Is it OK to hire an unlicensed handyman? Any issue with liability? Insurance?

[ninaprincess]

I need to paint my livingroom but I have no time. I am looking at craigslist and thinking about hiring a handyman for $150/day to paint the livingroom. Is there any problem with this? What happens if he falls and breaks his back in my house?

I can also hire licensed contractor but it is $900.

Thanks,

[Coronita]

$150 days for how many days? What if the handyman does a really sloppy job?

Also, if you’re going to hire a complete stranger into your house, especially one off of craigslist. I’d pay the extra money to make sure if they were bonded….Especially if you are woman that lives by yourself.

We’re not talking about a reoccuring cost here. It’s probably a 1 time thing in a few years.

[an]

Licensed doesn’t mean you’ll get good quality. I had good and bad experience with licensed contractors.

[UCGal]

I agree with both flu and AN.

Hiring a licensed contractor means you have a couple of protections if they take your money and run: the contract, and their bond. And they have to have current insurance.

For painting, I could see hiring an unlicensed person. But I would make sure that I had insurance to cover myself in case they got hurt on my property. I would also be present… I’m not a fan of leaving strangers inside my home when I’m not there. Licensed or not.

Does the $900 include paint, drop clothes, brushes, etc. Does the $150/day include any of that? Did you get an estimate on time? If the handyman works slow, shows up late, leaves early – it might cost you more.

Personally – I’d kill a weekend and do it myself. I’ve got the paint stained clothes all ready to go. Tell some friends to come over with grubby clothes and offer them beer/pizza when the jobs done. Crank up the tunes and have fun.

[UCGal]

[quote=ninaprincess]I need to paint my livingroom but I have no time. I am looking at craigslist and thinking about hiring a handyman for $150/day to paint the livingroom. Is there any problem with this? What happens if he falls and breaks his back in my house?

I can also hire licensed contractor but it is $900.

Thanks,[/quote]
To address the bolded part:
It’s a good bet you’d be sued for everything you’ve got. Make sure you have good insurance before you let any worker inside your house.

[ocrenter]

[quote=UCGal][quote=ninaprincess]I need to paint my livingroom but I have no time. I am looking at craigslist and thinking about hiring a handyman for $150/day to paint the livingroom. Is there any problem with this? What happens if he falls and breaks his back in my house?

I can also hire licensed contractor but it is $900.

Thanks,[/quote]
To address the bolded part:
It’s a good bet you’d be sued for everything you’ve got. Make sure you have good insurance before you let any worker inside your house.[/quote]

Didn’t flu already save you a bundle of money by dissuading you from the Facebook IPO? Use the money to hire someone with a license.

Serious, there should still be quite a number of hungry licensed painters out there that price should still be fairly cheap.

[sdrealtor]

$900 is obscene for painting a living room. You can get a 3,000 sq ft home painted for under $3K these days.

[Coronita]

[quote=ocrenter][quote=UCGal][quote=ninaprincess]I need to paint my livingroom but I have no time. I am looking at craigslist and thinking about hiring a handyman for $150/day to paint the livingroom. Is there any problem with this? What happens if he falls and breaks his back in my house?

I can also hire licensed contractor but it is $900.

Thanks,[/quote]
To address the bolded part:
It’s a good bet you’d be sued for everything you’ve got. Make sure you have good insurance before you let any worker inside your house.[/quote]

Didn’t flu already save you a bundle of money by dissuading you from the Facebook IPO? Use the money to hire someone with a license.

Serious, there should still be quite a number of hungry licensed painters out there that price should still be fairly cheap.[/quote]

nina, you could just throw a piggington party, and invite a bunch of responsible pigs to bring paint brushes. That would exclude me though , because responsible and my name in the same sentence is a no no…

[ocrenter]

[quote=flu][quote=ocrenter][quote=UCGal][quote=ninaprincess]I need to paint my livingroom but I have no time. I am looking at craigslist and thinking about hiring a handyman for $150/day to paint the livingroom. Is there any problem with this? What happens if he falls and breaks his back in my house?

I can also hire licensed contractor but it is $900.

Thanks,[/quote]
To address the bolded part:
It’s a good bet you’d be sued for everything you’ve got. Make sure you have good insurance before you let any worker inside your house.[/quote]

Didn’t flu already save you a bundle of money by dissuading you from the Facebook IPO? Use the money to hire someone with a license.

Serious, there should still be quite a number of hungry licensed painters out there that price should still be fairly cheap.[/quote]

nina, you could just throw a piggington party, and invite a bunch of responsible pigs to bring paint brushes. That would exclude me though , because responsible and my name in the same sentence is a no no…[/quote]

well, since you were the responsible party for the extra cash, you can supervise the painting of the invisible walls.

[Coronita]

[quote=ocrenter][quote=flu][quote=ocrenter][quote=UCGal][quote=ninaprincess]I need to paint my livingroom but I have no time. I am looking at craigslist and thinking about hiring a handyman for $150/day to paint the livingroom. Is there any problem with this? What happens if he falls and breaks his back in my house?

I can also hire licensed contractor but it is $900.

Thanks,[/quote]
To address the bolded part:
It’s a good bet you’d be sued for everything you’ve got. Make sure you have good insurance before you let any worker inside your house.[/quote]

Didn’t flu already save you a bundle of money by dissuading you from the Facebook IPO? Use the money to hire someone with a license.

Serious, there should still be quite a number of hungry licensed painters out there that price should still be fairly cheap.[/quote]

nina, you could just throw a piggington party, and invite a bunch of responsible pigs to bring paint brushes. That would exclude me though , because responsible and my name in the same sentence is a no no…[/quote]

well, since you were the responsible party for the extra cash, you can supervise the painting of the invisible walls.[/quote]

What walls?

[Coronita]

In all seriousness, I think for stuff like this, one needs a referral versus picking someone out simply based on price or without knowing anything. Maybe nina, you should post “does anyone have a recommendation for a painter” on this thread…

Hired help on craigslist scares the living crap out of me. You could have a serial killer, serial rapist, child predatory, pervert, yada yada yada and not even know it.

As a rule of thumb, if I buy or sell anything on craigslist, it’s done in a public setting with lots of people nearby or I bring someone along with me…

I would never ever invite someone from craigslist into my home to buy/sell something, let alone hire someone from craigslist to come into my home and stay to do some work…

The time consuming part of painting a room is doing all the prep. So maybe you can just get a friend or two to help you with the prep.. preferably someone who is really anal retentive that will do a good job. That’s why friends always ask me to help them paint. I’m totally anal about it.

[Coronita]

[quote=AN]Licensed doesn’t mean you’ll get good quality. I had good and bad experience with licensed contractors.[/quote]

Yeah, but there’s less likely to be a criminal.

[an]

[quote=flu][quote=AN]Licensed doesn’t mean you’ll get good quality. I had good and bad experience with licensed contractors.[/quote]

Yeah, but there’s less likely to be a criminal.[/quote]
Are you sure criminals can’t get license? I got drywall work done (one by an unlicensed contractor and is licensed) and the work was done much better by the unlicensed contractor. A license can’t replace common sense and in person interview.

[ocrenter]

[quote=AN][quote=flu][quote=AN]Licensed doesn’t mean you’ll get good quality. I had good and bad experience with licensed contractors.[/quote]

Yeah, but there’s less likely to be a criminal.[/quote]
Are you sure criminals can’t get license? I got drywall work done (one by an unlicensed contractor and is licensed) and the work was done much better by the unlicensed contractor. A license can’t replace common sense and in person interview.[/quote]

but you live in MM… drywall? not getting it…

[ocrenter]

[quote=AN][quote=flu][quote=AN]Licensed doesn’t mean you’ll get good quality. I had good and bad experience with licensed contractors.[/quote]

Yeah, but there’s less likely to be a criminal.[/quote]
Are you sure criminals can’t get license? I got drywall work done (one by an unlicensed contractor and is licensed) and the work was done much better by the unlicensed contractor. A license can’t replace common sense and in person interview.[/quote]

at issue is the liability.

unlicensed worker is akin to getting a friend to climb up ladders in your house to paint, he falls and you have to pay his medical bills.

licensed worker is working on the house at their own risk.

[Author]

Posts