day rate and expectations of work volume per day

[old duffer]

Had an old guy in to decorate. He's retired and likes to keep busy. He was a professional engineer and has a wide range of skills and turns his hand to anything. A very knowledgable guy and is very diligent and precise. He charges £100 per day for an 8 hour day.

I asked him to decorate 2 rooms, the rooms being 4xm x 4m x 2.5m high, One room has 2 windows.
The task was to remove wall paper, emulsions ceilings and walls and paint all woodwork and door. He said it would take a couple of days so I hired him.

Day 1 he removed the wallpaper and the emulsion paint pulled off with it. He then spent the rest of the day removing the patchy paint with a hand scrapper and then applied a mist coat.
Day 2 he sprayed the walls with 2 coats and applied 4 coats to the bare wall (he had a lot of patching with filler to apply and sand) and sanded the skirting boards
Day 3 he painted the ceiling, skirting and door and frames applying undercoat and 2 top coats
Day 4 (now in another room) he painted the ceiling, walls, and applied 2 undercoats to the skirting and 3 top coats (the skirting was stained and varnished a dark wood colour). This was an 11 hour day but he did break for about 2 half hours)
Day 5 half day he wallpapered 1 wall
So the total is £450 but I was expecting it to take 2 days (a day per room). so double the budget. I provided all materials

Should I insist he takes payment for 2 days as I expected it would take or was I underestimating the time it would have taken?

 

[HERTS P&D]

What did you say to him at the end of day 2?

Andy

 

[old duffer]

I never mentioned anything

 

[HERTS P&D]

Well then you were happy for him to carry on.

Are you pleased with the work? If so just pay him and move on. £100 per day is cheap.

Andy

 

[Murdochcat]

Do you think it’s realistic to do it in 2 days ?

£100 per day is way too cheap

 

[danfre]

Much to cheap, pay him

 

[johnny2007]

2 days is an impossible target for one man.
Never hire anyone on a day rate.
In fact, you were lucky he actually worked full days.
I know people who work on a day rate and actual work is 3 to 4 hours at best.
£450 for that work is waaay too cheap.
I would've charged around £1200 excluding material.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Should I insist he takes payment for 2 days as I expected it would take or was I underestimating the time it would have taken?

How long did he estimate it would take?

But £100 per day, he could take twice as long and still be cheap

 

[yartin]

Never accept to pay per day for a job, they will be slow and you have no control. How long is a string?!

Not relevant how much paying £ per day.

I did once 20 years ago, just like you I saw little progress in 2 days and sacked him. Live and learn.

 

[Deluks]

What's the quality of his work like?
Good decorators take their time, you can't rush these things and expect a quality finish.
As mentioned, a jobbing tradesman that works a full 8 hours is a good find.
Still sounds like good value to me.

 

[old duffer]

Can't fault the quality of his work.

 

[old duffer]

Never accept to pay per day for a job, they will be slow and you have no control. How long is a string?!

Not relevant how much paying £ per day.

I did once 20 years ago, just like you I saw little progress in 2 days and sacked him. Live and learn.

He did give me a contract, he insisted on it. The contract stated that I could terminate the service at any time and pay for the half day or full day he had spent. I think it was the progress on some days vs others. So for example, on a Saturday morning he wallpapered a wall and applied a second coat of emulsion and was cleaned up within 4 hours. Other days I could see no progress.

 

[old duffer]

How long did he estimate it would take?

But £100 per day, he could take twice as long and still be cheap

He said he just works through the steps and never gives a time frame as he says he has no idea what he exposes along the way and says that you can stop him at any time and pay for what he's done. He never stops mind you, not even tea breaks

 

[danfre]

So you have said what works he is doing in a previous post and then later say you cannot see any progress.
Are you watching all the time?
Lot of work is not seen, you only see the finished result, not the preparation.
Pay him double, and it is still a good price

 

[yartin]

Where are you roughly in the country? £100 is very very cheap, how is his work so far?
Unless he is an amateur or DIYer with free time and bored would do for such low pay.
You will be very lucky to find decorator below £150 a day, I am in UB9 area.