[pondman300]

Here is the situation. Yesterday I took my trailer tailgate to a local welder just to have the corners and the steel mesh welded onto the gate. All of the framing was done cross members and everything was bolted together all he had to do was weld it not put anything together measure ect. Well I was in a hurry and I asked him what his book time was on the job and how about an estimate he said that his son would be doing the work and that he did not know how much he would charge but that it would be a fair price. Well hours later after here nothing back from the son I called the shop and talked with the son who informed me that the gate was done and ready for pickup when I got there to pick it up the son said his dad had did the job and had no idea how much it cost(the bill) so I asked if he could call me so I would know how much cash to bring hours later the dad calls the same one who said his son would be doing the job and says that the bill is 180.00 dollars just for the welds. When I asked where he had gotton that kind of price from he said he charged $86.00 and hour now this is the same man that told me he did'nt know at first. I feel that, that is an unreasonable price for the job that was done and its crazy to charge that much, had he told me he charged $86.00 per hour in the beginning I would have gladly put my tailgate back in my truck and told him to have a nice life. My question should I pay this amount and is that a reasonable amount or should I just let it go to court. need nome advice asap!
The shop is pretty small and I feel as though he's using me due to his lack of income elsewhere.

[TrickyDick]

I don't know if that is a fair price or not but, hypothetically, if someone screwed me like that I would pay them (not going to court over $170) and want them to know that I would not use them again and would let all my contractor friends know about my experience whenever I had the chance.

[Fine Edge]

I've had a couple small things welded before and it wasn't cheap either. Sounds a little high but I like the advice from TrickyDick.
Just don't use him again and tell him why.

[4seasons]

just because they are a small shop doesnt mean squat. Did they do what you wanted, a good job?

[NCSULandscaper]

sounds about right, a good welder is not cheap

[Paul]

$86 per hour sounds cheap to me, we are at $95 per hour now and going to $100 per hour in the next month.

[Stonehenge]

I hope this doesn't rub you the wrong way pondman, but I can't get too worked up over $180 - I'm sure that almost every day I make a decision (or one of my guys does) that ends up costing me that much - either in lost materials, wasted labor, callbacks or whatever.

Tell him this was a simple project and you should have been able to get an accurate estimate beforehand - but if he did a good job, you might not want to kick him to the curb.

[jwholden]

How much is your time worth an hour?

How long would it have taken you to do the same job?

What is the difference between what you paid and what you thought you should pay now.

[ianc]

$86 bucks per hour for a welder - come on that is way to much

I pay 45 per hour anywhere for welding even when in a pinch

~ian

[VoodooChile]

I can't judge the fairness of this price, since it is impossible from the description to tell the extent and quality of the work.

Per hour charges will vary greatly depending on the market. You will pay a lot less for a welder in Toledo (dying industrial city) than you would in Newark or Chicago (union trades people still in high demand).

I do know this: a good welder is worth his weight in gold.

Case in point, I broke my Dingo pallett forks ripping Buckthorn stumps out. One welder charged me $60 to "fix" it, and after picking up one pallett it was broke again. I took it to another, famous for the picture collection on his office walls, and for twice the price, I haven't had any trouble. This same guy built my trailer gate 7 years ago for $400 and it is going strong today.

More expensive is sometimes cheaper.

[sleepy]

Voodoo . Do you have the garage door spring on your trailer gate? Thoes are sweet! A weldor buddy of mine put one on a 3 axle eqip trailer. One hand up one foot down operation.