How much to pay a neighbor for electrical help

[JimRB]

I spent one summer building a 36x72 barn, mostly by myself. The neighbor's son was an electrician. He wanted a barn. I wanted electrical service. He supplied all the materials including conduit, wire, panel and ditch and he ran new 100 amp service with copper wire to my barn which is 220 feet away from the house, so about 260 feet of copper wire. This was 20 years ago. I went to his place 4 miles away and used a tractor mounted post hole digger to dig posts. We set posts together. Another weekend we had set the top plates. Another weekend we,with a bigger crew and a crane set the trusses. I seem to recall I was done with my labor at that point. I was happy and he was happy.

 

[fried1765]

According to the IRS any payment over $600.00 is taxable, and the party needs to be 1099'd...

Yeah.....right !!!!

 

[fidowanttobe]

He offered to give you hand, he is well aware of what it costs to do the job and wanted to help you out, I would offer him $500 in cash if you have it, if not, offer whatever you can..

I agree.
What was his labor worth to you? I'd ask myself that more than guess what he thinks it was worth.

 

[ZTMAN]

How long have you known this "neighbor"? I could not imagine accepting payment from a neighbor. Second thought, if I did, I could have retired ten years ago.

 

[newbury]

Late here.

Maybe I am the only one thinking $500-$600 is a bit much for ~7 hours of work, that dont require much skill or hardly any overhead in tools? And when said "work" wasnt even started as a job?

Guy offered to help. He helped (assuming he didnt do it all by himself, and was there for a second set of hands and guidance more than anything)......and thats worth almost $100/hr for a neighbor just offering to help??? <snip>

Maybe they don't pay electricians much in your area. I view electricians as workers who deal with potentially dangerous voltages (240V) and need to constantly know new codes. Plus a mistake is liable to burn your house down. I don't remember where Travelover lives other than Washington State but

OP here. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. You aren't kidding about the cost of the parts - Washington has adopted the 2017 NEC code here , so I had to pop for about $400 worth of arc fault breakers that will no doubt provide hours of fun in the future.

My guesstimate was that $500 was about right to pay my neighbor, but the suggestion to give it to him in cash is a good one.

Thanks again.

he indicated $500 was HIS guesstimate.

I'd cultivate that neighbor like any other neighbor that has a valuable commodity. If I overcompensate a neighbor for something I usually get overcompensated in return.

 

[LD1]

According to the IRS any payment over $600.00 is taxable, and the party needs to be 1099'd...

Yeah.....right !!!!

1099's arent required.

You report the payment, he reports the income.

Sending him a 1099 is just a courtesy

 

[LD1]

Maybe they don't pay electricians much in your area. I view electricians as workers who deal with potentially dangerous voltages (240V) and need to constantly know new codes. Plus a mistake is liable to burn your house down. I don't remember where Travelover lives other than Washington State but



he indicated $500 was HIS guesstimate.

I'd cultivate that neighbor like any other neighbor that has a valuable commodity. If I overcompensate a neighbor for something I usually get overcompensated in return.

Electrical work goes for $100+ per hour around here too.

But that is overhead, lots of parts stocked, service van, insurance, legitimate business....
And employees of said business, actually doing the ground work...Maybe $30/hr

This "neighbor" is neither. Hes retired....so how well does he know "current" code. Is he still insured to do this work? probably not. If a mistake burns down your house....whats your recourse? Does he have a service van and thousands and thousands of overhead and tools and parts he brought to assist in this job?

Seems $100/hr is a bit of a stretch to pay someone who merely "offered to help"

But I guess I dont understand the situation well enough to say for sure.

Is/Was the OP capable of doing all this himself.....but just wanted a set of experienced eyes around to make sure he didnt do something stupid. And as such...was the neighbor there just for advise and second set of hands when needed?

OR, was the OP completely clueless about electrical work, and he played the part of the gopher while the neighbor did all the "real" work???

Makes a big difference is how I would perceive what the neighbors time was "worth"

 

[EddieWalker]

Was the neighbor a helper or did he do all the work? If you had hired an electrician, would he have done all of the work or acted as a helper? I've only changed out a few electrical panels and don't remember it being all that big of a deal. 7 house seems like a long time, so there was either a log going on there, or a lot of visiting happening.

Instead of figuring out what you would have paid a pro to come in and do the job for you, look at it as a neighbor helping you, and you wanting to do something in return to show your appreciation. Cash is cold. It was never discussed beforehand, and in my opinion, shouldn't be paid to a friend that was helping you out. If he's not a friend, and you don't think there is friendship there, then I'd give him $200 for "helping" with the project.

I personally find more meaning when somebody gives me something that I can use, or has some meaning to me. I fixed a door for a neighbor that had been kicked in when his barn was robbed. He gave me some round bales of hay. I lent a neighbor my trencher and he fixed all the wiring issues on it after using it for a day trenching a new water line. Some friends retired and gave us all their ducks and geese. I gave them my box blade so they could smooth out their new garden where they used to keep the ducks and geese. Since they are neighbors and friends, I know what they like, what they are doing, and what they would appreciate. I would never accept cash for helping out a friend, and it never crosses my mind to offer it to a friend that has helped me out.

 

[LD1]

Instead of figuring out what you would have paid a pro to come in and do the job for you, look at it as a neighbor helping you, and you wanting to do something in return to show your appreciation. Cash is cold. It was never discussed beforehand, and in my opinion, shouldn't be paid to a friend that was helping you out. If he's not a friend, and you don't think there is friendship there, then I'd give him $200 for "helping" with the project.

x2

Which is why I am having a hard time understanding why some are suggesting $500-$600

Whatever "company" this guy worked for and retired from....if he was just an employee.....and did the SAME job for you.....sure it would have costed you more because you were hiring a licensed "pro" and would have assurances, covered by insurance, etc. But the guy showing up to do that job wouldnt have made anywhere close to $500-$600

 

[Beltzington]

OP here. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. You aren't kidding about the cost of the parts - Washington has adopted the 2017 NEC code here , so I had to pop for about $400 worth of arc fault breakers that will no doubt provide hours of fun in the future.

My guesstimate was that $500 was about right to pay my neighbor, but the suggestion to give it to him in cash is a good one.

Thanks again.

It may be too late but there is a big difference between a neighbor and a friend. Secondly, what are you going to do if the job does not meet your or the inspectors expectations. Many years ago I paid a friendly neighbor to do some work and the outcome was horrible. At the end of the day I decided it was better to eat the $800 cost as opposed to creating a rift between my next door neighbor. Good luck.