What is the daily wage rate for general skilled labor

[pete501]

I am going to be cleaning up my family property which will consist of tree trimming and yard debris removal. This is to facilitate the sale of the family estate house/property. I have set a side a week in which to do the work. There will be multiple trips to the land fill, I cannot burn or chip any of the debris. Tree trimming will consist of maybe 30% of the time spent to clean up the property. I am using my own tools and truck. Property location is Southern California.

My question is: How much do I charge for my services? A days work will start around 7 A.M. and include the commute to and from the landfill. End of the day will be to 5 or 6 P.M.. I do not want to be paid by the hour but by the day.

[D Crockett]

number of $ per hour x hours worked = day rate of pay + use of truck that is what I would think D Crockett

[OS OK]

$150/day

[MT Gianni]

I would describe that as unskilled or average manual tasks. Figure in the distance to the landfill, pay your self according to saw time at one rate, stacking and hauling at another, commute time at a third. Base it on an 8 hour work day with the commute extra. 2 hours saw time with furnishing saw and fuel $20 minimum $30 max. Stacking and loading $12-$15 hour same for driving,6 hours. @ $14 hr for 6 hrs $84, $50 for saw time. Add 55 cents per mile per truck which should include fuel.
I would swing by Home Depot and hire a couple of hands at $10 to do all stacking and loading which should keep you at the saw the most time, but that's me.

[blackthorn]

If you are taking time off from work---whatever your pay works out to in an hourly wage, plus the cost value any benefit package you are losing times the hours worked, plus costs for use of your equipment. Circumstances will dictate if you need/want add on to make a profit.

[MT Gianni]

I retired at $46 an hour for skilled labor, and would not expect my family to pay that rate.

[Hogtamer]

Pays better than my reloading skills I hope!

[Smoke4320]

at least $150-200 per day

just remember the cost of gas for truck for all those trips, saw with gas, oils, sharpening ect .. It starts to add up quick

[RogerDat]

IRS provides a mileage figure for the driving. Or at least gas money to cover the mileage driven. Start with full tank, fill when done, keep receipts. You could always call a landscaping company and ask them what they would charge to have a person come out to trim and load debris into truck or trailer for your disposal. Reduce what the landscaping company would charge per hour or for an 8 hour day by an amount that seems fair to you since you are doing it for family.

It is tricky when it is family and an estate. Finding out the "commercial" price and reducing it from there seems to me the best approach. Priced so you don't feel like you are being taken advantage of and family doesn't feel like you are milking the estate can be a bit tricky. Makes it easier if you can say commercial place would have charged $xxx and I charged the estate 60% of that amount. Or some other percentage that works for you.

[salpal48]

Where I come From we generally don't Charge family .unless you don't care for them

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I would charge $100 per hour while working on the site and the unloading of brush at the landfill (or compost site?).
I wouldn't include driving time at that rate...if driving time is significant, that would be 50¢ per mile plus $15 hour.

[WILCO]

Where I come From we generally don't Charge family .unless you don't care for them

Everything has a cost. Highly doubt you'd work for free on anything of value.
Small jobs are a wash with family, bigger jobs require some form of compensation.
That's just common sense where I come from.

[375supermag]

Everything has a cost. Highly doubt you'd work for free on anything of value.
Small jobs are a wash with family, bigger jobs require some form of compensation.
That's just common sense where I come from.

Golly, Mom... I'd like to rebuild your deck for no charge but it's a big job, so you need to pay me an hourly rate.
I don't know where you come from but I would never charge a family member for any task that I took on.
Family is more important than getting some cash.

[gnostic]

Get an estimate from a company that does, the service in question. That way, if for any reason, the cost becomes an issue, you'll be able to justify your price.

[lefty o]

what your labor is worth depends on what part of the country your standing in. i agree with you dont charge family, but working to sell an estate is different, unless everyone else is helping.

[zymguy]

If your charging then you need to take the liability risk. Around here a fair portion of what folks charge for chainsaw work is to cover there insurance.

[RogerDat]

One of the kids is a journeyman electrician. His time and work have value. We asked another electrician what he would charge for a job we had in mind, he told us commercial price and "friends & family" price. We asked the son who is electrician would he do the job for between the two prices, he offered lower than F & F price, we countered with higher. Ended up pretty close to the F&F price we were told by a third party. He didn't want to charge us for "helping" beyond parts cost. He has two kids and a wife so his time off has value aside from the skilled trade value.

So yes you give family a break, as much as you personally feel is warranted given the situation. Getting house ready for sale as part of estate the entire family will benefit from sprucing the place up before sale. Seems fair that they either pitch in labor or funds toward gaining that extra sales value from the property after sprucing up.

[dverna]

I am with the group that would not make a profit helping out family. And if my expenses were minimal (my Husky is not bad on fuel, and I sharpen my chain myself) I would not charge anything for that either.

I understand there are some “family” members that may deserve a special rate. $30/hr should send them a clear message.

[pete501]

All these responses and only two of you came up with an actual daily rate as asked for.

I asked my BIL who is a landscaper and he does it for $500 per day plus whatever the dump fee is.

The question of Charging Family and cost is not an issue here. The estate wants to pay for the service no matter who does the work.

I do this kind of work. I am the helper of an 82 year old tree trimmer. With an 82 year old doing most of the trimming and climbing, you must know how little work actually gets done. I am just the helper, loading brush, setting ladders, rope duty, etc. and I get $100 per day. I don't know what he charges customers, it varies from job to job.

I was thinking of $400, also I am traveling 800 miles with truck and tools just to get to the family house where I will be staying . I have allotted 1 weeks to complete the task.

[MUSTANG]

Davis bacon rate for Laborers in Southern California is $32.00 to $39.00 per hour. I would advocate since this is your work to prepare the Estate for Sale - Using that Rate (Certified by US Government and California for 2017 as "Fair Market" via Davis Bacon act) would be arguably valid to both the Estate Executor and the Government. I also would say that charging an additional Mileage Rate for your vehicle per the IRS schedule (54.5 cents for every mile of business travel driven) would be appropriate. Mileage should be Travel from home to Job site, all trips to dump etc.., and Travel Home each day. Sometimes family members and friends can view these as "excessive", but by using the Governments (Davis Bacon and IRS Mileage) rates it will provide sound reasoning on the figures, and reduce the validity of claims of "Excessive" charges to the estate.