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I rolled my eyes at hourly billing for years but now I think it's the only fair way
Always thought hourly was for amateurs and flat rate was the professional move. Then I took a $2k flat job for a retaining wall that ended up taking 3 extra days because the ground was full of roots and I basically worked for minimum wage. Has anyone else been burned by flat rate on a job that went sideways?
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joseph_bailey7d ago
Yeah @fionanguyen, same here, now I always add a buffer clause in flat contracts for surprise crap.
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ray_burns7d ago
Wait, you mean you can't just guess on flat rate pricing and hope it works out? Yeah, been there too many times. Learned the hard way that a "quick fence job" turns into digging up old concrete posts and dealing with a broken auger. A buffer clause is smart, but I still think half of it is just luck and keeping your fingers crossed. Either you eat the extra hours or you get good at saying "that's not in the original scope" with a straight face.
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