2 things I hate. Refitting bathrooms and "mates rates"!

originally posted by: grainofsand

originally posted by: nonspecific
It would be nice if you could do a job "mates rates" for a bloke that works for the council and he could sort you out with the council tax bill.

I've seen much worse than that in central government in my previous career life lol.
That's small beans.

...you still mugged yourself though, no way I'd do a full bathroom refurb on that 10 hour day rate you stated.
Family and impressively trusted old-time close friends of course, but that's it.

Yup, hense the rant.

I just get all Stupid when I see a wife and kids with a #ty bathroom and not enough cash to have it sorted.

I agree that I am a tool but in a few days time they will be all happy and splashing about and I will say "bet I never see anything more than a six pack for that...

As before. I am a retard but cannot debate this any further I have to get some shuteye as up early in the morning....

Peas and love people.

Or just peas, everyone loves peas.

originally posted by: JohnthePhilistine

originally posted by: Cobaltic1978
Ha ha ha ha ha.

You've been well and truly had. I've been there, most of us charitable types have.

You will do it again, we all do it again.

You're a good man.

Yes, I do it too and always kick myself for it.
I'm an electrician and recently rewired the entire inside of a small house so my friends 40 year old son would get out of his spare room.
I did the inside first so the other guys could remodel etc. The house has a 60 amp service from the 1960s and I brought the inside up to modern 100 amp standards with the understanding that I would install a new service afterwords.
Well now my friend's son is sleeping in a fire-trap because the service didn't get done. It keeps me up at night and it is beyond my comprehension that when I explain the problem, using words like fire, death, and prison, that I'm not taken seriously.
Urgh! Sorry, I didn't intend to derail your post.

If you are a qualified Electrician, then you have a duty to make good any potential fault.

But I guess it's an individual decision.

originally posted by: Cobaltic1978
If you are a qualified Electrician, then you have a duty to make good any potential fault.

But I guess it's an individual decision.

I thought the same when I read it...seemed cold blooded to me...

originally posted by: nonspecific
I will say "bet I never see anything more than a six pack for that...

Why choose that?!
...I wouldn't, seems just a cop-out to me.

originally posted by: grainofsand

originally posted by: nonspecific
I will say "bet I never see anything more than a six pack for that...

Why choose that?!
...I wouldn't, seems just a cop-out to me.

It seems to be what people say to you when they need your help, "can you come round and give me a hand doing something? I'll get the beers in and we can have a bbq? it will be fun!

Translated it means I have had some quotes and it's more than I want to spend so would you come round and do several hundred pounds worth of work for me and I will stand around looking useless and give you about 7 quid's worth of beers and some crap food for it. Then when you need a favour I will be busy due to my # and I will not be there to help you out.


Rant, It's what it's there for.

Can you put an extra strong 'squirt' on the bidet?

That'll make them think twice before asking you to help out again.

a reply to: nonspecific
i dont like how people make out that youre a naive 'mug' for helping someone,
i think the majority of people who 'cant say no' , know they will lose out, but do it all the same.
i think its a character trait to be proud of.

a reply to: nonspecific

I have a buddy locally who may as well be my blood, for all the crap we have been through together. Her and her man are on "the list". The list is a collection of people I live near, who will not be destroyed on sight in the event of some post apocalyptic circumstance. If the zombie hordes attack, there's a whole little posse of people who will be coming to my place, gearing up and digging in. She's on it, her mans on it, most of the people we hold dear are on an overlapping Venn diagram anyway and are therefore on the list.

I did some work for her at her new (now only newish) place. Thing is, even though I really need money at the moment, if she tried to pay me the whole rate or anything close to it, I would slap her round the head with a chilled salmon.

But I know where you are coming from. Sometimes you try and do something good for someone, and it turns out making you miserable one way or another. There's that situation, where you are only still working because adrenaline has been shunting through your body for ten hours straight on this one job, topped with caffeine, during which not more than a small pie has passed your lips otherwise, when you think "Damn... I would either like to be getting laid or getting paid to sweat this much!".

Luckily, the work I did for her and her fellow was not what I would call a big job, so it's not an issue! I did some work for another person on the list, but the fellow gets PAID for what he does, and he made it clear that he would molest me with my chisels unless I allowed him to pay me right. That is a good thing too, because that job WAS a marathon effort. I rocked up at nine, twenty past maybe in the morning at his place, and did not get done until well after eleven that night. By the end of that job, I was jelly, but his place was secure, and I got paid. That's the way I like things, to be fair.

I like to get stuck in.

originally posted by: Cobaltic1978

originally posted by: JohnthePhilistine

originally posted by: Cobaltic1978
Ha ha ha ha ha.

You've been well and truly had. I've been there, most of us charitable types have.

You will do it again, we all do it again.

You're a good man.

Yes, I do it too and always kick myself for it.
I'm an electrician and recently rewired the entire inside of a small house so my friends 40 year old son would get out of his spare room.
I did the inside first so the other guys could remodel etc. The house has a 60 amp service from the 1960s and I brought the inside up to modern 100 amp standards with the understanding that I would install a new service afterwords.
Well now my friend's son is sleeping in a fire-trap because the service didn't get done. It keeps me up at night and it is beyond my comprehension that when I explain the problem, using words like fire, death, and prison, that I'm not taken seriously.
Urgh! Sorry, I didn't intend to derail your post.

If you are a qualified Electrician, then you have a duty to make good any potential fault.

But I guess it's an individual decision.

I'm a Master Electrician and I know better but I took my pal at his word when he asked me to upgrade the inside first.
I was told that I could upgrade the service but pal wanted the inside done so his other guys could plumb, sheetrock, etc.
Yes I do have a duty to make anything that is wrong, right. What do you suggest I do? Call the law? This is what keeps me up at night. I think I might steal his meter and let the chips fall where they may.
If you have a problem with my integrity then maybe pistols at ten paces may be the remedy. Oh, that's right, you don't have a pistol.

originally posted by: Rikku
a reply to: nonspecific
i dont like how people make out that youre a naive 'mug' for helping someone,
i think the majority of people who 'cant say no' , know they will lose out, but do it all the same.
i think its a character trait to be proud of.

Not naive but certainly a mug!

I think this "rant" was the first step in me manning up a bit and starting to stand my ground a little more.

If your not careful you can spend all of your time helping others and never achieve anything for yourself, then people wonder why someone with talent is always skint and does not own nice things.

as soon as this bathroom is finishing I am painting a mates house to improve it's chances of selling as he is moving abroad due to ill health and needs all the cash he can get.

I would rather buy my own beers and not spend 4 days doing it but that’s what friends do for each other I suppose.

a reply to: nonspecific

Mate, the hardest part is setting expectations when it comes to this kind of stuff. Plenty of handy mans have to deal a hard hang after a bloke watches some home improvement bull# in 30 minutes on TV.

Reality is a cold hard slap when cost and time come into effect. As well a number of folks have a hard time understanding the amount of time jobs take, the costs of materials as well as labor, and the fact they are not the only individual looking for a tradesman's time.

I feel incredibly sorry for you, but as an individual that manages the sale and installation of a number of building supplies I can't help but support the feeling you had of "you should have never done this."

Amateurs are amateurs regardless of wallet or will.

I feel for you bruv.

originally posted by: Aeshma
a reply to: nonspecific

Mate, the hardest part is setting expectations when it comes to this kind of stuff. Plenty of handy mans have to deal a hard hang after a bloke watches some home improvement bull# in 30 minutes on TV.

Reality is a cold hard slap when cost and time come into effect. As well a number of folks have a hard time understanding the amount of time jobs take, the costs of materials as well as labor, and the fact they are not the only individual looking for a tradesman's time.

I feel incredibly sorry for you, but as an individual that manages the sale and installation of a number of building supplies I can't help but support the feeling you had of "you should have never done this."

Amateurs are amateurs regardless of wallet or will.

I feel for you bruv.

After today I kind of regret my rant yesterday now.

Started at 9 this mnorning and finished at half 8 so a long day but a good one.

It turns out my neighbour is, when pushed to overcome of fear of new things a bloody good tiler by the end of second day and with some guidance from me he is certainly better than a diy'er, better than most prffesional handymen and with some more paractice could easily go pro if he chose to and is actually thinking about it now as he really enjoyed it and was very proud of his work!

He made a few errors but as I told him it is not until you make a mistake that you have to figure out how to fix it.

His work was so good that he has already had 2 neighbours ask if we can do there's for them and I said that he could do the jobs and I will help with the initial job of layout and battoning the walls ect and lend him any of my tools he needs until he can get his own.

After spending a day with him I am glad I did as it turns out he's a really good bloke and his wife is an amazing Indian chef and has promised to teach me Goa'n Cookery.

He also gave my some beers on top of my mates rates and that always helps along side a big thankyou.

One more day and we will be done. Not bad for a full bathroom refit, plumbing, wall and floor tiles and preparing and painting the walls. Given that I had to teach him how to tile, plumb and we also had to go to B and Q about 10 times to get things he never knew he needed.

a reply to: nonspecific

Stay clear of my family - Can you do this or that and supply all the materials for free

Yet i still do it for them , £ 70 a day plus beers sound like heaven to me , i was helping a mate today dump carpets and rubbish at the dump , i got paid in coffee , but as they say what goes round and all that .

And half a loaf is better than no loaf and it's tax free

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
a reply to: nonspecific

Stay clear of my family - Can you do this or that and supply all the materials for free

Yet i still do it for them , £ 70 a day plus beers sound like heaven to me , i was helping a mate today dump carpets and rubbish at the dump , i got paid in coffee , but as they say what goes round and all that .

And half a loaf is better than no loaf

and it's tax free

You are right in that mate, something is better and nothing and as I said it was a good feeling to be able to teach someone how to do things and them really get into it. I think sometimes it is easy to forget how much we know in certain areas, my neighbour has a masters degree in accountancy yet I had to go back to real basics for him to learn how to do something I take as granted but really quickly picked it up, I could see him looking proudly at what he had done and saying that he hate's his office job as it's just not "Manly!"

He asked me to build a stud wall and tile it so given how quickly he has come on I pointed out that he could pay me proper money to build the wall and tile it himself now I had thought him and everyone would be a winner, now he cant wait for me to build the wall. I pointed out that if I show him how to do that as well then he can then add building stud walls to his repertoire.

a reply to: nonspecific

I must be up there with you for doing jobs for nothing or next to , it is when they come back with the B & Q value range of paints after being told anything but that .

But as you say there is no better feeling than fixing a home up when the owners have no clue & word of mouth is a good thing for getting more work in the local area .

I am off to price a job on Sunday, One off them mates rates price for 30 and do 50+ hours

There better be a good spot in heaven for people like us nonspecific

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
a reply to: nonspecific

I must be up there with you for doing jobs for nothing or next to , it is when they come back with the B & Q value range of paints after being told anything but that .

But as you say there is no better feeling than fixing a home up when the owners have no clue & word of mouth is a good thing for getting more work in the local area .

I am off to price a job on Sunday, One off them mates rates price for 30 and do 50+ hours

There better be a good spot in heaven for people like us nonspecific

Good luck!

What makes me chuckle is when people ask if you can do something cheap but fail to relalise how long it will take you.

SO meone asked me to make them a a small gate, I said yes. Then they said could I make it out of old pallets so it will be cheaper!!!

Because everyone knows that apart from bieng high quality wood pallets fall into their compontent peices in a moment, denail themselves get run through a thickness planer, and then get jointed and cut to size with the help of magical pallet fairies that live at the bottom of my garden...

a reply to: nonspecific
Some of the happier memories of my teens are of the time I spent my week's holiday from work helping out my landlord with a bit of DIY.

He taught me how to make a picket fence. I enjoyed sawing the vertical bits into points and then nailing it all together.

I suspect you could get a smashing picket fence out of a few pallets.

Just spruce it all up with a lick of white paint and the result would be very palletable.

originally posted by: berenike
a reply to: nonspecific
Some of the happier memories of my teens are of the time I spent my week's holiday from work helping out my landlord with a bit of DIY.

He taught me how to make a picket fence. I enjoyed sawing the vertical bits into points and then nailing it all together.

I suspect you could get a smashing picket fence out of a few pallets.

Just spruce it all up with a lick of white paint and the result would be very palletable.

I see what you did there!

I will make anything out of pallets for anyone if they break the pallets, denail them and run them through the thicknesser after drilling and plugging the nail holes themselves.

They would soon realise that it is a total false economy regardless of what anybody says.

originally posted by: nonspecific
and run them through the thicknesser after drilling and plugging the nail holes themselves.

Posh bastard!
I made a perfectly good shed some years ago solely of free pallets and roofing felt, I only denailed then treated, saved a fortune in timber....but if you want a planed finish yeah, posh bastard!

I think in a previous life I was Roy Rogers