"Tumbleweed" wrote in message ...
"Mike" wrote in message
...


I would hate to embarrass him.

What is the usual hourly rate for skilled or semi-skilled work in your
area?
Perhaps you could ask the local labour exchange or whatever it's called
now!
I think that's the only way you can assess it fairly. Here in Devon,
it's
quite low for un-skilled at around £5.00 per hour. But our builder
charges
about £14.00 per hour, I think.


Thanks for that Sacha. The problem is 'a going rate', if I assess that on
my
rate when I was working, £25.00 - £30.00 and hour, then 'I' wouldn't do it
for £5.00 an hour, but he might be embarrassed if I offered him £20.00 per
hour. We all get on ever so well around here, doing what we can when we
can
for each other.

Mike


Dont underestimate the time and possibly expense involved in removing the
trimmings, unless you plan to have a pretty big bonfire.

A gardener's as skilled as a good builder, so why not go for that
rate? (Though I know this particular job isn't particularly skilled,
and it's presumably cash, so I doubt if he'd be insulted by a tenner
an hour.) The builder won't mind telling you how much he charges at
present. My last plumber (a good one) in West Wales charged UKP17.50
per hour with no call-out fee; I get about UKP20 per hour for proper
gardening (more, incidentally, than I get for editing or, probably,
translation).

Mike.