I work for a friend who has 9 rentals in a college town.
My work is honest and good and inexpensive.
I know those three aren’t supposed to all work out. It didn’t today.
Anyway, the problem I’m having is getting the work done quickly.
When I work on plumbing it seems as if former workers cut corners so nothing is standard. I never know what I’m getting into.
The landlord, my boss, is kind of the same way. I’m not sure how long he has had each rental so the poor work could have been done before he owned it.
Besides, I don’t like putting blame on my boss. It’s just not good.
Today I was supposed to put in a new garbage disposal and it took to long.
The old disposal was hooked up in a way I’ve never seen. It had a plastic collar with a bolt squeezing it.
The landlord (friend) supplied a used disposal that ended up not having all the parts.
I had to buy a disposal. Then the waste was different so I had to change that.
Today I didn’t save him money and I was very frustrated at it taking so long.
I’m not sure if i should talk to him, charge him for all the time, or eat some of it.
I’ve been starting to eat some of it lately but if I’m working my tail off and frustrated, it just doesn’t sit right.
When i left there was a small leak when the faucet was on. It needs a new one.
Will Rogers
Replies
You're working for free and supplying the materials?
Can you come to my house?
Joe H
I know what you mean.
I've been working on rentals since I started three years ago. In FC. For some of the big property managers. Also for some of the Homeowners that have one or two rentals.
When I started, I used to ascribe to the good and fast rule, but not cheap.
I eventually figured out that Landlords want fast and cheap. Final fit and finish isn't important to them. Esp since most renters are going to trash it, and I'll be painting it again when the lease is up. I'm still not the cheapest, but am dependable. There
For the plumbing side of things, you eventually learn to have on hand the same set of spare parts for kitchen sinks, lavs, toilets, disposals etc. You then bill the client for any incidental parts that you had to use to get it to work. Yes, I have a couple hundred dollars wrapped up in plumbing supplies that live in my trailer.
When you walk into a rental, you can always predict that the plumbing is not up to snuff, and was usually repaired in the middle of the night, by an angry tenant, or frustrated landlord, with duct tape and plastic hose. My Invoices indicate anything I saw that wasn't code compliant, or operable.
For some reason, Landlords hate to call a real plumber. Thus the success of all the local handyman companies. Some who are very good. Some who are very bad.
anyway, sorry for the book. I was three yrs ago where you are today, trying to adjust to a market that I didn't comprehend. Email me if you wanna get together over coffee some time.
David
Done it for 35 years on my own and on others people's rentals. You can't help the conditions nor can you help it that he gave you a junk disposal to put on. Charge him full freight and tell him why it took so long.
I was called out once to fix a leaky bathtub. Found a rotten tapered wood plug driven into the wye under the tub. All galvanized drain lines that took me forever to repair. The owner complained about the bill. . Turned out he had driven the plug in about 10 years before so he wouldn't have to make a real repair.
1) fast
2) cheap
3) quality pick two
I think he used PT for the plug. Does that qualify as quality?
Those three terms are all relative. I can, and will, choose all three.
think of the money and time that'll be saved down the road because you brought things around to the way they should be...
all those short cuts and "money savers" are now bitting somebody in the butt and it shouldn't be you..........
you feel that you have done fair quality honest work... don't feel at odds over it nor ashamed.... least of all DO NOT be afraid of the price...
next time around on that disposal will be cake and pie in comparison...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Eat NONE of it. He gave you sh!t for materials.
Mike
Pop
" losing money on evey job can't be made up in volume."
I work for a guy who owns 3 rentals He had this huge storage shed and throws nothing away it took awhile to get him to understand "you supply used & abused it doesn't work you pay for the lost time on top of the regular charge".
I took the position to be firm but fair with him at first he gave me a bad time at first but my service and work were always good. We worked things out I gave him some ideason how we could do the repairs in a more cost effective way.
We know what models and kinds of fixtures that we may need in the rentals and now he looks for new on sale items and stores them. The shed is now less cluttered and organized. Life is much better for both of us
Zeeya
View Image
I have talked to him a little about standardizing fixtures. But he is like a kid in a candy store.
Right now I need what little work I have. And he is good guy at heart.
Maybe I just needed to vent.
But I will work on getting thing ironed out a bit. Today was not good.
He hasn't recieved the bill yet. And I haven't told him. "There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers