sooooo over the handy man

[DVS Hardscaper]

Originally Posted by RussellB

The unlicensed part can get you in more trouble than I thought. A friend of mine in Maryland performed some cabinet work (he is good at it) and ended up being sued for a broken counter top. The judge gave him 6 months for working without a license. He is serving time now. Personally I think the sentence is way to severe. People are trying to feed their families.

LOL - Gotta Love MD's Courts!

See, your friend shot himself in the foot.

Hindsite is always 20/20, but he should have taken care of the broken counter top and it would never have made it court.

What happens is, a contractor is sued or sues someone. The 1st question a MD judge will ask is "are you licensed"? If the answer is yes - the case proceeds. If the answer is no - you go to jail.

When I was an expert witness against another paver contractor - the other contractor's attorney questioned my licensing status during my testimony. I later heard the attorney whisper to her client "we'll check his license, if he's not licensed we'll get contempt charges on him"!! LOL

You can't even work under a GC on a residential property without a sub-contractors license in MD.


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[jonesy5149]

Originally Posted by DVS Hardscaper

LOL - Gotta Love MD's Courts!

See, your friend shot himself in the foot.

Hindsite is always 20/20, but he should have taken care of the broken counter top and it would never have made it court.

What happens is, a contractor is sued or sues someone. The 1st question a MD judge will ask is "are you licensed"? If the answer is yes - the case proceeds. If the answer is no - you go to jail.

When I was an expert witness against another paver contractor - the other contractor's attorney questioned my licensing status during my testimony. I later heard the attorney whisper to her client "we'll check his license, if he's not licensed we'll get contempt charges on him"!! LOL



You can't even work under a GC on a residential property without a sub-contractors license in MD.


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so if you have the right papers (licenses) you dont go to jail.... i guess that is why a person would have a license because he or she dose that for work

[stuvecorp]

You know, I'm sick of hearing about handyman or lowballers - who cares? It's the free market, you will never get all the bids or jobs(and seriously there is a lot of jobs I don't even want) and without the scrapers in the market how would people really see the difference between a well skillfully and well constructed hardscape project?

[Stillwater]

No such thing as a low baller

[Woodland]

Originally Posted by Stillwater

No such thing as a low baller

Not true. A lowballer is one who knowingly and intentionally underbids a job so they can get it. This is not as common as people on this forum complaining about think. What most are referring to, and this post in particular, are morons who should not be working for themselves. These are people who think they're doing things right but the don't know how to do the work properly, don't have the proper equipment and don't know how or what to charge for their work. They might do very well working for someone else, being told what to do and when, but can't do it successfully on their own. These guy are VERY prevalent in this business but fortunately, like the lowballer, won't last more than a couple of seasons.

[stan the man]

all account use me as handyman. i have done a lot walkway and deck for my accounts and i am not cheap i was higher then the another lco. so bit**ing of a handyman is not the way to go.

[jonesy5149]

Originally Posted by stan the man

all account use me as handyman. i have done a lot walkway and deck for my accounts and i am not cheap i was higher then the another lco. so bit**ing of a handyman is not the way to go.

Yaaaaa your right so i just open the mowing aspect to my portfolio...thanks for the advise

[Stillwater]

Originally Posted by Woodland

Not true. A lowballer is one who knowingly and intentionally underbids a job so they can get it. This is not as common as people on this forum complaining about think. What most are referring to, and this post in particular, are morons who should not be working for themselves. These are people who think they're doing things right but the don't know how to do the work properly, don't have the proper equipment and don't know how or what to charge for their work. They might do very well working for someone else, being told what to do and when, but can't do it successfully on their own. These guy are VERY prevalent in this business but fortunately, like the lowballer, won't last more than a couple of seasons.

Not everyone offering services for lower cost is what you call a low baller. Some can becouse their costs are less. If what you say is true where is the problem? watch your debt. Not every business even if they do things right stays in business.

[DVS Hardscaper]

Originally Posted by Stillwater

Not everyone offering services for lower cost is what you call a low baller. Some can becouse their costs are less. If what you say is true where is the problem? watch your debt. Not every business even if they do things right stays in business.

In this area, most full fledged hardscapers come and go.

[LB1234]

instead of blaming the "handyman" or "lowballer" or whomever you want to call them...blame the homeowner for choosing the lowest bidder...which really should indicate you did a poor job of selling the project and informing the customer (justifying) why you charge what you do. If they still insist on choosing the lowest bid then ask yourself if you really want them as a customer.


And I'm one of those "lawn jockey's" that performs hardscape installs...should I be upset when the "hardscaper" bids significantly lower?

Welcome to the real world.