work they are doing necessarily but the skill and speed at which they are capable of working but seriously. Plumbing and electrics are a really really limited area in the grand scheme of things. There is a reason these have been historically poorly paid jobs.

 

[fez]

This is the most condescending, insulting and irritating post I've read here in a long time. No 'real education'? Do you know what it takes to be an electrician? Do the job wrong and you could kill someone or burn their house down.

Sorry, what education level do you need to become an electrician? A levels, degree. Thats what people consider an education. Every job required training. There are plenty that require exams to become certified but to become a doctor you do 2 years of a-levels, 5 years of medical school, 2 years pre-reg and then you have plenty of other exams if you want to progress.

Also by your wisdom we should pay lorry and bus drivers a lot because they could potentially kill lots of people. Christ, they could kill 20 or more houses worth of people so they should be on god knows what.

Since you've presumably got two halves of a brain imagine how quickly you could do the job... Of course you perhaps lack the training, experience and knowledge of the regulations and tickets you need.

I know I'm not a qualified electrician. That doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you don't have to be particularly bright to be one and you don't have to have a high level of education. I'm sure there are plenty of electricians out there who are much brighter than I am but again, thats entirely beside the point. We don't pay people based on their intelligence, we pay them based on the job they do.

No real education? Wow I wish I was allowed to swear on here! I'm glad I'm not your spark if you choose to look down your nose like that. What you have posted has properly boiled my **** to be honest.

Sure in reality anyone with half a brain could probably wire a house but could they do all the calcs to ensure its safe? Yes you can find a calculator online but experience is such a massive part of it. I didnt spend 4 years back and forth to college, many years on site learning and doing god knows how many exams and courses to have some ill advised person tell me I have limited intelligence with no real education. I guess they let any numpty work on it eh?

You can be back and forth to college to get a beauticians qualification for years, whats that got to do with anything. I don't know why you are taking this as a personal insult to your intelligence unless you are insecure about it. As I have said above, your job doesn't dictate your intelligence or capacity to learn. The intelligence required to do a job doesn't mean that everyone doing that job is of that intellect. Do you think that every bin man is borderline retarded because their job could be done by literally any able bodied person?

My very simple point is that a lot of trades charge a lot of money for a job that is not massively skilled. In every job there are people who are more skilled than others as well. Your local pubs chef probably isn't as good as a michelin star chef and their salaries reflect that. The simple fact is that the work that residential electricians do is not very hard from a technical standpoint. Same for plumbing etc.

 

[fez]

Lol, so much anger at the idea that being an electrician isn't the reserve of mensa candidates. Its a discussion about the reason for these jobs being so expensive. I'm sure all the outraged electricians here don't resent paying their solicitors thousands of pounds when they are moving house etc.

 

[fez]

Wow, this has really hit a sort point with some people. I wanted a couple of doors hung. I wasn't requesting the finest artisans to carve me a beautiful chair out of solid oak. I never claimed that every aspect of trades is simple work but you average carpenter who does 90% of his work as a residential carpenter has not spent 10 years perfecting his craft and is capable of making anything from wood.

If you say you work in banking you could be the CEO of Barclays or you could be a cashier in a local branch. They don't have the same skill set and don't earn the same amount. I wouldn't expect to get the accountant for a multi million pound corporation if I went down my local accountants and paid a few hundred for them to do my taxes. I wouldn't expect a carpenter who has a list of skills that covers all the usual tasks involved in putting a house together to also moonlight as a high end cabinet maker.

 

[fez]

So when you demean a persons intelligence which is an abuse by the way, is arrogant, ignorant and shows a lack of intelligence in itself.

If you actually read what I have written rather than going off on one due to some perceived slight you would see that I haven't suggested that anyone doing any job is a thicko. There will be people who are fantastically intelligent who are bin men but obviously I wouldn't want to offend you and suggest that being a bin man isn't a skilled job...

As a generalisation (yes, those are allowed and are how the world works as much as it seems to annoy people) there are certain careers that attract people who are not the brightest. That doesn't mean their work doesn't take skill, dexterity, knowledge and understanding but they are fundamentally not hard jobs to pick up or understand. Those jobs are usually paid accordingly. If you can replace someone easily, their work is probably not well paid.

People are not all of equal intelligence and that is totally OK in the same way that everyone is different heights, shapes, strengths and has different abilities. Its something you can't change and its not something you should be ashamed of. Its this stupid rhetoric that has been pushed for years. You are beautiful, you are strong, you are smart. Nope. Most people aren't and the fact we tell people that despite evidence to the contrary is damaging and essentially tells them that those qualities are very desirable and deep down most people know where they are lacking.