# Homeowners thinks i get paid more than a doctor



## INTRA (Nov 27, 2008)

Have any of you guys hears a homeowner say "man you guy make more than a doctor". I've heard this a few times. I do a job for a homeowner, we agree on a price ect. I finish the job quicker than they expect cause were working are butts off. Then they say wow that was quick, so in there mind there trying to figure how much i made per hour on there job.
so here it comes ""man you guy make more than doctors". What do you bricklayers make $200.00 an hour. Before hand they get 3-4 estimate, i'm usually not the highest price nor the lowest. I hate when customers try to figure what we make per job ect. Sometime i might say i get paid per job not per hour. Just one thing that bugs me, but never had anyone try to pay me less that is owed. I was wonder if you guys get this time to time.


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## Bodger (Oct 23, 2008)

INTRA said:


> Have any of you guys hears a homeowner say "man you guy make more than a doctor". I've heard this a few times. I do a job for a homeowner, we agree on a price ect. I finish the job quicker than they expect cause were working are butts off. Then they say wow that was quick, so in there mind there trying to figure how much i made per hour on there job.
> so here it comes ""man you guy make more than doctors". What do you bricklayers make $200.00 an hour. Before hand they get 3-4 estimate, i'm usually not the highest price nor the lowest. I hate when customers try to figure what we make per job ect. Sometime i might say i get paid per job not per hour. Just one thing that bugs me, but never had anyone try to pay me less that is owed. I was wonder if you guys get this time to time.


 "No, Mr. Homeowner, when I was a doctor, I made slightly more". :laughing:


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

Bodger said:


> "No, Mr. Homeowner, *when I was a doctor, I made slightly more*". :laughing:


But as a contractor I get laid more and get to wear my cool Rambo boots to work:laughing:


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

Just tell them you got a Doctorate in your field.

Every once in awhile I hear something similar. Usually something like; "Gee, that went faster than I thought...." and the long pause afterwards just waiting for you to say something. Normally I dont say anything in return. If they pursue the subject, I just let them ramble on. Keeping real quiet is the key. When you present the bill to them and they bring it up again, I just say this was the agreed upon price and that is whats due. I dont really care if that type doesnt call me back or not. "Life's a ***** and misery is optional."


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## DetailHandyman (Jul 21, 2008)

Wolfgang said:


> "Gee, that went faster than I thought...."


Reply: "And if you had done it, it would have taken longer than you thought." :whistling

I have a few customers who are doctors. And while they've never commented about the "hourly" rate, they are the first looking for a discount on the price.


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## Brickie (Jun 15, 2006)

> man you guy make more than a doctor".


Yes, I'm Dr. Masonry




> I hate when customers try to figure what we make per job ect.


How can they do that??? They don't know your overhead, mark up. etc.,


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## D.Foster (Sep 13, 2008)

I like to tell them that if it took me twice as long as i thought, i would lose money.I would not charge more. That is the gamble with ESTIMATING. When i get done faster i make money. It can go in either direction for me.


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## MCerminaro (Oct 26, 2007)

When they do that and ask me how much I make, I always turn the question back on them. "Well, how much do you make a year?" Their response is normally that is not relavent or non of my business and my response is exactly!!!


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## DetailHandyman (Jul 21, 2008)

Brickie said:


> How can they do that??? They don't know your overhead, mark up. etc.,


They don't care about your OH, etc. Just the simple homeowner math: labor cost / hours = doctor wages.

It's amazing how most people just don't understand the concept of overhead.


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## D.Foster (Sep 13, 2008)

If its a quality job and they agreed on the price i never understood why they are upset. They should want a fast turn around. Unless they want me workin thru there cook out!!:laughing:


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## rewrew87 (Dec 14, 2008)

You can never win with a HO... if you go to slow they feel as if you don't work hard enough and get upset but if you work fast they feel as feel they were charged way to much. Credit is never given when credit is do... it is always how did we screw them in one way or another! Sad but true.


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## Brock (Dec 16, 2007)

Yep I've got that before. I always say that I should make more because a doctor justs walks around poking people and I perform actual physical labor. Plus, just for you to be able to find my number cost me nearly half of what I charged you.


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## Royal LLC (Feb 8, 2008)

From time to time I come across a customer that will ask why my price is so high. Its the type of people that think remodelling a kitchen with top line cabinets, marble floors and a granite counter top costs $5000, including the materials of course. Ha, I usually send them to the gas station labor market to hire someone with a higher level of craftsmanship than us. Sometimes they come back around, sometimes they dont. 

Anyway, it is the type of clients that need you to have a $5,000,000 umbrella from at least a B+ rated insurance company, with a list of other things that THEY need and when you give them an estimate they ask you for a detailed break down. They usually dont like the numbers in the detailed proposal either. 

There was a time when we spent a week working on the client to commit and when we had a meeting to discuss the project, we set down to discuss the cost. Half an hour into the meeting, I hear from the client's wife - "... I don't care about how much you pay for your insurances! It's your bussiness!" They called my partner personal cell phone 3 months later, when the scumbag they signed a contract with packed up and left with 80 % of the money, 20 % of work done with the project closed down by the DOB and a bouquet of violations on it. 

"They are in for a long ride" were the words I said to myself on that meeting we had with them. I spent two days thinking, was it me that turned the whole universe against them? :whistling


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## AtlanticWBConst (Mar 29, 2006)

They see the final number on the check and have absolutely NO CLUE, what it takes to run a business. They constantly assume that we pocket everything that they write out to us. They are generally pretty ignorant of actual material costs, Insurance costs, cell phones, vehicle maintenance, WC, tool repair, etc, etc. Personally, I should be charging more...


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## Jason Whipple (Dec 22, 2007)

Just tell them, "yes, of course. Why else would I have left my practice 5 years ago?"


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

The average doctor makes 120-160K a year



 Anesthesiology: $306,964
 Surgery, general: $255,438
 Obstetrics/gynecology: $233,061
 Psychiatry: $163,144
 Internal medicine: $155,530
 Pediatrics/adolescent medicine: $152,690
 Family practice (without obstetrics): $150,267


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## precisionbuild (Nov 17, 2008)

Jason W said:


> Just tell them, "yes, of course. Why else would I have left my practice 5 years ago?"


I like the way you think. Where can I sign up for your newsletter?


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

A job I bid for a doctor that years ago that I never got. 
Wanted clear redwood siding, clear redwood deck and finishes you imported from Sweden. 
So I give him a price and he asks "How many nails will you use"? Seriously asked me that.
I said "3,172", he figured I was a wise ass I guess. We both knew it wouldn't work out.


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## Houston's (Nov 30, 2006)

I got the same **** the other day... people make me sick... 
all a doctor does is use their pen all day..


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## Bodger (Oct 23, 2008)

Houston's said:


> I got the same **** the other day... people make me sick...
> all a doctor does is use their pen all day..


 Mine occasionally uses his finger, but he doesn't charge extra for that. :sad:


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## strathd (Jan 12, 2009)

RenaissanceR said:


> I've used this quote on more than one occasion, it gets the point across sometimes:
> 
> *"I got one price if i do it alone, if you want to watch, it time and a half, if you want to help, you can't afford me!" - Chico Marx*
> 
> ...


 Thats a really good idea. Hopefully it's just a matter of time.


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## Aggie67 (Aug 28, 2008)

strathd said:


> Thats a really good idea. Hopefully it's just a matter of time.


Here's what they'd need to show (in no order):

The meeting where their insurance agent goes over the coming year's policy renewal costs.

The phone call where the workers comp audit is scheduled, and then the actual workers comp audit.

The meeting where the workers comp and liability insurance end-of-year adjustments are billed to the contractor.

Several instances of the state calling you to defend yourself against a guy who you fired for cause trying to collect unemployment. Or better yet, for a guy who got fired a year ago, and because he couldn't hold a job for longer than 3 months, you're stuck with the bill because you hired him for a year.

A couple dozen meetings where various clients change their minds mid stream, and the accompanying follow-ups where they play dumb.

A couple "let's review the months' fuel/rent/cell phone/utility bills" sessions.

The meeting where you find out the client isn't ready, even though the flatbed of material showed up. (I wish I had this one on film: I call a guy 7 pm Friday night to confirm some crane work the next morning. 140 ton pick. Biggest over-the-road crane in the State of New Jersey, Shin's Queen Mary, $4000 a day. We get there 10 hours later at 5 am, and the job is shut down due to a problem with the plant not being ready. I never even got a courtesy call to warn me so I could call the crane off.)

The phone call where you find out a client filed bankruptcy on you.

A couple Wednesday afternoon rides to collect money.

A couple phone calls where you try to return material because they changed their minds.

A detailed montage of your crew busting their asses on T&M, and then a sequence where the sticker-shocked client is forced to watch the video and eat his words.

Any others? I know I'm leaving a bunch out.

How about a sequence that shows you busting your hump putting a detailed number together for someone, and then the sequence showing the client shopping your bid out 40 seconds after you leave his presence.


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## RenaissanceR (May 16, 2006)

*RE:Under Construction*

[deleted]


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