# What do you pay per hour for help



## CarrPainting (Jun 29, 2010)

Like the titale says, what do you pay?

For the bare bones, no nothing helper to the guy you wonder why hes not in business for himself...

I am a 'new contractor' and am curious what everyone pays their 'help...

I revently hired my neighbor, who IS lazy... with ADHD... he has a hard time identifying cardboard (dont ask).... And I have banned his cell hone from work.... and the enxt time I work with him, no Ipod, I am tired of repeating myself 3x....

ugh!



Tomorrow I hired a friends neighbors son, who is VERY active, full of energy not lazy and has some experience painting... I was thinking $9 an hour... I am paying my neighbor 8,.... mind you my neighbor is 20, and my friends neighbor is 17... with out ADHD...
so what do you pay for help?


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

I pay my help in Milk-Duds and Hot Pockets.


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## Osito (Mar 4, 2008)

Dollar menu, all they can eat for $, then ask for change.


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## KennMacMoragh (Sep 16, 2008)

Anywhere from $10 to $25 an hour, depending on what they know.


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## dprimc (Mar 13, 2009)

I pay my help in Trident gum.


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## mnjconstruction (Oct 5, 2008)

hookers, and beer, and rides on a fire truck!


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## pinwheel (Dec 7, 2009)

What the hell is this help thing you guys are talkin about?


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

mnjconstruction said:


> hookers, and beer, and rides on a fire truck!


Is it a real fire truck or one of those coin operated ones outside a drug store ?
Cause I will close up shop and come work for you if it is a real fire truck, but after I have proven myself you have to get me a firemans hat


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## NaeGan (Sep 8, 2009)

mnjconstruction said:


> hookers, and beer, and rides on a fire truck!


:laughing::thumbsup:


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## boman47k (Oct 13, 2006)

ModernStyle said:


> Is it a* real fire truck or one of those coin operated ones outside a drug store ?*
> Cause I will close up shop and come work for you if it is a real fire truck, but after I have proven myself you have to get me a firemans hat


Who cares? Two out of three is not too shabby. Where do I sign? :jester:


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## jeffatsquan (Mar 16, 2009)

Just rapped up a job that had 5 carpenters I was the lead and youngest I turned 50 last summer.

We averaged over 35 years experience each carpenter billed out between $35.-$ 45.-per hr.


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

What I pay for help has little relevance to what you need to pay. Look at the profitability of your jobs, how much value the worker brings to the table, and what it takes to keep him loyal. Within those parameters, it's good to be generous.

If you can't afford to pay enough to hire and retain a good worker, take a step back and re-examine your business model. Maybe you need to go it alone--or reorganize so that having employees makes sense.


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## CarrPainting (Jun 29, 2010)

11 responeses and one decent response.... =(

Anyways this new kid *first day) has turned out to be a real work horse... I bumped him up to 10... hes a little rough around the edges, I figure with a few weeks with me Ill get him up to 11...


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## Gough (May 1, 2010)

I don't hire kids, just adults, and I've learned not to hire people with "lots of painting experience": they're either exagerating their experience or they've picked up a lot of bad habits. I've said for years that I'd rather take someone who knows how to work; I'll teach them how to paint. I've had a much harder time when I had to teach someone how to work.

I'm almost afraid to say how much we pay our starting helpers. First of all, you wouldn't want to move here: it's in the middle of nowhere; the brief summers are hot; the winters are usually cold and rainy; the clients are amazingly picky; OSHA and EPA inspectors drive around town 24/7. It's awful here, save yourselves and stay away. It's because of these factors and others too awful to mention that I start my helpers at $25/hour. That's for someone with no experience. For someone who has "painted a ton", and is "really fast", I start them at $15. The last guy like that talked about all of his experience. His first day, I had him painting a long wall of clapboards. Apparently, in all of his experience, he had never learned to brush "dry to wet"! There's nothing quite like a wall full of stab-marks!


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## D & S Painting (Jul 9, 2010)

Gough said:


> I don't hire kids, just adults, and I've learned not to hire people with "lots of painting experience": they're either exagerating their experience or they've picked up a lot of bad habits. I've said for years that I'd rather take someone who knows how to work; I'll teach them how to paint. I've had a much harder time when I had to teach someone how to work.
> 
> I'm almost afraid to say how much we pay our starting helpers. First of all, you wouldn't want to move here: it's in the middle of nowhere; the brief summers are hot; the winters are usually cold and rainy; the clients are amazingly picky; OSHA and EPA inspectors drive around town 24/7. It's awful here, save yourselves and stay away. It's because of these factors and others too awful to mention that I start my helpers at $25/hour. That's for someone with no experience. For someone who has "painted a ton", and is "really fast", I start them at $15. The last guy like that talked about all of his experience. His first day, I had him painting a long wall of clapboards. Apparently, in all of his experience, he had never learned to brush "dry to wet"! There's nothing quite like a wall full of stab-marks!




LMAO...I know what you mean about the ones who are "Experienced". I had this clown call me a few years ago and basically told me he was the best thing since sliced bread. He was so arrogant I had to have him come in just to see if he was for real. He shows up like he's going out for a night on the town...leather jacket,nice shirt and jeans and stunk like he just took an Italian bath in cologne.Said all his painting gear was in storage so I gave him a brush and told him to paint a 6 panel door. He had no idea where to start and it took him 30 mins to complete 1 side!  Oh...he wanted $25/hr to start! Needless to say he was gone faster than he arrived. After almost 30 years in painting I'm still amazed that some "think" they're a professional painter,they were never taught the right way and carried out their bad habits through the years.

On the other hand I've had some with no or very little experience but most don't want to stick around long because we do a lot of production and they don't want to work hard.  I've downsized over the years and now it's just me and my main guy who's been with me for 11 years now and 1 helper. When I get large jobs I network with 2 other friends who also have smaller companies and it's been working out better. You're not carrying guys through slow times,paying unemployment or killing yourself getting work. Plus, the workmans comp. and liability are less because they have their own.

OP...You need to first make sure you have plenty of work for a full time guy and then tell them you'll try them out for the day and go from there. I've sent guys home within the first hour and some it takes a few days to see what they can do. What are you looking for a prep guy or someone who can do everything? The hardest thing is to find someone who is willing to do the job the way you want it done and actually care about what they're doing. I pay my guy very well but he's experienced, dependable,HONEST,I don't have to babysit him and my customers love him.Remember this is a business,you're doing this to make money but when you find the right employees,make sure you take care of them too.Don't try and get to big to fast,my best crews have actually been 3 guys. You can control quality better that way and everyone's pulling their weight. The more guys on the job the more you'll find 1 or 2 or them slacking off thinking someone else will pick up their slack. One bit of advise,stay away from friends and family if you value your friendship with them. Good Luck !!:thumbsup:


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Depends on how good looking she is.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

Not knowing what you are doing can go both ways, many owners of companies also have no idea about what to do to maximize output and maintain quality.
I worked for a company once that was this way and they had alot of work, but they worked stupid. Guys were more worried about making sure everyone painted from left to right then they were about the way the wall looked when they were finished. Highest paid guy on the crew holding a light all day so another guy can patch walls.
The owner refused to ever tint primer, so we were throwing on extra coats of paint trying to make deep colors cover when tinted primer would have done the trick. Putting finish coat on walls then coming back to spray the door jambs which made us have to paint the walls again.
The owner was a hard ass and wanted everyone to quake with fear when he walked in, you werent allowed to suggest something to him, he always knew best. On one job we were spraying epoxy on a gym ceiling, we were also going to be spraying and back rolling some walls with latex. One sprayer is full of Epoxy thinner, we cant spray the epoxy untill the other trades are gone for the day. The other sprayer is full of water. The owner who has been crying to us everyday about the cost of the epoxy thinner wants us to use the pump with the thinner in it to spray the walls.
Now both of these sprayers are Graco 1095's, so I ask why we wouldnt use the sprayer with water in it on the walls so we wouldnt have to clean out so much and we could save thinner. The owner flips his lid and tells me he knows what he is doing and I am paid to roll not to tell him how to do things. He ends up putting the latex in the pump with the water in it just like I suggested, he was an idiot.
The laziest guy in the company was the owners favorite, not because he did good work or anything, because he kept the cleanest most organized van. The owner would actually have meetings to show us how nice the guy kept the van, not even a speck of paint on the seats. It didnt matter that the guy did very little work and once oversprayed 20 cars in a single night with epoxy because he refused to mask off some window openings, no the van was what mattered.
I dont know how they stay in business but they do, and they make tons of money, but it is like a zoo. I have worked for a few painting contractors in my day but I have never seen anything like what went on in that place.


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## Big Shoe (Jun 16, 2008)

KennMacMoragh said:


> Anywhere from $10 to $25 an hour, depending on what they know.


There you go. Start at ten,tell them it's all uphill from there. Pay increases as they get better.


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## WarriorWithWood (Jun 30, 2007)

10 to start (greenhorn), 15 helper, 20 carpenter, 25 lead here. I once heard somebody on the forums say they judge the area by going to McDonalds and looking at the price of a Big Mac and multiply it by 10 because they spend millions figuring out what each local market can bear.


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## FoilEffects (Dec 19, 2007)

When I paid help, dont any longer as I work from home designing and manufacturing mirrors now. But when I was a decorative painting contractor I would pay an experienced painter (top of the line with a minimum of 10 provable years experience) $25 per hour to start. Lets face it, if you pay a crappy wage or have to ask you are trying to figure out how to get it done CHEAP! You have to make a living but so does your helper. Helpers should be just that, someone that is experienced and HELPS, if you pay a crappy wage you will find yourself babysitting the helper, making you HIS/HER helper!!!! Experienced professional help costs money, your not free or cheap (well I guess I dont know that) so neither should your helper be!

The right helper can help you turn out professional work!


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