Submitted by Ants1nmyplants t3_10y4dno in RhodeIsland
Looking to get my house repainted and the contractor is offering to do it for a discount if I go through him individually (as a side job) versus through his company. It’s minor repair and painting so nothing that can go too wrong, right? Thoughts?
Youll get a MUCH cheaper price that way. I did the same for my electrical panel. As a painter, i can do the job for even less than half the price my company charges.
Though id never take a job from someone we did work for. Conflict of interest
I wouldn't do that. If you must, be sure to get an formal quote from them
Are you insured individually?
Ask for his insurance info.
If there’s no risk of damage then you’re going to get the same result. just without having to pay for business expenses. The business charges more than the person because they have to pay extra taxes and bs. You can’t really mess anything up anything painting so just give the guy the work and save money
I am. Got a side business.
Perfect, that’s the only thing OP should really worry about. Get that certificate!
That’s shady as hell for him. I knew a painter that did this, he hired all people fresh out of jail. He did some exterior work for the homer after my construction company left. One of his guys, stole the next door neighbor’s convertible. It was crazy.
His company will charge you Overhead and Profit so doing it through just him eliminates those costs. He will get to keep the $$ instead of his company so it’ll definitely be cheaper
It’s not shady at all, his company will charge 8-15% extra on the overall to cover overhead and profit. He’s saving the homeowner money and he’s making more by doing it himself. You just got unlucky with your situation lol
He should start his own company then and not steal work from his company. He should also provide proof of insurance. It’s one thing if he’s finding his own side work, but this just shows he’s willing to fuck over his employer. Why wouldn’t he cut corners on the project. I’ve been building for 25 yrs theirs more shady then honest people.
We had problems with people who spray a thin layer of the paint vs paint with brush.
Recommend no sprayer.
A guy doing side-work when he has a job is fine(assuming he’s insured), but a guy stealing work from his employer is shady. You’ll probably be fine and save a few dollars, but it’s not really a cool thing to do.
I’m in a different line of work and what I do is heavily marked up so I often have clients try to make an end-run around my employer and hire me directly but I always refuse. I do plenty of side work but only what comes to me first, never my employer’s clients.
Sign him up!!! Probably do the job for a 30 rack and some percs
I know I would
I mean, someone who’s ethically ok with undercutting business from their employer might have some other ethical shortcomings.
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8-15%? Not even close. Insurance, overhead, markup, probably doubling the cost to go through his employer for a smaller job like this. It’s also worth it.
Cool. Incorporate, buy insurance, and get your own leads. Otherwise the only one getting robbed is this guys employer who’s paying this guy to estimate a job for himself.
I would question the ethics of someone who would steal business from his employer. Ask yourself this, if he was legit and could run his own company without stealing work from his employer, wouldn’t he be doing so? He’s likely using substandard labor, not insured, not paying tax etc. I know tons of trade guys who do side work, but they get jobs through word of mouth and reputation, not funneling work to themselves at their full time job
So is this the group to ask about a plumber with a side gig to install my shower head?
If it’s a minor job just go w the guy. By minor I mean some interior painting or shutters. He will save you money. If you are getting entire exterior of your home done then yea get a legit insured contractor.
Capitalism. The company doesn’t give a rats ass about the painter. It’s sole motivation is profit. Ethics and morals mean nothing. Funny when the painter decided to play by those same rules he’s somehow unethical?
When will he do the job if he works during the day for someone else??
Well it's sounds sketchy an I get making your own money on the side bit you have to ask yourself if he s qwilling too do that too his main job what is he gna neglect on your house or not do to satisfaction, tell em go practice on a dog house
Weekends?
The difference between the worker as an individual and the company (if he is insured) can often be the time it takes to get done and the tools that they have available to get it done. It's a thing. Guys try to do it all the time on our jobs. Personally. I wouldn't shoot this angle to a homeowner while on my job. But that's just me..
As a painting contractor that has worked for bigger companies: small red flag. Ask for registration and insurance info. Gotta protect your butt. Never believe something that is too good to be true just because you’d like to. Trust, but verify.
What if the employer is a dick-wad?
Probably fine, especially if it's a paint job rather than some sort of certified repair situation. I say put the money in the painter's pocket rather than the company. He's doing all the work.
Take it all.
Sounds legit, but a butt head move on this guys part.
Is it just the head because I guarantee you could watch a YouTube video and buy a 12 dollar pair of players and some Teflon for 50 cents And do it.
Stealing work from your employer is as shady as it gets
The ompany didn't play by those rules, they employed the painter, spent the money and time to earn this next job. The company isn't the one lacking morals here.
Bssed upon the down votes it appears that legitimacey isn't exactly the RI way 🤔
Tell me…..does that painter get to write off the gas he uses to get to work? Does he get to write off his car payments? How about his rent/mortgage payments? Does he pay a minimal tax rate? Does he pay higher tax rate for the money he makes hourly vs the owner? Cry me a river chief. The business would fire him and replace him in a moment if they could make more with someone else. Profits is all that matters. Morals are only for the workers apparently? When does a company realistically give a rats ass about an employee unless it involves making them profit? Why should this painter give a rats ass about making sure the company can screw someone and make a profit off his labor? Fail to see upside in terms of business sense for the worker. He takes risk of asking for side job (customer could rat him out and get him fired), he offers (competition and capitalism let’s not forget there’s no loyalty or morals, the market rules) to give the customer a better deal. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Ask yourself, if the company is willing to charge you double for the same job why would you?
Business is likely paying their worker dick wages, which means they are getting some form of government subsidies for the shit wages, which means you are already paying for it. Might as well pay the guy who is being screwed and needs it rather than the corporate welfare recipient…..
Not shady he’s just not loyal
What a noble schmuck you are. You are a parasites dream.
I would question the ethics of the system that says he who does it cheapest wins. The painter played by the rules of capitalism and out competed his opponent. According to the rules of the road he wins.
Making money off of other people’s labor is as scummy as it gets. Muh capitalism
I need a job done, one offer is for $100, the other is for $500. Both will complete the job for me satisfactorily. Isn’t this capitalism?
Where does morality play a role in business? Profit=entire goal. Morals are only a consideration in as far as it has an impact on profits.
Guy talking is those saying the guy is unethical…..
All is fair in capitalism. Only when a worker plays capitalism, then it’s unethical.🤡
As an electrician I always took work from my company .. They worked with a commercial builder he would give me all of his smaller jobs another residential builder did the same thing hooked me up….. side jobs were the best that’s where you made your money because your boss at your real company was a cheap fuck …lol
When i got my panel done, i was never going to hire the company to do the work. Would have been 10k. The only option was to hire the guys i worked alongside during new cons. We knew eachother, not the bosses in their offices.
That’s the way to do it… wow 10k holy shit
As a master electrician, I can assure you this isn't a good idea. If you have any problems, a fire, etc.- you have no recourse and can get in serious trouble for unpermitted work. The fees and fines start at 5k.
Not to mention how this undermines legit business. Uninsured and unpermitted work isn't worth the savings.
Side jobs are the best jobs
For a person who works in the trades and gets screwed by a bigger company, i could NEVER have afforded the 10k it would have cost me from the company they work for. My panel was rotten. Water leaking from the cracked duck seal at the box, my stove was on half a breaker. Inspection missed it when i got the house and i was running my stove on that.
The guys a scumbag
F Him
He has a duty to his company.
If it’s minor, just go with the individual. Pay cash though. Be kind.
Go with dedicated painters. G and G painting out of Charlestown did our place and its killer.
No that’s how the world works. If we all worked for ourselves we would crumble in no time.
And putting those people who clearly can’t get work for them selves in position to work and making money off them is not scummy. It’s called one hand washes the other.
What if the work benefited society as a whole as opposed to a very small percentage? We already have socialism in US it’s just corporate socialism. I’m asking them to stop hoarding 99/100 pie pieces for themselves while the rest of us fight over the crumbs. Just saying.
Society has proved time and time again we are incapable of this
We were incapable of everything until we did it. People couldn’t imagine an economy that didn’t involved Lords and Serfs yet here we are. Slavery was the only and natural way, until it wasn’t. We still need hierarchies and a system, just saying we can adjust this to create a more reasonable and socially beneficial situation.
Sure people like you and I can and are willing to do what needs to be done for the better of all but most don’t. Most only care about themselves and that’s why it will never work and also the reason things are the way they are today.
Vast majority of people are not nakedly greedy at the cost of others. Most live by fairly decent value systems. The small minority who don’t share any of that happen to have massive amounts of money and ability to bribe entire government. The keys to our collective cuffs are right in front of us, we are just too scared to unlock ourselves.
I just feel regardless of how many genuine people with good morales there are there will always be enough to ruin it for everybody else. What do we do when everybody is doing there role but Steve on the corner doesn’t wanna share his harvest with the town, but he expects to be allowed to take from other peoples contributions without contributing any of his own. What do we do then? There has to be rules , there has to be a system, their has to be a hierarchy or it will NEVER work.
MaddieB_267 t1_j7vwrny wrote
Wronggg! Insured side gig??