Hey Val,
Since he is a neighbor, I would pay the invoice amount and go get him a $100 GC to a nice restaurant as a "thank you."

Smiles:)

I would say that he should have assumed that this first job was going to take longer than expected and either he should have padded the hours a bit or expected to eat some hours due to OJT. I'm sure he learned alot from your job - plus the benefit of you being a patient and non confrontational customer. So, that is part of being in business, knowing how to accurately estimate a job.

To preserve your relationship, you might ask him if he felt that he had drastically underbid the job, or did he feel that it took him longer since it was his first crown install etc.
If you feel he did a good job and want to compensate him for his effort, maybe you split the difference and pay him for an extra 12 hours.

This is why I don't hire relatives or neighbors to do work for me!! You agreed to a price that he quoted you, it took longer, so he's out some $$ but that's business. On the other hand he's your neighbor and you run into him all the time. I'd rather have a good neighbor and be out another $375. :-)

I suspect your neighbor is HOPING you'll pay him extra for the extra time he took but isn't really expecting you to. He gave you an invoice with the amount you originally agreed on it so it seems clear that he doesn't think he has any legal right to claim more. Nor do I think you have any moral obligation what-so-ever to pay for his "learning curve" time UNLESS his hourly labor rate was so deeply discounted from what someone with more experience would have charged/hour that you wound up getting a really great deal overall. Call around and find out.

Then, if it seems like you got an overly good deal, pay him the invoice amount plus whatever "bonus" amount seems right to you. On the check I would probably write the invoice number and amount plus the word bonus and that amount. I would tell him the bonus is because he did a good job even when he had to spend extra time figuring out how to do it. That way you acknowledge his good work without doing anything to suggest that you are under the impression that you legally own him anymore than the invoice amount.

On the other hand, if it seems that the invoice amount is fair compensation for the work you actually got, pay the invoice amount and, if you feel uncomfortable not acknowledging his extra time, tell him something like: "I know my job must have been a bit of a learning experience for you and I appreciate your honesty in not trying to charge me for your learning-curve time. You put put out a great final product and, if you need a reference for future work, feel free to call on me."

Either way ought to ensure you remain on good neighborly terms.

I just wanted to clarify, I think he will be fine if we pay him the $795 he charged. He is one of the most mild tempered persons I know and I'm sure he did not charge any extra for same reason--doesn't want to damage the relationship. After a year of the remodel, I was so sick of having strangers working in my house, making sure I was home when they were there--or trusting them with our home and key--not to mention not letting my teenaged kids stay home alone if I needed to go out. The trim work was too much of a small job for my GC who has moved on to other work, so I would've had to find someone else anyway. After 17 years, I trust my neighbors as we always look out for each other's homes when we go on vacations.

I do like the idea of doing a little something extra to show we recognize the extra effort he put in on the job. The amount of the little "something extra" would depend on whether he really did low bid this job--or just took an inordinate amount of time to complete. Hopefully someone can chime in who has paid for a trim job and give me a better idea if his original estimate was low, high or about right. His labor cost ran about $8 per linear foot.

Here's some info that might help. . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: Contractor Talk/Crown Molding Installation Costs

Based on my husband's business as a home renovator/contractor and how much he makes and how much he pays his helper, I'd say your neighbor overcharged you at $30 an hour. People are paid according to their skill level. Since this was a "learning experience" for him he shouldn't have been charging you more than $15 an hour. Also, when my husband bids a job he never bills someone for hours he had to work over, only for any unexpected supplies or surprises. I think $795 is too much, but if you think you should give him that for his inexperience go ahead, but I don't recommend you give him a penny more.

We are building a home and I wanted to know the cost of doing extra bedrooms, our contractor told us $10 per LF. I thought that was extremely high, but that's his price, and he does use professional trim subs.

I would have thought he would have just billed you the $795 as agreed. I don't know why he felt it necessary to put on the invoice the exact number of hours he worked. It should have just been "per estimate $795". Is this his way to tell you (without telling you) that he put in more time and is therefore hoping you will see that and pay him more? He knows he can't outright ask you.
51 hours to install 110 ft. seems absolutely an insane amount of time.
Even 26 hours seems excessive --- that is three full days of work!
I had about 200 feet installed many years ago. I think the guy did it in about a day.

If it took him 26 extra hours, it as due to his skill level; not due to unforeseen encounters and problems. I think he had a learning experience and you didn't get the quality job you expected.
He needed the practice. He's the one running his business. He gave you a bill for his work and you paid it. Would it make any difference if he lived on the other side of town?

We had a guy from church custom build a mantel. We paid him for the job. It turned out that he used more material than he originally estimated because he made some mistakes he had to buy more wood to fix. He did not charge us for this.

It you knew upfront the cost, and agreed to it, then you should pay him the invoiced amount.

I just had crown molding installed yesterday at $8 a linear foot. It was a small room (about 10x10) but still took half a day. So few walls are even that it can be difficult and take varying amounts of time. The $795 seems reasonable and I like the idea of a gift card as a nice extra for your neighbor.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this. We do live in the Bay Area (CA) where labor prices are higher than many other parts of the country, so I'm inclined to think we were not overcharged--plus we agreed. It doesn't look like he underbid the job, so I do not feel obliged to make up the difference; however, I do like the idea of enclosing a gift card to a restaurant to recognize the fact he put in the extra time to make it look good and fix his mistakes--particularly as he had his wife help as well holding up the crown, handing him tools, etc. and she would also benefit. I was wondering if there was actually some tax implication towards documenting the actual hours worked--like perhaps deduct these hours as a loss?

If you want to do something a little extra for him, I'd give him cash in a thank you note 'for dinner' instead of a gc. That way he can use his tip/bonus as and where he pleases -- as it is for him to enjoy :)

I agree with most - that amount of money is not worth severing a relationship over. And here in NY, that is a pretty good labor charge.

We had a similar situation a couple years ago when we hired my brother's friend and co-worker to build us a fairly complicated set of stairs/small deck. We chose materials (Ipe wood decking/vinyl railing) that the builder (who does this as a side job) had never used. There was a definite learning curve involved to using these materials. DH is an engineer and provided elaborate working plans, so I think the builder thought it would be easier to accomplish than it was. It took him forever, and we could tell he was getting really frustrated. However, he was a really nice guy and we totally trusted him to be at our house when we weren't around. He also hooked us up with the most fabulous stone worker who later installed the patio.

When it was done we were embarrassed to pay him what he originally quoted us. DH and I decided to throw in a couple extra hundred dollars for his troubles. I also took lots of great photos of the finished work, both before and after the patio and landscaping were installed, and put it all on a disc for him. He was really thrilled with this, because he was building a website and these photos really showcased his work.

Even though we didn't end up paying him what the job would have cost if he was more experienced and priced it correctly, we did acknowledge his efforts by giving him extra. I think it worked out well for both of us--he gained experience that will pay off down the road and we have a beautiful structure that another contractor wouldn't have considered building without a premium charge. The trade off for us was that it took forever to have it built--in fact we lost most of the useable summer season waiting for it.

Most importantly, this guy is a member of the community we live in. He lives down the road from us and we bump into him all the time. We always have a friendly chat when we meet. I've learned that developing and nurturing positive relationships with the people in our communities/lives is always worth it! You never know when/how your paths might cross again.
I like the idea of a gift certificate for your neighbor, and would add some pictures of the finished job so he can use them to build his business.

BTW, Val, I think you have done the most spectacular job remodeling your home--both inside and out. I am amazed at your energy and patience! Hopefully it will all end soon so you can sit back and enjoy it all!

The bill is the amount agreed on and that is what you ought to pay rather then some amount more.

If you feel awkward or just really like the trim job take the couple out to dinner (rather then a gift card). A gift card or bonus cash very directly brings money into it, and he may feel awkward accepting it, later you may feel regret at offering it, it might mess with his taxes, and it just generally makes relationships more awkward. Doing something nice takes money out of the equation, emotionally anyhow.

You could pick where based on how much of a nice thing you want to do for them. since you've known each other so long I'm guessing you know each other rather well. If that would be awkward or out of line with any discrepancy you feel in the project maybe bake a pie or casserole or a cake with icing that looks like crown molding.

Just my $0.02 :)