scrubbedexpat142

What sort of rate do plumbers & electricians get?

Shotgun

In England (not London) electricians charge circa £30, and for some strange reason plumbers charge more. Obviously there will be variations.
I doubt there will be many Hungarian manual workers getting anywhere near what you are paying.
Google Hungarian wages and you'll be informed that minimum wage for a skilled worker is1495 HUF per hour.

scrubbedexpat142

I doubt that there are many Hungarian (or other) manual workers with the range of skills, dedication & commitment that Zsolti has!

scrubbedexpat142

By the way he didn't ask for 20K, I gradually promoted him up to that!

First tranche of work was quoted by him at 300K and included -

Take down & dispose of 10 outer grills, take down one outer grill, renovate & eventually re fit.
Take away & renovate 15 outer window sashes, and I don't mean a lick of paint, I mean renovate.
Take away & renovate 7 slatted window shutters.
Refix above with new cords & fittings.
Replace two large floor tiles.
Make & fit three arched window heads.
Fill & repair various holes in the external rendering.

Now much of the work was done off site so I don't know his hours spent, elapsed time for the job, 3 weeks.

I thought that was pretty good - and we were VERY pleased with the results.

Forgot that I actually paid him 10% on top, he earned it.

AAD

Far too much money, you have to look at the average wage in Hungary. When you know a qualified welder is only getting less than 1000 forint in hour. I know Budapest is different, but i have been in Budapest for a long while as well, they are not double to the countryside, average wage is around 400,000 a month, lorry drivers earning average 400,000 to 600,000.
I was a 44tonne driver in UK for Toyota forklifts UK.
Noway am i paying any Hungarian stupid money, I pay them more than they get, but i still expect a good job. Last year i had about 5 tonne of soil to move, a guy looked and said 20,000 forint to take it away, he moved a tonne and said 30,000, to do the job..he moaned , I went mad and cleared him off with 10,000 forint in his hand, hours work..He got a excellent deal. I moved the whole lot the next day alone into a tractor trailer..
They want money but not the hard graft.
When i think i worked all hours in UK up to 70hours a week. Se people do not know what hard work is unfortunately. Luxury in life comes with hard work , my dad always said you would shovel crap for money to feed yourself.
He escaped Hungary in 1956 , he was 16 and also was a long distance lorry driver. Never complained, never went to the doctor's, but drank gallons of Pálinka and beer, loved Guiness he did, and his cigarette's and unfortunately died at only 60 from cancer all over riddled.

AAD

There is not many tradesman around, it's a nightmare here. I actually got my bathroom finished today, the plumber turned up in the afternoon , he also put all my gas convectors back on the wall, 4 got removed when doing the floor with concrete, 20,000 forint, I still need to remove the big water tank and get a instant hot water heater or combi boiler, but i will do that later on.
You have to laugh out here or you could cry most days.

AAD

Tell you what is funny, you know how hot it gets in summer, I would drink lots of beer from morning until the evening whilst i worked in the garden or painting, general DIY, but i was pissed as a newt when i would go back in the house, then my music would be on.
I then called it a day because i was looking like a alcoholic lol.
Pálinka was wiping me out from the neighbors keep giving it to me.
I do miss the beer alot, only summer i would drink, just better than water lol.

AAD

20,000 or 30,000 a day is enough for any Hungarian,never mind an hour, that is a joke. They tried it with me though. It is alot of money here. If i have a big job on, i get a quote for the job, does not matter how long it takes them.
When they start saying hourly pay constantly, they can take there time.
Its easier here in Borsod county because i know everyone in the town, but it is hard work when you are moving to another county and know nobody. So i have had lots of cowboys turning up thinking pound signs because i am British, it's pretty normal that happening. You can be friendly but always be serious as well, because they work on your
friendly behaviour. I have had to tell them in the end.

scrubbedexpat142

After 25 years experience in the UK building industry, the one thing I grew to hate is the adversarial approach to building work. Now, a bad "builder" is a bad builder, a cowboy, a menace, both to customers and the industry. A good, multi skilled and totally reliable tradesman is a different story, and I'm very happy with ours, and our arrangement. I must also mention he does also do the odd freeby!

Jack_Russells4ever

I just reread the thread and somehow missed the extra zero in the hourly rates. I have a retired American that does some handyman type jobs for me and He does pretty good as a handyman and he only charges 2500 forints per hour plus mileage if he goes to collect parts. I would not calll him a tradesman but for minor repairs and things he can do I am happy with his rates. He does not take on bigger projects than what he can do in a day. That being said I do not rate craftsman and handyman as being one and the same..

AAD

2000 - 3000 forint i say is about right tbh.
I have got a ex builder doing jobs for me at the moment, he is the best i have had up to now, turns up at weekends and does jobs for me whilst i am 400 Km's away.
Although the plumber seems to not understand the water cistern should be set high and you use a chain, he has put it low, believe it or not i have been pissing myself laughing at why he did it, builder said the chain is almost on the floor tiles 😂 God give me strength.

wolfi

I have to agree with jack and AAD.
For some handymen even 1000 HUF an hour would be too much. Two years ago when we moved to our "new" house we had one or two bad experiences but now we can rely on our really nice neighbours not only to help us but also to recommend good workers.
It's fantastic in a way how we cooperate - mainly retired people but eveybody has a son or daughter with a car who helps with shopping etc.
Of course we do it too - last year the son of a neighbour had Covid, but he managed after a few weeks in hospital, had taken his booster.
And of course I offered to drive him home, having been boostered myself. Now we meet regularly, he does home office and has some English speaking customers so I help with translations ...
So yesterday when we had some moving to do which required strong help he of course came over.

FenTiger

All works we've had done or planned on our house has been recommended by a neighbour of my mother-in-law. Some even went to school with the neighbour. The works guys have been kind enough to pop round for face to face chat rather than SMS or email as we're both profoundly deaf so mobile calls are out of the question. As my Hungarian is very basic I've had to sit on the sidelines during any chats then my Hungarian wife translates to British Sign Language. A plumber and son we asked to remove a CH radiator and pipe for a new door and window in kitchen/konyha and lounge/nappali. This was a must do job before new verandah is built, new doors and window arrives. Cost to us ... zilch because they will be changing our CH system. The plumber and son have said for that bit of work we could thank them with a BBQ. Shame it won't happen over the Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee weekend. Unfortunately, our new doors and window won't arrive before then. It's going to be a delicate act to fit in works the builders need to do before the doors and window fitters do their bit.
It's been amazing that all the guys working here know each other .... mostly from a previous job they worked at. Opposite our house is a lady who works at the pharmacy, just around the corner a nurse who works at the doctors. Two corners away ... the plumber and son. Even one of the builders knows a villager who walks past our house every day and lives near flats where the previous owner of our house lives!

AAD

Alot all know each other in the small towns, but even then i have to admit although majority of my jobs even on this house in Borsod as cost me alot of money and they got paid alot of money, the work is bad, verandas with the aluminium edging is all coming off, paint is coming off the house, leaks in the bathroom pipes under the tiles, I could go on about so much, they got paid alot of money.
Workmanship is s**t, my dad would go mad if he was alive, when ever he built anything it never broke, or collapsed. Sorry but its money they see and alot want to get the job done and be gone asap.
It's never going to feel the same for me because Hungary is not a new experience, my family is Hungarian.
Do you know i was not having this plumber back to put two flexible pipes in the bathroom, and finish off the cistern pipe for the toilet, so i paid £250 for a stainless steel polished cistern pipe retro which goes from the toilet up to the cistern, over a metre and half in length, plus it came with a expensive chain and pull made of porcelain.
Even the cistern as the connection for the chain, he has put the cistern behind the EFFG toilet !!! I am livid now i have stopped laughing, he cut the pipe 4 times, I swear he did it deliberately, you cannot be that much of a idiot !!😭 The chain pull is on the tiled flooring.