Got skillz?

Has anyone had the (unfortunate) experience of requiring electrical work done in their home? If so, you'll be able to relate to my sad story.

Is there a venue (maybe an idea for HawaiiStories or HawaiiThreads) for recommendations for local businesses, contractors, restaurants, etc.? If you're like me, I feel that word of mouth advertising is most effective simply because I would be more likely to trust someone who was recommended by my co-worker's sister-in-law's aunty's friend, than someone I find in the yellow pages.

Today, I had to let my fingers do the walking and luckily, I found someone who was competent -- but not cheap.

Comments

Funny you posted about this. My family is looking for an all-around general-purpose handiman to handle things around the house that I would likely end up killing myself with if I attempted to do them myself. But I too would've liked a friend-of-a-friend, or a personal referral, rather than relying on who has the ad with the fewest typos in the Yellow Pages.

I posted a general inquiry over at HawaiiThreads.com (in the "Seeking" section), but didn't get any leads. People offer skilled services over at Craigslist, but that seems a little too random.

I've often imagined that someone could build a "services review" website, just like there are sites for restaurants and movies and products, where general information could be posted but that people could also submit scores and comments. "This guy does good computer repair and he's cheap," or, "Watch out for this plumber, he's always late and overcharges." The "Car Talk" guys have something like this for automotive service stations... why not for other services?

Until there's something like that, asking people you know is probably your best bet. I ended up getting a couple of names from coworkers.

This is the very kind of discussion that causes me to pick my teeth with galvanized nails and gargle with latex paint when nobody is around. From the contractor's point of view, there are a number of pitfalls to the "contractor" party that if the homeowner was aware of, although not guaranting smoothness would facilitate it in the transaction. Especially, if the house or apartment is old, finding a replacement part for whatever the handyman is trying to fix can be difficult. Not all hardware stores carry the antique parts that might be needed. The store that would normally carry the part every other day of the year, won't have that very part on the one day that you needed that part. So, "part hunting" is the biggest hurdle. Hunting for old parts would not even be necessary if the owner would just buy the whole thing (whatever needs to be fixed)--"new". So the contractor's job would be installation of a new unit instead of constructing or jury rigging. There are of course situations where it would not be economically feasible and make no sense to re-buy an entire unit. Like if one of the hinges on your kitchen cabinet needs replacing, the homeowner obviously wouldn't agree to purchase an entire set of cabinets. Aside from examples like this though, it is better for both parties if a new unit was bought outright or an old unit was scavenged whole. The amount the homeowner should pay for any works for hire, should be based generally on a percentage of the cost of all the materials involved. If the homeowner has to have to hire someone to install an item that costs $100, you cannot expect the homeowner to have to dish out an addditional $200 in (skilled) labor for its installation. However, if the total bill for the material, itself, is $1,000, then $200 or 20 percent of material cost for its installation is reasonable. Items like an entry door or replacing a window are in more of a specialty department and would not follow this formula, where a flat fee would by more typical.

The second big migraine for the "contractor" party is getting paid. There are many cases at the time the contracted job is completed in its entirety, the customer will ask the contractor to come back in a couple of days because he has just had to pay for his neice's graduation party or his cow needed to be taken to the emergency room. If I have to return for the rest of my payment due, I will tack on a surcharge (usually 2 hours wages) or ask for a post-dated personal check, but payment-later is only acceptable for a few days and never "next week." You see what the problem is that I'm trying to illustrate here. As far as being paid after the job is completed, the onus falls on the contractor. You could throw in extra work at no charge and free parts alongside with it, and charge a charity rate, but when it comes to "paying," the very same person who needed all that work done (albeit, "I can't afford to pay too much," alrighty), will become a person unrecognizable. Part of the contractor's problem that a homeowner wouldn't be aware of because he's not in the contracting or handyman field, is that the tools (especially the power tools) tend to wear out. So the bill on every job should reflect some amount of re-coup for the expense of buying a replacement for the tools that inevitably breaks down and the ancillary cost of keeping an assortment of stand-by tools that a contractor may use once a year but has to have at his disposal. You can't go back and ask your previous five clients, to chip in $20 bucks each, so you can afford to buy a new tool to replace a tool that just broke down, with the rationale that you charged them real el cheepo rates when you worked on their particular houses ("good man" that you are). You'll have no takers. Of course, as soon as a job is agreed upon, the caveat is simple: "the gyp is on." So it works both ways. A contractor may or may not use all the material bought for your house--material that was purchased with your money for your house, only. He may attempt to use "your material" on another job--not leftover material but material that was substituted for without your knowledge. (As far as what to do with honest leftover material, itself, after the job is over, if you're not going to use it, and the contractor has done a good job, let the guy haul it away for you instead of having to pack rat the excess material and have it only end up rotting in your garage anyway.) There are dishonest contractors just as there are crooked 2 by 4's in a lumber yard. Go check the 2 by 4's lumber-bin personally, to understand the degree of what I'm alerting you against. But there are honest contractors too. I know of a contractor that instructs his employees to put all the used and emptied caulking tubes back in the same cardboard case that they came from so they will sit next to the untouched new caulking tubes that the customer paid for, so he can account to his customers for every tube of caulking. The caulking tubes that are empty are right there in the box with the caulking tubes that weren't used. Nothing cockaroached. In life, more so in local life, you got to throw in some kokua on a job. You can't charge for every single thing. But once in a while this philosophy works against you. As soon as some of my customers have smelled the word "free," the floodgates have started to open, and never to be closed again. Wish I never started. There is no need to tip a contractor extra. As a professional (if he is that) he should have been well compensated for by his bid. Except for a can of soda, that won't count as a tip. Should you ever find a honest and capable contractor or handyman, I really suggest you encourage him.....

Ron, thanks for giving us another perspective. Surely, I meant no offense by my entry and don't mean to downplay the important role that Contractors and folks like Electricians, Plumbers, Carpenters, etc. do for us.

It's just that I often feel foolish for having to hire someone to do something seemingly so "simple" like changing my light switch.

I can certainly understand the need for Contractors to make a living. Heck, I am a Contractor, too, but of a different kind; so I understand the woes of dealing with clients, obtaining payment, etc.

My apologies if my entry ruffled your feathers -- or anyone else who is in the industry. It was not intentional.

Dear Donna:

No offense taken..... My line of work has enamored my skin with layers and layers of callouses such that I "may" have come across as being harsh in my post when in reality I was throwing around nerf balls, and largely due from on-the-job construction noise, I might have also been tone deaf to the true melody that was emanating from your iquiry, incapacitated as I have become in recognizing the appropriate decorum of banter from the all rigors of making sure the world is both plumb and level :)

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