ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Handyman or Home Owner

yes they constitute a good part of my biz also, no i do not nor will i ever advocate these sorts doing electrical work for a living.

however, the powers that be sadly thru complacency do, after all what are 300+- electrical deaths compared to 50,000 anual roadway deaths right?

OSHA is the only orginization that i know of that addresses 'qualified' (see art 100)having it's base rationale be PPE knowledge.

This is about the only 'benchmark' that comes to mind, allbeit under the same dictation i would be 'qualified' to do brain surgery having knowledge of the PPE involved.

perhaps i should get a biz card??

~S (CUT rate prices)

[This message has been edited by sparky (edited 02-09-2003).]

The homeowners need to know that.. When you pay peanuts....You get monkeys!

Built a 200a overhead service recently. The homeowner had tried to tackle it(with hd advice) after 2 days of no power, his wife beat him into submission and called someone(I was the 5th call made so he had called just about everyone in the immediate area.I was just the one that returned his call)I took down everything and started again, using some of his mat. and some of mine. He watched every move we made,which was ok, but he would say occaisionally, "the hd guy didn't tell me that". After a few of these,I quietly asked him what the hd guys qualifactions were. His reply was"they all have to have electrical training don't they?" I wonder if this is a commonly held belief?

yeah i went thru the same headache with diy that kinda of dirty word to me and some how some handyman think they are smart aleck ( i rather not say A word you know what i mean ) i have one handy man he concat me alot when he feel it is too big for him to deal with it like add new plug or put fan up etc he call me in and i told him that i am more than happy to do it right and i can get it right in the first time fast he say super ( he speak french with me )
merci marc

Personally if i have come across work that has been done by a home owner and i have to fix it, They have to pay thru the nose to get it done or i walk away.

CW

Hey ga.sparky56

I do believe that the average Hairy Homeowner thinks that Zippy at the big box stores is the all knowing. I've even had homeowners tell me that I was wiring a receptacle wrong because that's not the way Zippy told him to do it. I finally had to tell the guy that I was doing it my way. He said "But Zippy is a licensed electrician!" I said, "Do you honestly think that if he was a licensed electrician he would be working there?" He shut up about it.

I think people put way too much stock in the "Zippy's" at the big box stores everywhere.

ga.sparky56

"the hd guy didn't tell me that".

thats funny...

Amen Big A!

The funny thing about this adventure was his wife kept threatening to "Tie his ears in a knot" and other things that I won't repeat. My helper says this job was worth it just on entertainment value.

As someone said, I know that this is a painful subject. My 2 cents would be the handyman is more dangerous. A homeowner is working on his own house. He is going to live there and for the most part, they get inspections. Once they call for an inspection, then I get some control over the job. I can fail it if it is not right and I can make them fix it. They are grateful for the fact that I don't get mad at them, and I am willing to help them get the job right. A handyman is doing the work for money, and on someone elses house. If he calls for an inspection, he might get in trouble. So for the most part, they will not call for an inspection. They will just do the work, take the money and leave. There is (most times) no insurence in case something goes wrong. At least a homeowner policy might cover damage if the homeowner does his own work.