Replacing windows on my house was quoted at $135,000. My entire house cost $240,000 just 15 years ago. Prices these days are so beyond insane that I refuse to hire anyone to do anything anymore; I do it all myself.
Wow...do you have some kind of old Victorian that requires custom wood windows? If you just have a regular house and are wanting standard double pane windows, call Window World, had mine done last year, they charge $350 per window installed regardless of the size...takes 10 weeks to get your windows as they are built to fit perfectly into your existing space.
For the last two years trying to hire a carpenter or handyan has been a nightmare. No return calls, not showing up for quotes, or refusing to give an estimate on my " small jobs". My neighbors have the same problem. So I've learned basic plumbing and carpentry skills on TH-cam. Unless I need an electrician I'll do it myself!
Facts… I wanted to get my cabinets striped and stained. I had a budget of $3000 ( $2000 upfront and 2 payments of $500 a month). Got quoted $4500 and another for $10,000 - $18,000. I did it myself for $1,500 and it took me 3 days (24 hours).
This. Couldn't find anyone to do drywall tape in one room, have to do it myself. Even handymen don't want small jobs anymore. From the point of homeowner it's the opposite, nobody wants my money if it's less than at least $1000 in one job, so I have to learn to be a handyman myself.
I work full time as a carpenter and I can build anything in a house, But I can't afford a house; I've never owned a house; And I live in my van. I have no family or love in my life. Please pray for me. Thank you.
My toilet was broke and a local handyman co wanted 500 bucks to replace the pump. I went the lowes and bought one for 35 bucks ans installed it myself after watching a youtube video.
As a woman- I do ALL my own repairs including my truck. I got sick of being lied to, overcharged, and then they do a halfass job. It's cheaper and less painful to just learn as I go.
@@busabeater2exactly. Capitalism isn't a park and ride strategy. Not sure why everyone that's such a fan of this system also expects it to hold their hand for them.
If my elderly neighbor asked me to change a doorknob and tighten her faucet I would do it for free. I’m so grateful I had a patient father that taught me how to do small repairs myself. It sounds like handymen may have to appreciate their customers more than they have in the past.
My town is hiring like crazy for odd jobs but the city makes you register like a contractor. It cost 300 to get the license/registration. And a 3 month wait at a min. Everyone here is below or at poverty level so they have no money for these services. And ith our city code people fining on sight like they do, they cant save money to get major work done. It's hell. 125$ is too much for anyone here. You'd be looking at 20$ 30$ per job here.
An elderly lady got locked out of her home, non- deadbolt. They wanted $250 and I opened the door with an old credit card. She called to cancel the request, but they showed up 2 hours later and wanted $100 for coming out. I told her to just shut the door.
I am a paying customer and can say I rarely ever get my $ worth when hiring someone. With shrinkflation and companies not giving raises over the past decade, I see doing things myself as the better option.
I have been a self employed carpenter for over 40 years and lived through some hard times. You ain’t seen nothing yet people are in debt up to their eyeballs and broke.
I live in an apartment building and grateful for it. Our maintenance staff fixes everything and it's included in the apartment. Also reading these messages the average consumer is getting screwed by no-shows. I'm learning also how to DIY watching TH-cam.
@@Chicago48 Yep, but, he's not going to apologize and tell you that HE'S going to be a better contractor, just that he used to ignore phone calls and texts or just not show up at all, then turn around and COMPLETELY glaze over everything he JUST said.
@@Oc4ever12 Nope, sure aren't. People will ALWAYS spend money on the things they need and are important to them. They'll find the money--TRUST AND BELIEVE!
I've been ripped off and overcharged by contractors because I'm an elderly widow. They knew I couldn't do the work myself. That's unethical and I don't have any sympathy now.
I’m a tattoo artist and it’s been really bad lately for me. I know what you’re going through because the exact same thing happened to me recently. Went from phone blowing up all the time and not being able to keep up with everyone to barely anyone contacting in a very short period of time. Just gotta keep advertising and don’t give up. In hard times people always cut back on luxury expenses first and things they feel they could maybe do themselves to save a buck or two.
It's not those little "luxuries" people have started to cut back on. It's the simple fact, that you service providers SUCK at business, whilst taking potential customers for granted and not treating them right. People are fed up with not having their phone calls and texts not returned, poor attitudes and HORRIBLE customer service on your part AND charging astronomical prices, only to get very little in return. People will ALWAYS spend money on the things they need and are important to them, so, your "theory is WAY off!
It's definitely money bro. I love tats, and I'd still be getting them if I had the money. Unfortunately a $400-$500 purchase is kind of out of the question right now
@@PhilippedeHertethey are popular but getting tattoos can become an expensive hobby real quick. I'd say it has to to with everything being so expensive in general.
I ran a buisness for years and the #1 thing that always got me work was Keeping my word and completing the job and leaving the work site spotless and word of mouth kept me busy. Also leaving business cards everywhere..
I'm a landlord and lots of old contractors are knocking on my door looking for work. They're over-charging though, and I'm doing a lot of the work myself. Contractor rates are totally out-of-control right now. An A/C business wanted $900 (!) to clean an outdoor mini-split condenser. I bought a $15 can, turned on the garden hose, and did it myself. That's going to be the way.
Exactly, most handy men charge 75 to 100 $ per hour. I started learning small things. I have a masters degree wirking on technilogy and I wont be paid anything near 75$ per hour.
Yeah I had a drip in my upstairs unit and called an AC company to check it out. They said it was a pipe clog under my bathroom sink. They wanted 600 bucks for a 20 minute job. Tried negotiating and they said no. I told them kick rocks and got my handyman to do it for 75. Problem is all gone. These companies pray on desperate people because this happened in the middle of summer when it was 100 degrees out.
I hear a lot of complaints from renters about not being able to afford $2000/month or $3000/month rents on apartments. However, I always hear it from the renter's side. Would like to hear the landlord's side of it.
I’m an electrical contractor. I’ve told people for years, if you go into business for yourself, live on a budget, put everything else in a savings. You will see hard times and recessions. Winter into next summer is going to be rough.
@@theHairyProject I’ve been working in the trades since 1980. I know in 91 my whole state was starving while my friends in Florida only saw a slowdown. Some areas are always worse. Here in my state now it has slowed a lot. Right now
I received several estimates of around $12,000 to redo a bathroom shower. The contractor wanted to use fake tile boards for the job. I did the job myself for $3000. The total price included ripping everything out to the studs and real quality tile and upgraded shower head. Both Home Depot and Lowes rent the tools necessary for most jobs.
I’m in HVAC and I noticed approx 3 months ago people stopped having money to fix their furnace or a/c’s. Anything over $100-$200 in repairs is impossible for people to scrape together. Our country is in true trouble this time.
60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, then student loan payments kicked back in. The new minimum is about $150 a month. It used to be $50 before the pandemic. You tell me how that is supposed to work? If they had been wiped clean, we would have been a lot better off because America has a consumer economy. If people aren't spending money, it falls apart. The republicans basically just assured that will be much worse.
@@dg1178 There is no such thing as "wiping debt clean." Someone has to pay for it and in this case it would be the tax payers. However, I would much rather that than this money laundering trash going on in the Ukraine right now. Hell, they still aren't even helping the Hawaiians yet.
@@Delimon007 Under fractional reserve banking, loans are wiped clean all the time through bankruptcy, no one pays for it because the money never existed in the first place, it was all a fiction created on paper. That's how the money system works.
Ive been in construction over 20 years. You have good years and vad years. You have to be ready for the bad ones. The mistake people make is get into a lot of debt. During a good year you can make over 100k and you start assuming that its here to stay. When a bad year gets you might only make 30k. And your debt gets you fast. You gotta stay humble in the good times.
This is not your run of the mill bad year. If you believe that I have a bridge in Manhattan to sell ya. The economy is going to crash anytime in next year. In case you haven’t heard, other than previous “ bad” years as you say, we have never been 33 TRILLION IN DEBT, food and gas prices at levels not seen in 30-40 years, and the dollar about to be replaced as worlds currency. If you think it’s just a bad year, well, good luck w that.
I'm just going to throw this out there to consider also...as a homeowner I had to file a claim recently and usually do it myself or hire a local "small" guy. My insurance company informed me that by "contract" on the policy the repairs had to be completed by a licensed contractor or they would cancel my insurance. They did not know I had already paid off 90% of my 30 yr mortgage in 12 years... so the insurance companies and mortgage companies are looking for any excuse to kick people out of homes or restructure things. I'm paying off the mortgage and cancelling the homeowners insurance. I'll save my money and fix things myself after that. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only homeowner dealing with shady manipulation and fighting inflation. Luckily I shut down my business 3 years ago as I saw all of this coming with the economy. The hard times are just beginning. These are just the beginning of the birth pains for the "new" economy. rofl
Lol. You're the type of customer we run away from. Insurance pays FMV or below, it is for a contractor to do the work, not the homeowner. Having insurance and not knowing how to use it, is YOUR fault. If you ever have a disaster hit your home (fire can be one) and you have no insurance, you're eating the repairs cost. If you have insurance, and you think you can do it all, you're gonna really screw it up for yourself. Big claims are no joke.
@@c.m.2747 wrong, insurance is a scam and rip-off and more are slowly COMING to the REALIZATION. Save 10k a year and reinvest and when a situation does occur you have a huge nest egg and the skills to properly build back YOUR OWN property instead of begging for funds and dealing with thieves on all ends.
No it’s not! Biden is the best president ever! I enjoy paying more for every day items! And having less for retirement! As long there’s no mean tweets!
@@sharkcapper This is a monumental economic problem that has been staring us down for the past 30 years. Neither party has addressed it almost at all in that entire time. Don't just look to the current leader as if somehow decades of building issues are the current guys problem only.
@@lordcrekit decades? Really? I remember thriving 3 years ago. Paying 2% for my mortgage, $2 gas, and my 401K thriving. You and I are paying $700 more per month on all expenses.
As a licensed Home Inspector, this is my worst year in 14 years. The economy is terrible, but the housing market is the worst. One thing I will point out to you, all of those customers that you were too busy to reply to when you were busy, that was a mistake. You could have established a relationship with some of them and maybe some of the others would be reaching out now or in the future. Always touch base with the client that reaches out. Even if you’re too busy, take advantage of the opportunity. Good luck moving forward my friend.
I got my plumbing license in June and started my business in Sacramento area , my prices are very reasonable and now I’m trying to get clients as much as I can . It’s hard, but I know that the best way for me is be honest with my clients and provide the best service and even more .
The blue collar man has learned the meaning of the term “demand destruction”. You can’t treat people like crap and have horrible customer service when times are good and then expect them to come to you when times are bad
Apart of this is real. Contractors kept charging my parent $8000 just to show up and not finish the job. They just stopped construction and gave up for now. They also make trash on the property and don’t clean up.
From the customer side of this, I can tell you calling a handyman is my last resort. Between the ones who say will work any job, then tell you the job is too small, to asking outrageous prices if they will take the job, there is no incentive to reach out. And as you said, you did not return phone calls, so as a customer, I would not call you again later. Don't get me wrong, I feel for you, and all small business/independent contractors in these hard times. But lets be honest also. There are plenty of bad ones out there, who over charge, only want big jobs, and do not stand behind their work. I would love to have my bathroom remodeled, but there is no way I am spending that kind of money in todays environment. Guess elections have consequences after all
Lol. my sister paid over 10k for a small bathroom remodel. Something I could do over the weekend for less than a grand. I too have called for services and typically never get anybody and no return calls, I don't call again. Thanks to youtube university I do fine.
I have to agree with you. I bought a fixer-upper house 8 years ago, and the prices I was quoted by contractors were insane and openly exploitative. I learned how to do most everything myself and fixed the whole house up for a couple grand over 5 years. If I used contractors, it would have been tens of thousands. For example: 1. quote to paint house interior, $7000.00 plus I buy the paint. I bought about $600.00 of paint and did it myself over the summer. 2. quote to put in two tiny vinyl basement windows, $2000.00! (the windows only cost about $80.00!). I did it myself and bought fancier windows for $160.00, still was less than $2000.00. New neighbors just bought the house next door and they are getting fleeced like crazy. Like $4500.00 financed money for "trim work" on the house, and all he did was a couple short yards! The neighbors seem to be doing more themselves now. I guess they finally figured it out.
I don't think the customers always understand that employing anyone is super expensive. You can't get anyone that is good for under $20 an hour. That really translates to $28 or $29 that them employer is paying. Plus insurance and all the overhead.
@@FifthKnowledgeAs a construction worker, I totally understand your point of view. It was (is still at some degree) a bad circle. We have to pay employee and demand was so high, that the only way to keep them was to pay higher wage. Since we need them for the demand, we cannot afford to let them go, so even if they are slacker, we tolerate. It changes a 40 h job to a 60h job. But people STILL bought, so the circle continues. Now it is ending
I lived in a higher income neighborhood in the past and hated how handymen jacked up their prices because I worked my ash off From the age of 16 to get where I got and be able to live where I did. To me that is a form of fraud. Never in my life did I think $120 for an hour or two work was not worth it no matter what day or time of day. Now disabled living on a fifth of what I did for most of my life I still do what little I can and am happy to make $20 here and there within my current abilities.
$120 wouldn’t even cover my expenses. So let’s put this into perspective. Average homeowner spends 6k per month in bills. Let’s say you’re lucky to have a spouse so will call it 3k. Then you have business expenses, now doing it the right way will likely cost you 1500. So 4,500 to break even. You need to bring in $54,000. Not so fast, need to calculate taxes. Add other 15k between personal & business. 69,000 per year to Break even. That’s $265 you need to make, working every week, no vacations … no injuries, no fatigue, etc. that’s means that are your $120… he wouldn’t start making money until the 11th job he did that week working 5 days a week. Even if he bumped it to 6 days… it’s not outrageous to ask for a $200 minimum. People always spouting off … being an employee is much different than a business owner. I hear you but … $120 is not sustainable as a business for many people based on average monthly expenses. Period. Hope it gives you a different perspective. Whatever has happened in your life doesn’t change that. Good luck to you
@@themiddleclasstaxslave651 You mean your expenses are more than $120 or $60 an hour? What are you injecting and how often? My portion of apartment rent is $27 a day so that would cover 4 days of rent. Not bad to me!
@@themiddleclasstaxslave651 Who says you have to own a home and live in an expensive area. I worked out my last 18 years of home ownership compared to my apartment. I would have put $250,000 in my pocket if I rented instead during that period and that accounts for the profit from the sale of my house. My expenses are under $2,000 a month. I saved most of my life and now earn in this 5% CD environment $2,500 a month on the cash portion of my savings. I make $320 a month working about three 2 hour days a month since I am disabled and can't do much (spend 3 hours during the day plugged into a medical device). Sounds to me like you might think about reselling online because the expenses are much less that way, requires no tools, you have millions of potential customers including internationally, etc. Plenty of people make over 100K a year doing it or so it appears after some time (not me, I can't work much) others make more.
Glad you were seeing what we are going through since you wouldn’t go to someone’s house unless it was $250. I’m glad that in your neighborhood people can do that people have been suffering and cannot stand Handyman in workers.
Finally the only truthful comment in the entire freaking comment section! This has selected child sniffer written all over it, I would've thought by now people would come to their senses and realize how important it is to vote on policies that run the country like a successful business. Because right now we're going down the drain and we're kicking ass under the previous administration that was pro oil production pro oil usage pro oil everything! When planes trains and automobiles use oil to deliver products and the price of oil is sky high you feel it in the wallet!
@@meathooksmcgee662 The govt knows they're immune to consequences. They wouldn't be doing the things they're doing now if they were worried about being destroyed politically.
I am a handyman myself. When I started out, my fee was $ 75 to show up and do something small, and get a good review. It's gotten so bad that I'm doing that again. Everything you listed in this video is spot on. I'm getting undercut at every turn, and my main customers are not spending any money. I'm scared ! This reminds me of 2008 a lot ! Even scarier, I think this is just the start of a long, painful economic time. A lot of people are going to go out of business if it stays like this for very long.
scared? that's not useful at all. scared because you're reminded of something you've already been through? shouldn't you be better off the 2nd time than? You'll be alright just hang in there, stay on your feet, pay attention, you'll make it.
I'm a dentist. We are kind of like handyman for teeth. And yes you are correct. I see this being the start of a very long war of attrition. Lots of people won't make it to other side. The 2020 lockdowns were nothing. This 2024 recession will smash people. Those businesses that have high overhead won't make it. Those who are nimble and flexible by being small will survive. Take whatever job you can. Don't be picky and worry about margin. All positive cashflow is good at the moment, whether its $1 or $1000.
@@TheBriansledentist and dental care is a big money scam. Dentistry has not evolved for 500 yrs. Still drilling and pulling teeth like its 1790. Where is the caries preventing bacteria spray? How is it possible that an infant is the same cost form 20 yrs? Dentistry is a money rackett.
@@TheBriansleman I am sorry but I am sick and tired of all of you dentists or medical professionals lol. I have been overcharged so much over nothing, I don’t even come from the USA just living now here and insurance is a godawfull scam. Never woul I have ever expected to pay money on top of money even with the best insurance my dad has. I don’t mind if people like you go out of business
Most jobs are truly small jobs. People arent going to wait until 9 wall outlets go out to hire an electrician. They'll spend 2-4 hours prepping how to do it on their own. When guys say I charge X to show up and it's pretty damn high, like beyond an hour or 2 of pay... That's chasing away a lot of jobs. The more people do their own work, the less people hit guys up to do work for themz because now they know how to do it. And wont pay some guy a lot of money to show up for 15 mins.
As a locksmith I am seeing the same thing. When I give a price for a lost key, I get the sign in their voice I only heard when I was dealling with someone with a very low paying job. With inflation now those people may be paid the same as 2 years ago, but inflation turned their job into low paying. I made 30k less in 2022 and in 2023 It's going to be 1/2 as much as I made in 2021 Edit: I have put about 6K in repairs to my van i the last 2 years. People don't get it when I tell them there's a charge for going out to look at a job I can easily qoute over the phone. A lot of times a customer tells me their key needs to be reprogrammed. When I ask them what the theft light is doing when they turn the key to the "on" position. They get frustrated and want me to come out for free and check myself. With that comes a fee and they don't want to pay it. A lot of times it ends up being a starter or a fuse/or relay, or a gear shift cable. Sometimes it's even a dead battery. If I go out there they want me to fix the problem and some things I won't do like starters and gear shift cables, or blown engines lol.
Yup, all of these contractors who were refusing work for "something better" (or easier), are now paying the price. Same thing happened in 2008...people that refused work with me, were begging for it. I've kept my prices low, resisting the urge to raise them to "account for inflation" like my competitors, and have added extra freebies along with it, and I'm doing ok. But I saw this coming years ago, and have paid everything off, installed solar, etc. Everyone laughed at me then, but they're not laughing now.
Everyone has a price to do something. These people thought they could get more, it’s not greedy they’re just reading the industry and getting out of it what they feel they can
@@NicEeEe843 they just went on strike and demanded higher wages from their employers (the customers). everyone supports people refusing to work and demand higher pay until their AC stops working in july and the local AC repair owner says hes on strike unless you pay him $300 an hour..... then they throw a fit calling the working class greedy! i guess everyone becomes cheap or greedy when its their turn to pay someone to work for them.
No matter how busy you are at any point always return phone calls when people leave you messages asking for a call back. Chances are if you don't call them back, they will never call you ever again for anything else.
Anyone who’s had 50 calls a day but can only handle like 4 jobs a day knows you simply can’t get back to everyone. Especially running a single truck owner operator. Everyone making this statement literally doesn’t understand his business model as a single truck guy. He isn’t able to to hire an office manager for $20 an hour and then would have to run at least 3 more trucks and somehow find quality technicians to run those trucks who don’t mind hard work. Hard to do. So stop with the criticism.
@samweaver123 Any business owner with a little bit a common sense would know how vital their customers are to the success and survival of their business. 50 messages is probably an exaggerated number, but whatever the number is you should be returning those calls no matter what because those people are NOT going to call again. And if you're getting 50 voicemails a day then you're just not answering the phone. You're never too busy or successful to fail. This video is a perfect example because this dude is now struggling to find jobs and is probably wishing right now that he had returned those calls that went unanswered. If you want to use the excuse that you're too busy that's just BS. The truth is you're just not making the time for it and your business will suffer in the long run because of it.
This statement is only true if he doesn't actually want business. The complaint is that he'd have to hire more people/trucks to fulfill the work? Unless he specifically just wants to be a 1-truck business, that's a horrible argument. If you're getting 50 calls a day and you close on a paltry 10% of those calls, that's 5 jobs/day at a minimum of $125: so, $625/day worth of work. If you hired someone for $20/hr for say 20 hours a week, the worst you'd end up after payroll taxes etc. is pulling even. And again, that's worst-case (where every job is the minimum cost, probably overpaying just to answer/return calls, and only a 10% call-to-job rate).
I'm sorry to hear it man but rest assured, it's affecting everyone. I own a Martial Arts school out here where I live and I've lost 17 students in the last 2 months. My school is still doing okay, but I'm definitely feeling the pinch and something does have to change in this country.
The increase in prices is directly related to a contractor's cost to do business. Everything has gone up dramatically. Materials, fuel, tools, insurance, food, vehicles, etc etc etc. You can't expect a contractor to absorb all that.
Yeup! Not too long ago there was an earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA that felt more like a jolt than a back n' forth shake. Found out the support beam in the front of our house holding up a part of the roof had shifted away from the house like 8in. We called a "Structural Engineer" that wanted $3,000 just to come out and make an estimation, I sh!t you not. Found a handy man in the neighborhood literally just down the street that not only had a free estimation but redid the entire pillar and hauled away the waste for under 2,200. Looks great and twice as secure as it used to be. 👍Hope he doesn't mind the shoutout lol. David Perry in Morgan Hill, CA
@@carbonking53you can’t expect clients to spend money they don’t have either. As a IC you’re living in reaction to people’s paychecks and can only collect what they can afford to spend. That’s the rub
I designed and built my own 14’ x 38’ composite deck for a 1/3 of what it would have been by contractor. Plus, it turned out BETTER than any contractor would have done, no doubt.
@@viktordmitriev8973 Yes! Same with mechanics. Hard to find honest ones. I finally gave up and only lease cars. Rather deal with sales men every 3 years than mechanics.
I’m a Nanny lately is being terrible, normally people hire me a full time position but now I’m in a call and part time, weekends was a busy time now I have not calls many weekends or week days is scary, I’m behind in rent, services etc. Parents aren’t making money for many services, they don’t have money!
Retail sales are down across the board and the household survey proves major corporations are cutting job's across the board recently due to a decrease in profitability. It's the affect of the interest rates finally kicking consumption in the nuts in combination with the cost of living spike we've had over the last couple years.
My father is an excavator and has been telling me his phone has been ringing much less. Then the jobs he does get as soon as he is finished the people are challenging the prices and refusing to pay. He has received numerous complaints to the county and state from the customers. He has been in business for 30 years and told me the last time something like this happened was in 2008. He works in a very high income county and even they seem to be running out of money. You brought up thinking something was wrong with your phone and my dad has called me multiple times to check that his phone was still working.
the bottom obviously has the worst of it to deal with but actually doesnt move much. so it makes sense actually that you notice it in the places where theres money. people with money pay more attention to their money. people already struggling to get by will still just be struggling to get by, so it doesnt change as much.
@@saeedhossain6099 exactly. they're the ones focused on money & they're also the ones who don't usually appreciate actual workers. maybe not consciously but a lot of them sort of feel like you're doing bum work like its beneath them. let it all go to shit though & who will society need? they'll find out eventually.
My daughter and I went to an excellent Japanese steak house last night and there were only 3 other customers in the entire restaurant. I’ve been going there for 7 years and never saw the place that empty.
In my area, business is thriving. It's a simple matter for me of trade specific contractors price gouging and other handymen not showing up, ripping folks off, and lack of skill set. Along with the constant of showing up drunk/high. I've actually recently raised my pricing for new customers. I hate to hear anyone's business falling off though. Maybe you've just hit a rough spot. I do completely agree with the fact everyone is broke. I am doing less aesthetic or luxury type jobs and am getting more mandatory repairs instead.
My friend, in the last couple of months I've learned how to change oil, change brake calipers, change brakes, change headlights, fix my dryer, learned to use all types of different tools. What I'm saying is people being broke has people learning how to do things themselves that they'd usually pay for in the past. I'm happy I'm learning new skills. I hate your business has dipped man. Hope it picks back up.
I really need to start doing repairs on my vehicle myself prices for auto work have become astronomical. $65 for an oil change with a coupon. lol they can fuck off.
Masonry guy here…I made the mistake of investing into advertising in 2007, it was a huge mistake. Commited to$15k and the phone still didn’t ring at all. Be careful people.
Referrals and word of mouth are the best advertising. I started with home advisor 20 years ago and that got me started. I still have clients from 20 years ago and now their other family members too.
I have never been busier. I'm not a handyman, I'm a builder. Never charged for showing up to give an estimate for a job. I can't keep up. Quality work and reputation doesn't require advertising, word of mouth from past customers gets me more work than I can handle.
Comparing building a house to being a handyman. Not comparable, in contrast to be fair, one job is months or a years worth of work when building a whole house. Versus handyman type of work is several sale jobs per week. Then to compare the price of one versus the other considering the investment to the customer, are also extremes. Great your doing well, but you suggest the handyman is doing something wrong.
My husband is a general contractor and he’s been extremely busy pre-Covid. He has customers waiting for him because they don’t trust anyone else. Majority of his customers are by referral as well. He has built a great reputation and he does superb work every single time!
I can confirm. I am in the PNW. Work has dropped off like it stepped off a cliff. I have been booked out weeks, and at times, even months in advance for many years without any advertising. I have another week of worked scheduled but nothing after. I am going to have to start advertising like I did in the beginning.
I just paid a handyman $500 for 4 hours work. I’m an older disabled widow, I can’t get on the floor or climb a ladder anymore so I feel short on options. It didn’t used to be this way. If you called someone, they returned your call. If you set an appointment, they showed up. When they showed up, they were sober. I’ve always been a good customer and paid on the spot.
lol about the sober part. I show up to all my appointments :). 4 hours may seem like nothing but was it 4 hours of changing light bulbs? 4 hours of roofing? 4 hours of demolition?.
Not everyone is like that. There are bad eggs in every industry. Please don’t judge us all, for how some people are. Hope you find someone that is fair and shows up sober.
My dad did construction work for all his life. I used to be his assistant on jobs. We bought a house 2 years ago and had a little work done. The work literally cost 2-3x more than I expected it would, and I knew what it would cost if my dad had done it. I'm not sure if it's people don't have money, or they don't have THAT KIND of money these days. Something that should have cost 5K a few years ago is now 10K. Prices might have doubled, but my pay sure didn't.
100% increase on a hundred dollars is 200. That easy to swallow. A 50 grand job now cost 100-150 grand. That will make most say NO thanks. The issue is income has fallen way behind inflation.
ive been painting houses since i was a kid a gallon of interior oil based paint went from 60 3 years ago to 104 that was the biggest increase but every material i use is up at least 30% over 3 years. The other problem is labor guys i pay 30 an hour which i think is alot, in alabama prob not in cali, are quitting cause its not enough money
Wages are stagnant, prices for everything are skyrocketing, majority of the working population living paycheck to paycheck, or just increasing their debt. There isn't much money for extracurricular things and if something can go without being fixed it's probably not going to be fixed
(Canadian) I live in a very tourist heavy area and I have a few friends who have played live music at local venues for decades non stop. They are having to find other jobs because the restaurants, vineyards and venues aren't hiring live music. I'm a landlord and normally I hire all my Reno work out but right now I'm having to do it all myself because of the costs.
This is exactly what I have been telling all of the people I have tried calling these past few years to get stuff done. I told them it will dry up and they will be begging locals for work. Well I ended up doing most of my own work and hiring out of state for the other work to get stuff done. I have had at least a dozen calls from the local guys the past couple of months asking if I still needed the work done and all I have to say is I told you so. Even in good times, don't mess with your good local customers. We may only have some small jobs, but when times get tough, we can get you through it if you treat us right.
Agree. I take almost any job and i price them fairly and live off of referrals and have lots of work because of it. 20 year gets lots of clients and lots of referrals if you treat people right.
Ive been through it myself alot of times its not that I dont want the job its just that I am so backed up I cant commit to anything else because I know people would just be mad at how long it took me to get to it which i try and explain
I feel for you man. Learn plumbing or electrician work (specialized area). I can tell you as a landlord, I learned a lot of things myself last year (replace faucet, patch walls, painting walls/doors, replace interior doors etc.) due to handyman getting so expensive past year. I am in South Florida. In the past I could get handyman for $30/hr and now its $70-$100/hr with min $300 here. So, I just fix most of the stuff myself. Wish you all the best.
Handyman prices tripled, customers' incomes didn't. People's incomes have gone down in the aggregate to about 2019 levels so that's what handymen should be charging to be in line with the market. People can go ahead and ignore this until they go months with no orders, then they'll either fold or come back to reality.
Those weren't handyman. Those were crackheads who owned hammers. Explain how at $30 an hour he pays the basics of life. $700 for trades insurance. Fuel cost. Maintenance cost. And the rest of the list of overhead. You get what you pay for. As someone who does construction/hamdyman type services i lose money charging less than $75 per hour with a 2 hour minimum.
My son’s a painting contractor in SE Arizona. Same thing. About 6 mos. back his business fell off dramatically. It’s the economy - this Administration is catastrophically bad.
Found an excellent handyman here in Florida who is amazing. His only problem is time management. Between work & family, he is juggling both quite well. 55+ communities keep him in full time work.
I was in business for 45 years and was busy all the time. My most important rule was to always promptly return every call. As I started to begin my retirement I was less prompt returning my calls. Very quickly the phone was ringing less. Best wishes
Great advice! I also run a successful handyman business. I’ve never advertised. Every job I get is a referral and I trade for 98% of every inquiry. I believe work that comes from referral is way better than work generated from advertising. I feel most of the ones who call me already know they want me to do the work. If they ask for an estimate, it’s not because they comparing prices. They just want an idea of what the project entails. Anytime I hear an independent contractor advertise, I automatically think they must be doing lousy work or they wouldn’t need to advertise. If you offer a good value, do great work and are dependable, the work will find you. I work by myself for myself. There’s only so many jobs I can get to. I will often turn work down because the projects will be larger than what fits my business format. I always answer calls regardless. Just my 2 cents
I had the same problem happen to me in 2008. I lived in a town of 1,500,000 and 90 percent of my work came from realtors. It was a booming business for 12 years and then it was like someone threw a light switch. Business vanished. I read in the paper that 15,000 local construction workers had been laid off. I figured that if only 1 percent of those had decided to do what I was doing it definitely could not support those figures. That would have added 150 more handymen. It was a shock. I solved the problem by retiring and moving to Argentina. Now play a lot of golf.
Ten years ago I closed a very successful HVAC business, and I definitely had my pulse on the economy for the 10 years I was in business. I could see the economy from the customer's, technicians, and suppliers point of view, not to mention the banking, accounting, tax side as well. I survived 2008 and made money hand over fist through till 2012, when things just died. I got out rather than die a slow death.
You are 100% Correct, I sold Furniture for the last few years and made good money flipping and fixing and selling online. But last November I saw a decline and didn't understand Why, it took Months for me to realize it was the economy. It became Very hard to get furniture, and Very Hard to Sell at a price for a profit. I had to leave the business completely and do something new. The Government is Lying about how bad Inflation is, and its hurting people who believe them. Its affecting everyone. Great video!
I saw my food costs go up nearly 50% in the last two years. That hurts me the most, and I'm a single man living alone! I literally can't afford to date. Let alone feed a family.
Yeah it’s pretty scary. I’m starting to realize that I’m one of the few that still have a few coins left to rub together. I don’t even have a lot of money. I just don’t have any kids and have reduced expenses but I’m living like a monk compared to most people.
I'm a Uber/Doordash driver and I used to make $300 to $400 a day easy during the pandemic. It's been slowly declining ever since and currently, it's hard to make $100/day. I'm in California so I could apply for public assistance once my income fell so low but yea, that's what's happening to me right now.
@@justinthematrix Yea well, during the pandemic, it was possible to get constant pings from start to finish. 14 hours between two apps would get me to $400 on a good day. Now $100/day is hard.
About 10 trillion dollars was dumped on the U.S. economy during the pandemic. I would say, that to varying degrees, everyone got a taste. That funded a spending spree. Every single day, there were 7 or 8 Amazon trucks out in front, double parked, making deliveries. Now I rarely see one. I would say its time to shift gears for this post pandemic economy. You have to figure out a new strategy; go where the money is.
When I take a Uber I always ask them how’s business and they have been telling me the same thing you said. Seems like Uber is taking more and more of the fare yet charging the customer more while the drivers get peanuts. I stopped using it. I’m not paying $20 for a 15 minute ride where the driver is getting 5 dollars.
I have been doing 5 roofing jobs per week since I first opened my roofing company right after Covid . The last 4 months or so it’s completely fallen off a cliff . We are down to 1 roof a week and I have 3 more roofs booked before I run out of roofs to do . Normally we have 25-30 on the books all the time . Shit is about to get real very soon
Cool, maybe I can finally get a decent price for a roof. Many people have money but are not just gonna hand it over to an overpriced handyman. Get your prices in order and you will have no problem getting jobs.
I've put ads in papers and no one responded. The ones who actually showed up expected to be paid by the hour to text on their phone, chat or endless smoke breaks. Zero work done. I'm a do-it-myselfer but I'm less than 100 pounds and carrying a full sheet of drywall up a ladder and fastening it down is much easier with help...but no one wants to do work. It's getting too scary to let strangers in nowdays.
My personal experience with trying to get a small remodeling project done is that everybody I call is booked up 4-12 months in advance. There are many people who have 2% mortgage loans and are doing everything possible to NOT move. overpaying for an addition is cheaper than buying a whole new house and paying an extra 20k/year in mortgage interest.
I’m near Philadelphia. A bunch of my friends in the trades, plumbers, electricians, wood workers, painters, beauticians, etc., are all getting undercut by recent immigrants displaced by the Ukranian/Russian conflict. They are doing work for like 30-50% of the price that was normal a few years ago.
thats also why big business wants open borders and more H1B visa workers. creates a permanent peasant underclass they can rule over forever. makes everyone desperate.
@@manager4409 everyone is wondering when the housing prices will drop, and they won’t. 3mil per year coming through last 3 years documented… if our population increased 10mil in 3 years, adding roughly 3% at least to total… that’s part of the reason rent prices are crazy.
Ive been into residential remodeling/handyman for 20 years. I have lots of clients and they refer me to lots of people. I was on Home advisor for 20 years which was good starting out. Just stopped with them this year due to a technicality. I have so many jobs lined up and 3 quotes this saturday and 2 next saturday. REFERRALS are the KEY and treating people right. I do everything so they dont have to shop around for different trades. Bath remodels, whole house painting inside and out, deck refurbishing, hanging light fixtures etc, plumbing, electrical. I have ZERO DEBT since 2008 which helps me not have to work all the time if i dont want to. GOOD workers are hard to find and if you do good work you will get repeat business. I do one job for somebody and they immediately want me to quote other stuff for them. Treat people right and dont be a hack is the best advice I can give. Seasonal slow downs are normal.
Same here! My husband did over 6 figures his first year. And has ever since. As of today we are fully booked Mon-Sat until end of January 2024. Doing the best work and always returning calls will always get you clientele. We’ve never had to pay anyone to advertise. I do it all through social media, I sent up quotes, sometimes every single day after work and Saturdays. I set up the quote appointments, invoice and collect on them so that my husband only has to focus on the job itself. REFERRALS all the way!!
I was self-employed for a little over 20 years. The first six months of 2007 were the best six months that I ever had and then the bottom fell out during the last six months. My business never recovered and I was lucky to sell it to one of my local customers in 2012. Good luck my friend.
They aren’t fleecing you, they probably make 10-20% profit. Self employed about 30-40% on a good day. Customers are cheap because they aren’t making money
$250 an hour for handyman services is outrageous! Lawyers and doctors don’t charge that much. In the past when I have attempted to hire handyman services I can’t get anyone on the phone, no one returns my calls, they no show for estimates and if you ask any questions related to insurance or a license they just hang up. Sure there are a lot of people who struggle financially, but even people who are doing ok can they justify paying someone 10 times their salary to come tighten loose door knobs and dripping faucets?
what is fair is only determined by the market. not your opinion.... if everyone except you is paying 250 for repairs, then you should do it yourself...
doesnt take license or insurance to do handyman jobs. your gov has done a good job of making you believe such things are "required" when instead they are a tax on the individual and lead to increased cost on yourself the consumer with no benefits.
Car hauler here. Yes, it’s also very slow in my area. To many drivers, not too many cars being transported. Probably less people buying cars. This economy is getting very scary. God bless all small businesses owners.
Be careful with lowering your prices. You can actually price yourself out of the market so to speak customers have to perceive a value in what you’re doing and if you drop too low they’re going to be worried your don’t know what you’re doing especially in hard times you’re right, you do have to try and stand out, but I would try to keep your prices the same and maybe just throw something small in for them so they can perceive a value that you’re trying to work with them rather than drop to rock-bottom because you won’t be able to afford to keep a roof over your head that way wish you the best keep up the good work
I am a mechanic and the past few weeks there has been a change big time. Nobody has money anymore and if it’s not covered under warranty (free) people don’t want it.
I can defitely see that, but I would think because of the car market, people would have to cough up the money to keep whatever they have running as it's so expensive to get another vehicle now so it would offset it.
Well, they're also tired of getting screwed over by automotive repair shops. it's a very skeevy business and is extremely easy to rape customers out of their money. They do it all the time. Been doing it for years and everyone of us that takes our vehicles to a shop has been caught in the crosshairs of some shady business practices.
@FITNESSOVER45 Oh, I know. I own a 99 Honda prelude that they made only 48k during that generations entire run so it is very hard to get anything for it. My daily driver is a 97 Toyota 4Runner so you know with such old vehicles I’m an auto parts store regular. It’s still cheaper to keep those running than having a $700 car payment for a new car. And it’s less risky than having a $400 car payment for a little older vehicle and still have to deal with repairs.
I'm a trucker, and the number of 4-wheelers out there on the interstates with either one headlight or no tail lights or one headlamp on hi-beam is off the charts. 🚛💥💨
I don't call handymen anymore because they always try to charge a ~$200 just to come out and look at the work. This flat fee alone makes me just learn how to fix it myself and watch a youtube video on how to do it. You're pricing yourselves out of your own market. Handymen are likely a dwindling job field due to the sheer amount of diy videos and the cheap prices of products to buy directly and the successes of the videos.
Almost every job I've done is like this. I wonder if people think watching a TH-cam video will give them the skills to do heart surgery. Probably be a lot of dead people. Just like there's a lot of homeowners that shouldn't even own a home if you judge off the "repairs" made.
You have no idea what you are talking about I spend $400 of gas a week. But pls enlighten us. Working construction is putting your body on the line. You could get electrocuted or fall off a ladder. Etc
@@bringbackrealpeopleHave you tried turning off the electricity? Have you considered the fact that ladders are no exclusive to your profession? You don't get it: People are broke, and they won't be dishing out the big bucks required for major repairs. They simply can't afford it. They'll push back maintenance as far back as possible. But when it comes to the little things, they may be prodded to pay for the repairs. THIS right now is where the market is. Simply because people are more likely to pay $150 to repair a hole in a wall, rather than $850 to repair roof damage from a couple of nesting squirrels.
I grew up poor so I learned everything myself lol. And I mean EVERYTHING! From auto mechanics, to framing, to drywall, basic electrical, basic plumbing, HVAC, roofing... Not pro by any means (auto mechanics I'd consider myself advanced) but I've learned enough to maintain my property and cars. All out of necessity because growing up without money pushed me to save money by learning for myself.
I grew up rich and I step out into the real world only to find my nation is populated by third worlders. Its over lol, i hope everything becomes ruined. I want to see everyone fail.
I feel bad for the good ones out there but I think a lot of people are tired of the overquoting, ghosting and general slovenly behavior of most contractors. I’ve talked to a ton of people who just turned DIY because they can’t rely on anyone else.
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I appreciate a good handyman. I learned over the years how to do many things myself. But I don't touch electric or plumbing. But I usually call an electrician, plumber or a contractor that I have been using for years. Bad thing is that people you depend on for these types of things get older and cut back or retire.
As a rental property owner, it’s been a nightmare getting good contractors that make sense financially the last couple years. I’ve had no call no shows, people not even call back, etc. Then when they do come out, they’ll charge me retail home owner prices or significantly higher. I’m an investor. Overhead matters for both of us. Well the ones that did come out and do good work for a fair price, use good communication skills, and attack jobs effectively will always be my go-to’s going forward. Running a business and being a worker are 2 different skill sets. Contractors need to learn both in order to put food on the table in good and bad economies. I’ll pray for you guys though! It’s tough for everyone right now.
@@utubehandyman Unless you're starving for work, avoid rental property owners and Realtors altogether. They rarely if ever give referrals or give repeat business. They usually want something for nothing, including your time. They blow through contractors and handymen like toilet paper in a public restroom. Almost always low end customers.
@@feloniousmonk3049 I agree, and would add that some of the worst customers are Property Managers. When I was an HVAC contractor, I actually had some PMs tell me that I should do my first couple of jobs for them for FREE; then they would think about bringing me back based on the quality of my work! Well, you can guess what I told _them_!
@@feloniousmonk3049 The easy answer is to not fall into the trap of "I'll hook you up on plenty of more work in the future". If you lowball the job just to get the work, that's all you'll ever get out of them. I'd rather not get the job than kick myself in the ass every minute I'm on the job because I'm not getting the money I should. Seems like every time I did do a job for little money, something better would come along that I couldn't do because I was tied up on the nickel and dimer's job.
@@feloniousmonk3049Actually I keep a Rolodex of the good ones on my laptop and in my phone. And I do provide repeat business for them. Sounds like you’re not one of them🤣
As a licensed electrician, with a career spanning 35 years, I've been many things in the construction field! Trump carpenter, framer, plumber, cabinet installer, siding and cornice, handyman! During the 2008 crash things got bad fast! Scaled back my personal purchases and actually worked for less per hour, sometimes significantly less! I worked according to what people could afford! Figured some money was better than none at all! I survived and it's because I knew how to do alot of things! We in the trades will be needed to some degree, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive!
Most contractors started over charging after covid for some reason. I was quoted $500 to change out 3 outlets. $1500 to replace 4 interior doors. As a landlord that brings work in volume, some of the quotes I use to get were OUTRAGEOUS. I finally found my go to guy. He's not cheap, but definitely WAY more reasonable than most. How can a person expect to build relationships by over charging a potential long term customer. That's just bad business
Estimates got really insane. We bought our home in 2018 and saw how estimates on getting our HVAC. /ducting system upgraded started out around $15K in 2018. By 2021 after refinancing we finally had the funds to do it we spent $20K and that didn't even include insulation. And pool build prices almost doubled during and after the pandemic. Car dealers were marking up truck prices $10K, $15K even $20K.
4 doors are about $800 hardware $200 paint $250 dispose of old doors $25 thats 1225.00 cost with no labor. How much do you want to pay the guy to do this?
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Replacing windows on my house was quoted at $135,000. My entire house cost $240,000 just 15 years ago. Prices these days are so beyond insane that I refuse to hire anyone to do anything anymore; I do it all myself.
never call the big companies, they charge even more than me lol
wow run
Wow...do you have some kind of old Victorian that requires custom wood windows? If you just have a regular house and are wanting standard double pane windows, call Window World, had mine done last year, they charge $350 per window installed regardless of the size...takes 10 weeks to get your windows as they are built to fit perfectly into your existing space.
I also do all my work now prices are getting outrageous.
Ok now that’s just insane. Sounds to me like they didn’t want the work.
For the last two years trying to hire a carpenter or handyan has been a nightmare. No return calls, not showing up for quotes, or refusing to give an estimate on my " small jobs". My neighbors have the same problem. So I've learned basic plumbing and carpentry skills on TH-cam. Unless I need an electrician I'll do it myself!
Exactly. I've had the same problem so now I dont even bother reaching out.
Nice, me too! TH-cam is like plugging into the matrix for 99% of home improvement and repair work (besides electrical), it's been an absolute boon.
Facts… I wanted to get my cabinets striped and stained. I had a budget of $3000 ( $2000 upfront and 2 payments of $500 a month). Got quoted $4500 and another for $10,000 - $18,000.
I did it myself for $1,500 and it took me 3 days (24 hours).
It's bullshit the strangle hold electrical has over us. I can wire a barn, but not a house. Dumb
This. Couldn't find anyone to do drywall tape in one room, have to do it myself. Even handymen don't want small jobs anymore. From the point of homeowner it's the opposite, nobody wants my money if it's less than at least $1000 in one job, so I have to learn to be a handyman myself.
I work full time as a carpenter and I can build anything in a house, But I can't afford a house; I've never owned a house; And I live in my van.
I have no family or love in my life. Please pray for me. Thank you.
how old are you?
My toilet was broke and a local handyman co wanted 500 bucks to replace the pump. I went the lowes and bought one for 35 bucks ans installed it myself after watching a youtube video.
What I would just charge you for the toilet and transporting it that's a $200 job tops maybe 250
As a woman- I do ALL my own repairs including my truck. I got sick of being lied to, overcharged, and then they do a halfass job. It's cheaper and less painful to just learn as I go.
Respect, thats the way miss! no excuse now youtube and the internet is a thing. Youre doing more things than most blokes....
@@willhodgson862 Yes we are!
We're ALL sick of being lied to and getting a half-ass job.
Hilarious when people need to point out their genitalia to get extra attention...😂
As a man - no one cares. Men have been doing this all along.
I’ve been a tradesman over 20yrs I can tell you things are worse than I’ve ever seen them in that time, good luck to everyone.
My attitude 💯
@@geocam2indeed. It is the banker's wax and wane that catches out the common folk.
Wow.
Concrete flatwork here in the Midwest, it’s busier then ever, it’s not all doom and gloom, every company I know is hiring
@@busabeater2exactly. Capitalism isn't a park and ride strategy. Not sure why everyone that's such a fan of this system also expects it to hold their hand for them.
If my elderly neighbor asked me to change a doorknob and tighten her faucet I would do it for free. I’m so grateful I had a patient father that taught me how to do small repairs myself. It sounds like handymen may have to appreciate their customers more than they have in the past.
I understand your point but you don't eat by doing things free for people. It's a business.
My town is hiring like crazy for odd jobs but the city makes you register like a contractor. It cost 300 to get the license/registration. And a 3 month wait at a min.
Everyone here is below or at poverty level so they have no money for these services. And ith our city code people fining on sight like they do, they cant save money to get major work done. It's hell. 125$ is too much for anyone here. You'd be looking at 20$ 30$ per job here.
2024 will be a deep recession. Not sure if it will be like 1929, but it maybe close.
Barter is viable too
An elderly lady got locked out of her home, non- deadbolt. They wanted $250 and I opened the door with an old credit card. She called to cancel the request, but they showed up 2 hours later and wanted $100 for coming out. I told her to just shut the door.
I am a paying customer and can say I rarely ever get my $ worth when hiring someone. With shrinkflation and companies not giving raises over the past decade, I see doing things myself as the better option.
The illegals coming over the border will work for food and $5 hour
Same for me as well.
I have been a self employed carpenter for over 40 years and lived through some hard times. You ain’t seen nothing yet people are in debt up to their eyeballs and broke.
I live in an apartment building and grateful for it. Our maintenance staff fixes everything and it's included in the apartment. Also reading these messages the average consumer is getting screwed by no-shows. I'm learning also how to DIY watching TH-cam.
They really are
People are not that broke.
@@Chicago48 Yep, but, he's not going to apologize and tell you that HE'S going to be a better contractor, just that he used to ignore phone calls and texts or just not show up at all, then turn around and COMPLETELY glaze over everything he JUST said.
@@Oc4ever12 Nope, sure aren't. People will ALWAYS spend money on the things they need and are important to them. They'll find the money--TRUST AND BELIEVE!
I've been ripped off and overcharged by contractors because I'm an elderly widow. They knew I couldn't do the work myself. That's unethical and I don't have any sympathy now.
These guys make the mistake of assuming things will remain the same. They have overcharged, now people are broke. Suck it up
That is horrible. I'm so sorry.
😂
Always get 3 quotes.
You think 3 contractors in a row wouldn't try to rip her off? Single women are preyed upon by weak minded simpleton men.
I’m a tattoo artist and it’s been really bad lately for me. I know what you’re going through because the exact same thing happened to me recently. Went from phone blowing up all the time and not being able to keep up with everyone to barely anyone contacting in a very short period of time. Just gotta keep advertising and don’t give up. In hard times people always cut back on luxury expenses first and things they feel they could maybe do themselves to save a buck or two.
Maybe tattoos aren't as popular as before?
@PhilippedeHerte that's definitely not the case lol more and more people I see nowadays have visible tattoos
It's not those little "luxuries" people have started to cut back on. It's the simple fact, that you service providers SUCK at business, whilst taking potential customers for granted and not treating them right. People are fed up with not having their phone calls and texts not returned, poor attitudes and HORRIBLE customer service on your part AND charging astronomical prices, only to get very little in return.
People will ALWAYS spend money on the things they need and are important to them, so, your "theory is WAY off!
It's definitely money bro. I love tats, and I'd still be getting them if I had the money. Unfortunately a $400-$500 purchase is kind of out of the question right now
@@PhilippedeHertethey are popular but getting tattoos can become an expensive hobby real quick. I'd say it has to to with everything being so expensive in general.
I ran a buisness for years and the #1 thing that always got me work was Keeping my word and completing the job and leaving the work site spotless and word of mouth kept me busy.
Also leaving business cards everywhere..
Yeah, 95 % of the handyman don't even own a broom.
I'm a landlord and lots of old contractors are knocking on my door looking for work. They're over-charging though, and I'm doing a lot of the work myself. Contractor rates are totally out-of-control right now. An A/C business wanted $900 (!) to clean an outdoor mini-split condenser. I bought a $15 can, turned on the garden hose, and did it myself. That's going to be the way.
Exactly, most handy men charge 75 to 100 $ per hour. I started learning small things. I have a masters degree wirking on technilogy and I wont be paid anything near 75$ per hour.
Yeah I had a drip in my upstairs unit and called an AC company to check it out. They said it was a pipe clog under my bathroom sink. They wanted 600 bucks for a 20 minute job. Tried negotiating and they said no. I told them kick rocks and got my handyman to do it for 75. Problem is all gone. These companies pray on desperate people because this happened in the middle of summer when it was 100 degrees out.
I hear a lot of complaints from renters about not being able to afford $2000/month or $3000/month rents on apartments. However, I always hear it from the renter's side. Would like to hear the landlord's side of it.
I dont overcharge. I give better deals than most contractors so I am booked till next year. Ive got tons of work.
We have a unit we’ve been trying to rent for 2 months and the county just keeps jacking up our taxes.
I’m an electrical contractor. I’ve told people for years, if you go into business for yourself, live on a budget, put everything else in a savings. You will see hard times and recessions. Winter into next summer is going to be rough.
@@theHairyProject I’ve been working in the trades since 1980. I know in 91 my whole state was starving while my friends in Florida only saw a slowdown. Some areas are always worse. Here in my state now it has slowed a lot. Right now
I received several estimates of around $12,000 to redo a bathroom shower. The contractor wanted to use fake tile boards for the job. I did the job myself for $3000. The total price included ripping everything out to the studs and real quality tile and upgraded shower head. Both Home Depot and Lowes rent the tools necessary for most jobs.
you should get into the bathroom remodeling business my friend
@@utubehandymanand charge $12,000😂😂😂
It's not so much they are "broke", it's that Inflation has went crazy, especially Housing Costs, people have no spare money anymore.
I’m in HVAC and I noticed approx 3 months ago people stopped having money to fix their furnace or a/c’s. Anything over $100-$200 in repairs is impossible for people to scrape together. Our country is in true trouble this time.
60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, then student loan payments kicked back in. The new minimum is about $150 a month. It used to be $50 before the pandemic. You tell me how that is supposed to work? If they had been wiped clean, we would have been a lot better off because America has a consumer economy. If people aren't spending money, it falls apart. The republicans basically just assured that will be much worse.
@@dg1178
There is no such thing as "wiping debt clean." Someone has to pay for it and in this case it would be the tax payers. However, I would much rather that than this money laundering trash going on in the Ukraine right now. Hell, they still aren't even helping the Hawaiians yet.
The USA is a dying empire. Americans are good people. Their government is evil. it's too bad all these good people are going to go down as a result.
@@Delimon007 Under fractional reserve banking, loans are wiped clean all the time through bankruptcy, no one pays for it because the money never existed in the first place, it was all a fiction created on paper. That's how the money system works.
@@Delimon007 You have no idea how money works. The federal government doesn’t function like a household budget. Sorry for your low IQ.
Ive been in construction over 20 years. You have good years and vad years. You have to be ready for the bad ones. The mistake people make is get into a lot of debt. During a good year you can make over 100k and you start assuming that its here to stay. When a bad year gets you might only make 30k. And your debt gets you fast. You gotta stay humble in the good times.
words of wisdom
This is not your run of the mill bad year. If you believe that I have a bridge in Manhattan to sell ya. The economy is going to crash anytime in next year. In case you haven’t heard, other than previous “ bad” years as you say, we have never been 33 TRILLION IN DEBT, food and gas prices at levels not seen in 30-40 years, and the dollar about to be replaced as worlds currency. If you think it’s just a bad year, well, good luck w that.
Facts!!
Agree. During good times save and prepare for the worst. We did as well.
Well said ! Some years are garbage.
This economy is the worst I have seen, worse than 2008, worse than 2001, worse than 1989.
Worse than 2008... in 08 we didn't have the border wide open and a government trying to given them work pernits.
I'm just going to throw this out there to consider also...as a homeowner I had to file a claim recently and usually do it myself or hire a local "small" guy. My insurance company informed me that by "contract" on the policy the repairs had to be completed by a licensed contractor or they would cancel my insurance. They did not know I had already paid off 90% of my 30 yr mortgage in 12 years... so the insurance companies and mortgage companies are looking for any excuse to kick people out of homes or restructure things. I'm paying off the mortgage and cancelling the homeowners insurance. I'll save my money and fix things myself after that. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only homeowner dealing with shady manipulation and fighting inflation. Luckily I shut down my business 3 years ago as I saw all of this coming with the economy. The hard times are just beginning. These are just the beginning of the birth pains for the "new" economy. rofl
Lol. You're the type of customer we run away from. Insurance pays FMV or below, it is for a contractor to do the work, not the homeowner. Having insurance and not knowing how to use it, is YOUR fault. If you ever have a disaster hit your home (fire can be one) and you have no insurance, you're eating the repairs cost.
If you have insurance, and you think you can do it all, you're gonna really screw it up for yourself. Big claims are no joke.
@@c.m.2747 wrong, insurance is a scam and rip-off and more are slowly COMING to the REALIZATION. Save 10k a year and reinvest and when a situation does occur you have a huge nest egg and the skills to properly build back YOUR OWN property instead of begging for funds and dealing with thieves on all ends.
You're totally on point. The middle class is shrinking quickly.
No it’s not! Biden is the best president ever! I enjoy paying more for every day items! And having less for retirement! As long there’s no mean tweets!
@@sharkcapper This is a monumental economic problem that has been staring us down for the past 30 years. Neither party has addressed it almost at all in that entire time. Don't just look to the current leader as if somehow decades of building issues are the current guys problem only.
@@lordcrekit decades? Really? I remember thriving 3 years ago. Paying 2% for my mortgage, $2 gas, and my 401K thriving. You and I are paying $700 more per month on all expenses.
Forcing businesses to shut down for a bad flu will do that. That is the middle class
Intentional
As a licensed Home Inspector, this is my worst year in 14 years. The economy is terrible, but the housing market is the worst. One thing I will point out to you, all of those customers that you were too busy to reply to when you were busy, that was a mistake. You could have established a relationship with some of them and maybe some of the others would be reaching out now or in the future. Always touch base with the client that reaches out. Even if you’re too busy, take advantage of the opportunity. Good luck moving forward my friend.
Good advice Shawn
yes, I should have hired a secretary. We all have to learn one way or another.
Yep. No job is too small.
Great advice...i know some hurting hay producers this year... i tried to work with them.... and i won't be buying from them.
Doesn't help when the handyman charges $1,000 to fix a leaky faucet 😅
Same here in CA. Most weeks I'm only getting 15-20 hours since November.
We shouldn't have to lower our prices in the middle of all this inflation
I got my plumbing license in June and started my business in Sacramento area , my prices are very reasonable and now I’m trying to get clients as much as I can . It’s hard, but I know that the best way for me is be honest with my clients and provide the best service and even more .
whats your Instagram handle?
The blue collar man has learned the meaning of the term “demand destruction”. You can’t treat people like crap and have horrible customer service when times are good and then expect them to come to you when times are bad
best comment on the entire thread
I learned that word this year and have been abusing the shit out of it.
"I didn't call people back and now no one's calling me"
Apart of this is real. Contractors kept charging my parent $8000 just to show up and not finish the job. They just stopped construction and gave up for now. They also make trash on the property and don’t clean up.
america has a caste system where all the cowards punch down but they will never once EVER say a damn thing about the bankers
From the customer side of this, I can tell you calling a handyman is my last resort. Between the ones who say will work any job, then tell you the job is too small, to asking outrageous prices if they will take the job, there is no incentive to reach out. And as you said, you did not return phone calls, so as a customer, I would not call you again later. Don't get me wrong, I feel for you, and all small business/independent contractors in these hard times. But lets be honest also. There are plenty of bad ones out there, who over charge, only want big jobs, and do not stand behind their work. I would love to have my bathroom remodeled, but there is no way I am spending that kind of money in todays environment. Guess elections have consequences after all
Lol. my sister paid over 10k for a small bathroom remodel. Something I could do over the weekend for less than a grand. I too have called for services and typically never get anybody and no return calls, I don't call again. Thanks to youtube university I do fine.
I have to agree with you. I bought a fixer-upper house 8 years ago, and the prices I was quoted by contractors were insane and openly exploitative. I learned how to do most everything myself and fixed the whole house up for a couple grand over 5 years. If I used contractors, it would have been tens of thousands. For example:
1. quote to paint house interior, $7000.00 plus I buy the paint. I bought about $600.00 of paint and did it myself over the summer.
2. quote to put in two tiny vinyl basement windows, $2000.00! (the windows only cost about $80.00!). I did it myself and bought fancier windows for $160.00, still was less than $2000.00.
New neighbors just bought the house next door and they are getting fleeced like crazy. Like $4500.00 financed money for "trim work" on the house, and all he did was a couple short yards! The neighbors seem to be doing more themselves now. I guess they finally figured it out.
I don't think the customers always understand that employing anyone is super expensive. You can't get anyone that is good for under $20 an hour. That really translates to $28 or $29 that them employer is paying. Plus insurance and all the overhead.
This
@@FifthKnowledgeAs a construction worker, I totally understand your point of view. It was (is still at some degree) a bad circle. We have to pay employee and demand was so high, that the only way to keep them was to pay higher wage. Since we need them for the demand, we cannot afford to let them go, so even if they are slacker, we tolerate. It changes a 40 h job to a 60h job. But people STILL bought, so the circle continues. Now it is ending
I lived in a higher income neighborhood in the past and hated how handymen jacked up their prices because I worked my ash off From the age of 16 to get where I got and be able to live where I did. To me that is a form of fraud. Never in my life did I think $120 for an hour or two work was not worth it no matter what day or time of day. Now disabled living on a fifth of what I did for most of my life I still do what little I can and am happy to make $20 here and there within my current abilities.
$120 wouldn’t even cover my expenses. So let’s put this into perspective. Average homeowner spends 6k per month in bills. Let’s say you’re lucky to have a spouse so will call it 3k. Then you have business expenses, now doing it the right way will likely cost you 1500. So 4,500 to break even. You need to bring in $54,000. Not so fast, need to calculate taxes. Add other 15k between personal & business. 69,000 per year to Break even. That’s $265 you need to make, working every week, no vacations … no injuries, no fatigue, etc. that’s means that are your $120… he wouldn’t start making money until the 11th job he did that week working 5 days a week. Even if he bumped it to 6 days… it’s not outrageous to ask for a $200 minimum. People always spouting off … being an employee is much different than a business owner. I hear you but … $120 is not sustainable as a business for many people based on average monthly expenses. Period. Hope it gives you a different perspective. Whatever has happened in your life doesn’t change that. Good luck to you
@@themiddleclasstaxslave651wah wah wah. Many people live within their means. Try it someday.
@@themiddleclasstaxslave651 You mean your expenses are more than $120 or $60 an hour? What are you injecting and how often? My portion of apartment rent is $27 a day so that would cover 4 days of rent. Not bad to me!
@@themiddleclasstaxslave651 Who says you have to own a home and live in an expensive area. I worked out my last 18 years of home ownership compared to my apartment. I would have put $250,000 in my pocket if I rented instead during that period and that accounts for the profit from the sale of my house. My expenses are under $2,000 a month. I saved most of my life and now earn in this 5% CD environment $2,500 a month on the cash portion of my savings. I make $320 a month working about three 2 hour days a month since I am disabled and can't do much (spend 3 hours during the day plugged into a medical device). Sounds to me like you might think about reselling online because the expenses are much less that way, requires no tools, you have millions of potential customers including internationally, etc. Plenty of people make over 100K a year doing it or so it appears after some time (not me, I can't work much) others make more.
@@patland1762you are under the assumption that people in this industry work a full 8 hours on site.
Glad you were seeing what we are going through since you wouldn’t go to someone’s house unless it was $250. I’m glad that in your neighborhood people can do that people have been suffering and cannot stand Handyman in workers.
We are entering an economic depression and the government is on total denial.
I'm pretty sure they know, they also know that if they own up to it, it'll destroy them politically.
Finally the only truthful comment in the entire freaking comment section! This has selected child sniffer written all over it, I would've thought by now people would come to their senses and realize how important it is to vote on policies that run the country like a successful business. Because right now we're going down the drain and we're kicking ass under the previous administration that was pro oil production pro oil usage pro oil everything! When planes trains and automobiles use oil to deliver products and the price of oil is sky high you feel it in the wallet!
@@meathooksmcgee662 The govt knows they're immune to consequences. They wouldn't be doing the things they're doing now if they were worried about being destroyed politically.
People cry to the government when it’s bad but when it’s good they want the government to stay out of their business. Can’t have it both ways.
That was the plan from the beginning your are the dummm one if you didn’t catch it
I am a handyman myself. When I started out, my fee was $ 75 to show up and do something small, and get a good review. It's gotten so bad that I'm doing that again. Everything you listed in this video is spot on. I'm getting undercut at every turn, and my main customers are not spending any money. I'm scared ! This reminds me of 2008 a lot ! Even scarier, I think this is just the start of a long, painful economic time. A lot of people are going to go out of business if it stays like this for very long.
scared? that's not useful at all. scared because you're reminded of something you've already been through? shouldn't you be better off the 2nd time than?
You'll be alright just hang in there, stay on your feet, pay attention, you'll make it.
I'm a dentist. We are kind of like handyman for teeth. And yes you are correct. I see this being the start of a very long war of attrition. Lots of people won't make it to other side. The 2020 lockdowns were nothing. This 2024 recession will smash people. Those businesses that have high overhead won't make it. Those who are nimble and flexible by being small will survive. Take whatever job you can. Don't be picky and worry about margin. All positive cashflow is good at the moment, whether its $1 or $1000.
@@TheBriansledentist and dental care is a big money scam.
Dentistry has not evolved for 500 yrs.
Still drilling and pulling teeth like its 1790.
Where is the caries preventing bacteria spray?
How is it possible that an infant is the same cost form 20 yrs?
Dentistry is a money rackett.
@@TheBriansleman I am sorry but I am sick and tired of all of you dentists or medical professionals lol. I have been overcharged so much over nothing, I don’t even come from the USA just living now here and insurance is a godawfull scam. Never woul I have ever expected to pay money on top of money even with the best insurance my dad has. I don’t mind if people like you go out of business
Most jobs are truly small jobs. People arent going to wait until 9 wall outlets go out to hire an electrician. They'll spend 2-4 hours prepping how to do it on their own.
When guys say I charge X to show up and it's pretty damn high, like beyond an hour or 2 of pay... That's chasing away a lot of jobs.
The more people do their own work, the less people hit guys up to do work for themz because now they know how to do it.
And wont pay some guy a lot of money to show up for 15 mins.
$120 for faucet, door knob and patching a hole in the wall is actually cheap (Los Angeles Area).
As a locksmith I am seeing the same thing. When I give a price for a lost key, I get the sign in their voice I only heard when I was dealling with someone with a very low paying job. With inflation now those people may be paid the same as 2 years ago, but inflation turned their job into low paying. I made 30k less in 2022 and in 2023 It's going to be 1/2 as much as I made in 2021
Edit: I have put about 6K in repairs to my van i the last 2 years. People don't get it when I tell them there's a charge for going out to look at a job I can easily qoute over the phone. A lot of times a customer tells me their key needs to be reprogrammed. When I ask them what the theft light is doing when they turn the key to the "on" position. They get frustrated and want me to come out for free and check myself. With that comes a fee and they don't want to pay it. A lot of times it ends up being a starter or a fuse/or relay, or a gear shift cable. Sometimes it's even a dead battery. If I go out there they want me to fix the problem and some things I won't do like starters and gear shift cables, or blown engines lol.
Yup, all of these contractors who were refusing work for "something better" (or easier), are now paying the price. Same thing happened in 2008...people that refused work with me, were begging for it. I've kept my prices low, resisting the urge to raise them to "account for inflation" like my competitors, and have added extra freebies along with it, and I'm doing ok. But I saw this coming years ago, and have paid everything off, installed solar, etc. Everyone laughed at me then, but they're not laughing now.
They laughed at Noah. Too.
yeah several years ago i couldnt get any one to show up for over $1 million in work at rentals and properties i had. everyone was too busy.
Everyone has a price to do something. These people thought they could get more, it’s not greedy they’re just reading the industry and getting out of it what they feel they can
@@NicEeEe843 they just went on strike and demanded higher wages from their employers (the customers). everyone supports people refusing to work and demand higher pay until their AC stops working in july and the local AC repair owner says hes on strike unless you pay him $300 an hour..... then they throw a fit calling the working class greedy! i guess everyone becomes cheap or greedy when its their turn to pay someone to work for them.
None of us regret turning down work. Competition is so bad we haven’t been making money for years
No matter how busy you are at any point always return phone calls when people leave you messages asking for a call back. Chances are if you don't call them back, they will never call you ever again for anything else.
Bingo, I never do
Yeah. Hard to feel too bad for him after that statement
Anyone who’s had 50 calls a day but can only handle like 4 jobs a day knows you simply can’t get back to everyone. Especially running a single truck owner operator. Everyone making this statement literally doesn’t understand his business model as a single truck guy. He isn’t able to to hire an office manager for $20 an hour and then would have to run at least 3 more trucks and somehow find quality technicians to run those trucks who don’t mind hard work. Hard to do. So stop with the criticism.
@samweaver123 Any business owner with a little bit a common sense would know how vital their customers are to the success and survival of their business. 50 messages is probably an exaggerated number, but whatever the number is you should be returning those calls no matter what because those people are NOT going to call again. And if you're getting 50 voicemails a day then you're just not answering the phone. You're never too busy or successful to fail. This video is a perfect example because this dude is now struggling to find jobs and is probably wishing right now that he had returned those calls that went unanswered. If you want to use the excuse that you're too busy that's just BS. The truth is you're just not making the time for it and your business will suffer in the long run because of it.
This statement is only true if he doesn't actually want business. The complaint is that he'd have to hire more people/trucks to fulfill the work? Unless he specifically just wants to be a 1-truck business, that's a horrible argument.
If you're getting 50 calls a day and you close on a paltry 10% of those calls, that's 5 jobs/day at a minimum of $125: so, $625/day worth of work. If you hired someone for $20/hr for say 20 hours a week, the worst you'd end up after payroll taxes etc. is pulling even. And again, that's worst-case (where every job is the minimum cost, probably overpaying just to answer/return calls, and only a 10% call-to-job rate).
I'm sorry to hear it man but rest assured, it's affecting everyone. I own a Martial Arts school out here where I live and I've lost 17 students in the last 2 months. My school is still doing okay, but I'm definitely feeling the pinch and something does have to change in this country.
I'm not even a handyman but I appreciate your transparency... Salute...
Handyman and contractor prices were getting out of control. This recession will bring the prices back down.
The increase in prices is directly related to a contractor's cost to do business. Everything has gone up dramatically. Materials, fuel, tools, insurance, food, vehicles, etc etc etc. You can't expect a contractor to absorb all that.
Yeup! Not too long ago there was an earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA that felt more like a jolt than a back n' forth shake. Found out the support beam in the front of our house holding up a part of the roof had shifted away from the house like 8in. We called a "Structural Engineer" that wanted $3,000 just to come out and make an estimation, I sh!t you not. Found a handy man in the neighborhood literally just down the street that not only had a free estimation but redid the entire pillar and hauled away the waste for under 2,200. Looks great and twice as secure as it used to be. 👍Hope he doesn't mind the shoutout lol. David Perry in Morgan Hill, CA
Lol yet food, shelter, etc stay the same. Explain that one Mr. Powell
@@carbonking53you can’t expect clients to spend money they don’t have either. As a IC you’re living in reaction to people’s paychecks and can only collect what they can afford to spend. That’s the rub
If you read the FEDs statement it’s their goal.
People are broke but people are also doing repairs themselves again because of tight finances. I work at Home Depot and I see it first hand.
I'm a contractor through the homedepot pro referral program and the leads have fallen of a cliff.
Or because it's very hard to find honest and reliable handyman who wouldn't try to scam you. Too many bad apples around who ruin it for good ones.
I designed and built my own 14’ x 38’ composite deck for a 1/3 of what it would have been by contractor. Plus, it turned out BETTER than any contractor would have done, no doubt.
@@viktordmitriev8973 Yes! Same with mechanics. Hard to find honest ones. I finally gave up and only lease cars. Rather deal with sales men every 3 years than mechanics.
At Home Depot, is buying up? or is it the same amount of buying but spread out over more buyers?
I’m a Nanny lately is being terrible, normally people hire me a full time position but now I’m in a call and part time, weekends was a busy time now I have not calls many weekends or week days is scary, I’m behind in rent, services etc. Parents aren’t making money for many services, they don’t have money!
Retail sales are down across the board and the household survey proves major corporations are cutting job's across the board recently due to a decrease in profitability.
It's the affect of the interest rates finally kicking consumption in the nuts in combination with the cost of living spike we've had over the last couple years.
My father is an excavator and has been telling me his phone has been ringing much less. Then the jobs he does get as soon as he is finished the people are challenging the prices and refusing to pay. He has received numerous complaints to the county and state from the customers. He has been in business for 30 years and told me the last time something like this happened was in 2008. He works in a very high income county and even they seem to be running out of money.
You brought up thinking something was wrong with your phone and my dad has called me multiple times to check that his phone was still working.
Your father is an excavator and has a phone?
Maybe somebody else is just getting the business and tptb want you to think there is no business.
the bottom obviously has the worst of it to deal with but actually doesnt move much. so it makes sense actually that you notice it in the places where theres money. people with money pay more attention to their money. people already struggling to get by will still just be struggling to get by, so it doesnt change as much.
tbh, rich are often the ones who complain about the prices after the job is done.
@@saeedhossain6099 exactly. they're the ones focused on money & they're also the ones who don't usually appreciate actual workers. maybe not consciously but a lot of them sort of feel like you're doing bum work like its beneath them. let it all go to shit though & who will society need? they'll find out eventually.
My daughter and I went to an excellent Japanese steak house last night and there were only 3 other customers in the entire restaurant. I’ve been going there for 7 years and never saw the place that empty.
😮
Where at ?
@@ministeriodeliberacion7793 must be Raleigh, NC. They close down a restaurant a week in that city
In my area, business is thriving. It's a simple matter for me of trade specific contractors price gouging and other handymen not showing up, ripping folks off, and lack of skill set. Along with the constant of showing up drunk/high. I've actually recently raised my pricing for new customers.
I hate to hear anyone's business falling off though. Maybe you've just hit a rough spot.
I do completely agree with the fact everyone is broke. I am doing less aesthetic or luxury type jobs and am getting more mandatory repairs instead.
My friend, in the last couple of months I've learned how to change oil, change brake calipers, change brakes, change headlights, fix my dryer, learned to use all types of different tools. What I'm saying is people being broke has people learning how to do things themselves that they'd usually pay for in the past. I'm happy I'm learning new skills. I hate your business has dipped man. Hope it picks back up.
I really need to start doing repairs on my vehicle myself prices for auto work have become astronomical. $65 for an oil change with a coupon. lol they can fuck off.
Masonry guy here…I made the mistake of investing into advertising in 2007, it was a huge mistake. Commited to$15k and the phone still didn’t ring at all. Be careful people.
i agree advertising is a big scam better to do a great jb and build fro there with references
You, the owner is the best advertisement you can have and offer to a new client..lol.
Referrals and word of mouth are the best advertising. I started with home advisor 20 years ago and that got me started. I still have clients from 20 years ago and now their other family members too.
@@tabbott429 Word of mouth and Facebook posts (even paid advertisements) are the way to go.
@@lowbudget1661yup. Word of mouth is the BEST advertising
I have never been busier. I'm not a handyman, I'm a builder. Never charged for showing up to give an estimate for a job. I can't keep up. Quality work and reputation doesn't require advertising, word of mouth from past customers gets me more work than I can handle.
And this guy want $125 just for showing up. He dont even know whay overhead is lol...
you're building the inventory that will crash the market.
Comparing building a house to being a handyman. Not comparable, in contrast to be fair, one job is months or a years worth of work when building a whole house. Versus handyman type of work is several sale jobs per week. Then to compare the price of one versus the other considering the investment to the customer, are also extremes. Great your doing well, but you suggest the handyman is doing something wrong.
@@amandabaker3880 I do a lot of smaller jobs as well when not building houses. I'm not knocking him. In our area, free estimates are expected.
My husband is a general contractor and he’s been extremely busy pre-Covid. He has customers waiting for him because they don’t trust anyone else. Majority of his customers are by referral as well. He has built a great reputation and he does superb work every single time!
I can confirm. I am in the PNW. Work has dropped off like it stepped off a cliff. I have been booked out weeks, and at times, even months in advance for many years without any advertising. I have another week of worked scheduled but nothing after. I am going to have to start advertising like I did in the beginning.
Great info! Would be great with monthly update on work load.
I just paid a handyman $500 for 4 hours work. I’m an older disabled widow, I can’t get on the floor or climb a ladder anymore so I feel short on options. It didn’t used to be this way. If you called someone, they returned your call. If you set an appointment, they showed up. When they showed up, they were sober. I’ve always been a good customer and paid on the spot.
lol about the sober part. I show up to all my appointments :). 4 hours may seem like nothing but was it 4 hours of changing light bulbs? 4 hours of roofing? 4 hours of demolition?.
Some show up sober, leave borrachos
Not everyone is like that. There are bad eggs in every industry. Please don’t judge us all, for how some people are. Hope you find someone that is fair and shows up sober.
What was the work
You paid a "handyman" $125 an hour!?!?!?!
My dad did construction work for all his life. I used to be his assistant on jobs. We bought a house 2 years ago and had a little work done. The work literally cost 2-3x more than I expected it would, and I knew what it would cost if my dad had done it. I'm not sure if it's people don't have money, or they don't have THAT KIND of money these days. Something that should have cost 5K a few years ago is now 10K. Prices might have doubled, but my pay sure didn't.
100% increase on a hundred dollars is 200. That easy to swallow. A 50 grand job now cost 100-150 grand. That will make most say NO thanks.
The issue is income has fallen way behind inflation.
Materials have doubled
@@MetroEpa-ef5ydno they haven't. Not anymore
ive been painting houses since i was a kid a gallon of interior oil based paint went from 60 3 years ago to 104 that was the biggest increase but every material i use is up at least 30% over 3 years. The other problem is labor guys i pay 30 an hour which i think is alot, in alabama prob not in cali, are quitting cause its not enough money
Yeah, but those hard working fast food employees are making $18 an hour now, so it’s all worth it. lol
Wages are stagnant, prices for everything are skyrocketing, majority of the working population living paycheck to paycheck, or just increasing their debt. There isn't much money for extracurricular things and if something can go without being fixed it's probably not going to be fixed
(Canadian) I live in a very tourist heavy area and I have a few friends who have played live music at local venues for decades non stop. They are having to find other jobs because the restaurants, vineyards and venues aren't hiring live music.
I'm a landlord and normally I hire all my Reno work out but right now I'm having to do it all myself because of the costs.
Many people are over charging… During hard times, you’re supposed to be reasonable.
i agree
Exactly, these people got greedy (this dude said he wasn't replying/answering) and now there's no jobs.
remember it was the Central Banksters (and their political puppets) *Not the Business Owners* who corrupted a Nation and its Money.
@@beetdiggingcougar 100% their greed set their expectation sky high like they should be making surgeon money not anymore
" im lowering my prices " so do it , probably over charging anyways.
It's called Bidenomics.
That's ignorant
@antoniopdiaz7 Calling someone's perspective ignorant is essentially an act of ignorance on your part.
@@tommyg148 Okay.... So what is "Bidenomics"?
@@antoniopdiaz7you're part of the problem.
@@benjismith593 huh? What are you talking about?
That lady is looking for some one who only charges $50 for changing her door knob
This is exactly what I have been telling all of the people I have tried calling these past few years to get stuff done. I told them it will dry up and they will be begging locals for work. Well I ended up doing most of my own work and hiring out of state for the other work to get stuff done. I have had at least a dozen calls from the local guys the past couple of months asking if I still needed the work done and all I have to say is I told you so. Even in good times, don't mess with your good local customers. We may only have some small jobs, but when times get tough, we can get you through it if you treat us right.
SAME IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. It is less important as a server (you are not the owner) but you NEED to take care of the locals.
Agree. I take almost any job and i price them fairly and live off of referrals and have lots of work because of it. 20 year gets lots of clients and lots of referrals if you treat people right.
This is the best comment on this video.
Ive been through it myself alot of times its not that I dont want the job its just that I am so backed up I cant commit to anything else because I know people would just be mad at how long it took me to get to it which i try and explain
Exactly the kind of person I don't do business with. Thinking you're handing out favors by agreeing to have work done.
Remember people were spending on Handyman work when they got big stimulus checks, that was free money. It’s all gone now.
Our county fair was slow. We usually go 3-4 times but only attended 1 time.
I’m in real estate and I am seeing a drastic slowdown as well I’m here in Utah
I feel for you man. Learn plumbing or electrician work (specialized area). I can tell you as a landlord, I learned a lot of things myself last year (replace faucet, patch walls, painting walls/doors, replace interior doors etc.) due to handyman getting so expensive past year. I am in South Florida. In the past I could get handyman for $30/hr and now its $70-$100/hr with min $300 here. So, I just fix most of the stuff myself. Wish you all the best.
I do AT LEAST 85% of ALL of my work on my cars, house, property. I put the savings in my IRA.
Same used youtube to learn how to fix my a/c, motorcycles, cars you name it the internet is a path to knowledge just takes effort.
Handyman prices tripled, customers' incomes didn't. People's incomes have gone down in the aggregate to about 2019 levels so that's what handymen should be charging to be in line with the market. People can go ahead and ignore this until they go months with no orders, then they'll either fold or come back to reality.
Those weren't handyman. Those were crackheads who owned hammers. Explain how at $30 an hour he pays the basics of life. $700 for trades insurance. Fuel cost. Maintenance cost. And the rest of the list of overhead.
You get what you pay for. As someone who does construction/hamdyman type services i lose money charging less than $75 per hour with a 2 hour minimum.
@@FreedomInclose money? What are your hourly expenses?
My son’s a painting contractor in SE Arizona. Same thing. About 6 mos. back his business fell off dramatically. It’s the economy - this Administration is catastrophically bad.
Same here in San Diego...I fix appliances... phone calls down 90%
Found an excellent handyman here in Florida who is amazing. His only problem is time management. Between work & family, he is juggling both quite well. 55+ communities keep him in full time work.
I was in business for 45 years and was busy all the time. My most important rule was to always promptly return every call. As I started to begin my retirement I was less prompt returning my calls. Very quickly the phone was ringing less. Best wishes
This is great advice. I always answer calls and return them promptly and I have plenty of work. My margins got trimmed, but it’s temporary.
Business is all about communication
What do you do if you get too busy to get to the people that are calling?
I picked up on that also always atleast tell them your to busy don't blow them off
Great advice! I also run a successful handyman business. I’ve never advertised. Every job I get is a referral and I trade for 98% of every inquiry. I believe work that comes from referral is way better than work generated from advertising. I feel most of the ones who call me already know they want me to do the work. If they ask for an estimate, it’s not because they comparing prices. They just want an idea of what the project entails. Anytime I hear an independent contractor advertise, I automatically think they must be doing lousy work or they wouldn’t need to advertise. If you offer a good value, do great work and are dependable, the work will find you. I work by myself for myself. There’s only so many jobs I can get to. I will often turn work down because the projects will be larger than what fits my business format. I always answer calls regardless. Just my 2 cents
I had the same problem happen to me in 2008. I lived in a town of 1,500,000 and 90 percent of my work came from realtors. It was a booming business for 12 years and then it was like someone threw a light switch. Business vanished. I read in the paper that 15,000 local construction workers had been laid off. I figured that if only 1 percent of those had decided to do what I was doing it definitely could not support those figures. That would have added 150 more handymen. It was a shock. I solved the problem by retiring and moving to Argentina. Now play a lot of golf.
are you in Argentina right now?
Yeah don’t work for realtors, that’s the first sign you are operating an unsuccessful company
@@colestaples2010nonsense
Good job richard, I also hear the latina ladies are spicy hot in that part of the hemisphere and like to cha cha cha.
Just curious, how do like Argentina? How are the golf courses down there?
Ten years ago I closed a very successful HVAC business, and I definitely had my pulse on the economy for the 10 years I was in business. I could see the economy from the customer's, technicians, and suppliers point of view, not to mention the banking, accounting, tax side as well. I survived 2008 and made money hand over fist through till 2012, when things just died. I got out rather than die a slow death.
I hope it picks up for you. Thanks for sharing the video.
I feel your pain, we have been in business for 25 years and the last time things were like this was 2008. Unfortunately I am going to start layoffs.
You are 100% Correct, I sold Furniture for the last few years and made good money flipping and fixing and selling online. But last November I saw a decline and didn't understand Why, it took Months for me to realize it was the economy. It became Very hard to get furniture, and Very Hard to Sell at a price for a profit. I had to leave the business completely and do something new. The Government is Lying about how bad Inflation is, and its hurting people who believe them. Its affecting everyone. Great video!
I saw my food costs go up nearly 50% in the last two years. That hurts me the most, and I'm a single man living alone! I literally can't afford to date. Let alone feed a family.
Yeah it’s pretty scary. I’m starting to realize that I’m one of the few that still have a few coins left to rub together. I don’t even have a lot of money. I just don’t have any kids and have reduced expenses but I’m living like a monk compared to most people.
@@purplegirl8036 damn baby wanna struggle together? Could be cool.
People can't afford to pay $60/hour for Handyman job
I'm a Uber/Doordash driver and I used to make $300 to $400 a day easy during the pandemic. It's been slowly declining ever since and currently, it's hard to make $100/day. I'm in California so I could apply for public assistance once my income fell so low but yea, that's what's happening to me right now.
Damn hustler 300-400 nice!
@@justinthematrix Yea well, during the pandemic, it was possible to get constant pings from start to finish. 14 hours between two apps would get me to $400 on a good day. Now $100/day is hard.
About 10 trillion dollars was dumped on the U.S. economy during the pandemic. I would say, that to varying degrees, everyone got a taste. That funded a spending spree. Every single day, there were 7 or 8 Amazon trucks out in front, double parked, making deliveries. Now I rarely see one. I would say its time to shift gears for this post pandemic economy. You have to figure out a new strategy; go where the money is.
@@youtoobization Are you in the Los angeles area?
When I take a Uber I always ask them how’s business and they have been telling me the same thing you said. Seems like Uber is taking more and more of the fare yet charging the customer more while the drivers get peanuts.
I stopped using it. I’m not paying $20 for a 15 minute ride where the driver is getting 5 dollars.
I have been doing 5 roofing jobs per week since I first opened my roofing company right after Covid . The last 4 months or so it’s completely fallen off a cliff . We are down to 1 roof a week and I have 3 more roofs booked before I run out of roofs to do . Normally we have 25-30 on the books all the time . Shit is about to get real very soon
Im curious. Is that tied into solar roof business going down. Most people get a new roof before getting solar.
Cool, maybe I can finally get a decent price for a roof. Many people have money but are not just gonna hand it over to an overpriced handyman. Get your prices in order and you will have no problem getting jobs.
I've put ads in papers and no one responded. The ones who actually showed up expected to be paid by the hour to text on their phone, chat or endless smoke breaks. Zero work done. I'm a do-it-myselfer but I'm less than 100 pounds and carrying a full sheet of drywall up a ladder and fastening it down is much easier with help...but no one wants to do work. It's getting too scary to let strangers in nowdays.
I know I'm part of that generation I don't get what's with people showing up and just playing on their phone
My personal experience with trying to get a small remodeling project done is that everybody I call is booked up 4-12 months in advance. There are many people who have 2% mortgage loans and are doing everything possible to NOT move. overpaying for an addition is cheaper than buying a whole new house and paying an extra 20k/year in mortgage interest.
I’m near Philadelphia. A bunch of my friends in the trades, plumbers, electricians, wood workers, painters, beauticians, etc., are all getting undercut by recent immigrants displaced by the Ukranian/Russian conflict. They are doing work for like 30-50% of the price that was normal a few years ago.
thats also why big business wants open borders and more H1B visa workers. creates a permanent peasant underclass they can rule over forever. makes everyone desperate.
@@manager4409 everyone is wondering when the housing prices will drop, and they won’t. 3mil per year coming through last 3 years documented… if our population increased 10mil in 3 years, adding roughly 3% at least to total… that’s part of the reason rent prices are crazy.
Ive been into residential remodeling/handyman for 20 years. I have lots of clients and they refer me to lots of people. I was on Home advisor for 20 years which was good starting out. Just stopped with them this year due to a technicality. I have so many jobs lined up and 3 quotes this saturday and 2 next saturday. REFERRALS are the KEY and treating people right. I do everything so they dont have to shop around for different trades. Bath remodels, whole house painting inside and out, deck refurbishing, hanging light fixtures etc, plumbing, electrical. I have ZERO DEBT since 2008 which helps me not have to work all the time if i dont want to. GOOD workers are hard to find and if you do good work you will get repeat business. I do one job for somebody and they immediately want me to quote other stuff for them. Treat people right and dont be a hack is the best advice I can give. Seasonal slow downs are normal.
Same here! My husband did over 6 figures his first year. And has ever since. As of today we are fully booked Mon-Sat until end of January 2024. Doing the best work and always returning calls will always get you clientele. We’ve never had to pay anyone to advertise. I do it all through social media, I sent up quotes, sometimes every single day after work and Saturdays. I set up the quote appointments, invoice and collect on them so that my husband only has to focus on the job itself. REFERRALS all the way!!
Can you post your website or Instagram please also what part of the country located? Thank you.
You just told my life story. 49, no debt since 2007, plenty of work, referrals only. Customer skills.
Exactly
And you are not complaining about competition or politics, you are legit :D
I work in the trades as well, just today my manufacturer told me it’s slowed down for all his clients. It’s unfortunate man
Wow ! This is news to me because here in austin ,texsas I usually have to wait a week or 2 for service
I was self-employed for a little over 20 years. The first six months of 2007 were the best six months that I ever had and then the bottom fell out during the last six months. My business never recovered and I was lucky to sell it to one of my local customers in 2012. Good luck my friend.
thats becasue you didnt have a business.. all you did was create a job
Not necessarily true. There were no bailouts for Mainstreet in 2009!@@juanshaftpatel7488
@@juanshaftpatel7488 How did he sell a non-business?
People are tired of being “fleeced” by contractors etc. who have taken advantage of the situation. “You reap what you sow” is the moral of this story.
They aren’t fleecing you, they probably make 10-20% profit. Self employed about 30-40% on a good day. Customers are cheap because they aren’t making money
It’s got nothing to do with that. Cost of living, inflation and interest rates is to blame.
LIES, BE A BETTER SALES PERSON, OR GET ANOTHER GIG...PEOPLE COME OVER BORDER AND BUY A HOUSE IN 1 YEAR WITH UNDERTHE TABLE JOBS..COMON MAN.
Karma for not replying to jobs that weren't $250. From the comments there are plenty of similar contractors booked up. You aren't. Cause and effect
@@thediplomat3137so ok answer all the calls and then don’t do the jobs because you’re too busy answering calls. Yeah. That’s going to work well. 😂
$250 an hour for handyman services is outrageous! Lawyers and doctors don’t charge that much. In the past when I have attempted to hire handyman services I can’t get anyone on the phone, no one returns my calls, they no show for estimates and if you ask any questions related to insurance or a license they just hang up. Sure there are a lot of people who struggle financially, but even people who are doing ok can they justify paying someone 10 times their salary to come tighten loose door knobs and dripping faucets?
A doctor or lawyer can't fix your home!
A normal person cannot really do what a doctor and lawyer does. You only need to practice a little bit to fix things in your house.@@fwdflashwebdesign
what is fair is only determined by the market. not your opinion....
if everyone except you is paying 250 for repairs, then you should do it yourself...
doesnt take license or insurance to do handyman jobs. your gov has done a good job of making you believe such things are "required" when instead they are a tax on the individual and lead to increased cost on yourself the consumer with no benefits.
@@fwdflashwebdesign neither can a lot of “handymen.”
Money is for sure tight. Hopefully youtube makes you something. Good luck bro❤
Car hauler here. Yes, it’s also very slow in my area. To many drivers, not too many cars being transported. Probably less people buying cars. This economy is getting very scary. God bless all small businesses owners.
I have a rollback and people have slowed down moving stuff and I also sale cheap used cars nothing is moving
When the money is tight, people get off their asses and fix their own loose sink knobs and door handles.
Love it!!!!
blows my mind people pay for an oil change.
@@manager4409 Mostly women, they get HOSED with repair bills.
Be careful with lowering your prices. You can actually price yourself out of the market so to speak customers have to perceive a value in what you’re doing and if you drop too low they’re going to be worried your don’t know what you’re doing especially in hard times you’re right, you do have to try and stand out, but I would try to keep your prices the same and maybe just throw something small in for them so they can perceive a value that you’re trying to work with them rather than drop to rock-bottom because you won’t be able to afford to keep a roof over your head that way wish you the best keep up the good work
Good video. You speak well. Easy to listen to.
I am a mechanic and the past few weeks there has been a change big time. Nobody has money anymore and if it’s not covered under warranty (free) people don’t want it.
People are broke
I can defitely see that, but I would think because of the car market, people would have to cough up the money to keep whatever they have running as it's so expensive to get another vehicle now so it would offset it.
Well, they're also tired of getting screwed over by automotive repair shops. it's a very skeevy business and is extremely easy to rape customers out of their money. They do it all the time. Been doing it for years and everyone of us that takes our vehicles to a shop has been caught in the crosshairs of some shady business practices.
@FITNESSOVER45 Oh, I know. I own a 99 Honda prelude that they made only 48k during that generations entire run so it is very hard to get anything for it. My daily driver is a 97 Toyota 4Runner so you know with such old vehicles I’m an auto parts store regular. It’s still cheaper to keep those running than having a $700 car payment for a new car. And it’s less risky than having a $400 car payment for a little older vehicle and still have to deal with repairs.
I'm a trucker, and the number of 4-wheelers out there on the interstates with either one headlight or no tail lights or one headlamp on hi-beam is off the charts. 🚛💥💨
I was a general contractor in 2007. My phone stopped ringing also. Nope. The news says everything is FINE... I pray for you bro
thank you friend
Sky Daddy won't fix it. Get a real job
You mean the lies this administration portrays as a great economy
Good luck brother, wish you the best!
Thanks for the video!!
I don't call handymen anymore because they always try to charge a ~$200 just to come out and look at the work. This flat fee alone makes me just learn how to fix it myself and watch a youtube video on how to do it. You're pricing yourselves out of your own market. Handymen are likely a dwindling job field due to the sheer amount of diy videos and the cheap prices of products to buy directly and the successes of the videos.
Almost every job I've done is like this. I wonder if people think watching a TH-cam video will give them the skills to do heart surgery. Probably be a lot of dead people. Just like there's a lot of homeowners that shouldn't even own a home if you judge off the "repairs" made.
You have no idea what you are talking about I spend $400 of gas a week. But pls enlighten us. Working construction is putting your body on the line. You could get electrocuted or fall off a ladder. Etc
@@jayblack9871 lol...heart surgery, you're delusional if you think what you do is anything near the skill and difficulty...bad analogy dude
@@bringbackrealpeopleHave you tried turning off the electricity? Have you considered the fact that ladders are no exclusive to your profession? You don't get it: People are broke, and they won't be dishing out the big bucks required for major repairs. They simply can't afford it. They'll push back maintenance as far back as possible. But when it comes to the little things, they may be prodded to pay for the repairs. THIS right now is where the market is. Simply because people are more likely to pay $150 to repair a hole in a wall, rather than $850 to repair roof damage from a couple of nesting squirrels.
Yup, although a trip to home depot or Lowe's is expensive, it is still a lot cheaper than getting a handyman
I grew up poor so I learned everything myself lol. And I mean EVERYTHING! From auto mechanics, to framing, to drywall, basic electrical, basic plumbing, HVAC, roofing... Not pro by any means (auto mechanics I'd consider myself advanced) but I've learned enough to maintain my property and cars. All out of necessity because growing up without money pushed me to save money by learning for myself.
I'm sure you have saved thousands and thousand. Good job 👍
I grew up rich and I step out into the real world only to find my nation is populated by third worlders. Its over lol, i hope everything becomes ruined. I want to see everyone fail.
Me too, awesome.
Me three !!!
Me four😂
If I could find a reliable handyman, I would gladly pay. The work ethic and professionalism has been horrendous.
Everytime I try to hire a handyman, they flake on me.
That's one thing I never understood
I feel bad for the good ones out there but I think a lot of people are tired of the overquoting, ghosting and general slovenly behavior of most contractors. I’ve talked to a ton of people who just turned DIY because they can’t rely on anyone else.
The term people are increasingly using to describe what you said as well as from many other angles is Low Trust Society.
Some of the craftsmen ARE good. Some aren't.
Yup, the ghosting sucks. I also hate how they throw cigarette butts EVERYWHERE and also toss their soda cans and tobacco cans on my lawn like WTF
@@iridescentsea3730😂
@@iridescentsea3730this is really bad customer service. They just don’t realize it.
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What a terrible year it is…
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I appreciate a good handyman.
I learned over the years how to do many things myself. But I don't touch electric or plumbing. But I usually call an electrician, plumber or a contractor that I have been using for years.
Bad thing is that people you depend on for these types of things get older and cut back or retire.
As a rental property owner, it’s been a nightmare getting good contractors that make sense financially the last couple years. I’ve had no call no shows, people not even call back, etc. Then when they do come out, they’ll charge me retail home owner prices or significantly higher. I’m an investor. Overhead matters for both of us. Well the ones that did come out and do good work for a fair price, use good communication skills, and attack jobs effectively will always be my go-to’s going forward. Running a business and being a worker are 2 different skill sets. Contractors need to learn both in order to put food on the table in good and bad economies. I’ll pray for you guys though! It’s tough for everyone right now.
thank you friend
@@utubehandyman Unless you're starving for work, avoid rental property owners and Realtors altogether. They rarely if ever give referrals or give repeat business. They usually want something for nothing, including your time. They blow through contractors and handymen like toilet paper in a public restroom. Almost always low end customers.
@@feloniousmonk3049 I agree, and would add that some of the worst customers are Property Managers. When I was an HVAC contractor, I actually had some PMs tell me that I should do my first couple of jobs for them for FREE; then they would think about bringing me back based on the quality of my work! Well, you can guess what I told _them_!
@@feloniousmonk3049
The easy answer is to not fall into the trap of "I'll hook you up on plenty of more work in the future". If you lowball the job just to get the work, that's all you'll ever get out of them. I'd rather not get the job than kick myself in the ass every minute I'm on the job because I'm not getting the money I should. Seems like every time I did do a job for little money, something better would come along that I couldn't do because I was tied up on the nickel and dimer's job.
@@feloniousmonk3049Actually I keep a Rolodex of the good ones on my laptop and in my phone. And I do provide repeat business for them. Sounds like you’re not one of them🤣
As a licensed electrician, with a career spanning 35 years, I've been many things in the construction field! Trump carpenter, framer, plumber, cabinet installer, siding and cornice, handyman! During the 2008 crash things got bad fast! Scaled back my personal purchases and actually worked for less per hour, sometimes significantly less! I worked according to what people could afford! Figured some money was better than none at all! I survived and it's because I knew how to do alot of things! We in the trades will be needed to some degree, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive!
Bro you were trumps carpenter?
@@user27278 hell yeah! Lol, don't know how the he'll that got in there! Forgot to proofread!
I envy your skills bro 🪚
Im 62 yrs old and I still enjoy going to work! Don't plan on retiring anytime soon! I'm gonna work( at my on pace) as long as my health allows me!
He probably meant.
Trim carpenter or finish carpenter.
Most contractors started over charging after covid for some reason. I was quoted $500 to change out 3 outlets. $1500 to replace 4 interior doors. As a landlord that brings work in volume, some of the quotes I use to get were OUTRAGEOUS. I finally found my go to guy. He's not cheap, but definitely WAY more reasonable than most. How can a person expect to build relationships by over charging a potential long term customer. That's just bad business
Estimates got really insane. We bought our home in 2018 and saw how estimates on getting our HVAC.
/ducting system upgraded started out around $15K in 2018. By 2021 after refinancing we finally had the funds to do it we spent $20K and that didn't even include insulation. And pool build prices almost doubled during and after the pandemic. Car dealers were marking up truck prices $10K, $15K even $20K.
I saw that and I just went ahead and started doing all my own work. I had extra money, I just couldn’t be raked over the coals like that.
4 doors are about $800 hardware $200 paint $250 dispose of old doors $25 thats 1225.00 cost with no labor. How much do you want to pay the guy to do this?
@@alphaviews4639 I’m thinking that price was just labor.
@@alphaviews4639 The price I was quoted, was just for labor. No painting or removal of old doors. The garbage man will take hollow interior doors.