How Many Of Us Are Willing To Work Second Shift?

duckdown

I got an interesting call yesterday from a customer inquiring if I could do a large job for them with the caveat that it be done on after hours. They go to work very early and didn't want to take time off just to hang around for various contractors and instead wanted to find contractors that would start work after 4pm. Apparently, pretty much everyone else in the neighborhood wouldn't consider.

In a down economy, the opportunity to make additional monies seems like an opportunity, I could not pass up. It is about three weeks worth of work so there is no long term impact to work/life balance and I can do other jobs during the day.

How many of us are willing to adjust our hours to meet the demands of our customers?

joasis

I depends on how high the stack of bills are and the desire to eat. If all other things are ok, price, etc., then I would probably do it....besides, they might not like it long before they decide to trust you with a key and have you there when they aren't. Nothing like living with construction noise after you get home from a long day.

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JBBS

What is more important, income or your "free time"? I get plenty of "free time" in the winter. There have been many jobs that I have started at 10pm or even midnight. Mostly restaurants & businesses that need to be open during the day. Second shift, third shift, 24 hour shift, even holidays as a scab on a union job just to get ^&*( done without anyone in my way. You gotta do what you gotta do!

Wolfgang

Working after "normal hours" doesnt bother me. I usually add to the bid for it. Gotta say though, at my age doing the 11 - 7 stuff doesnt appeal to me much anymore. If the customer's willing to pay...

Al Taper

In March to August of 08. Work at Mall here in NJ.. Rockaway Town Square if you know the area. We Did Repairs and new light pockets in the main mall. And a whole new food court. The hour sucked 10 pm to 8 am. 10 hour nights and only worked 4 nights. That was nice. But the frist month it kicked my butt. And maked great money.

dan-o

We'll work whenever, though the price goes up.
The biggest hassle is the inability to get needed materials during the night.

Sir Mixalot

Gotta get it while it's there in this industry. That's what separates the successful and the unsuccessful. Tomorrow I have to be at restaurant we have been remodeling at 4:00am. They open at 10:30am. Then, we are off to residential project till about 6:00pm.

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Mike Finley

You gotta do what you gotta due to pay the rent.

I'd probably turn the tables on them. Nobody needs to be at home to "just to hang around for various contractors". That's not reality.

I've done work for customers who left on vacation the day before we started and came back a week after we were done. There are many vacation and 2nd home owners who have remodeling done while they are a thousand miles away.

Also this is 2009, we have cell phones and email. Anybody with good communication skills and who is centered on excellent customer service can communicate with an absent customer during the day for the minor incendents that will require a question/answer. A good company should be operating where it basically mentally completes the project step by step with the customer before it ever even starts. Starting the project is just execution at that point.

Weird how they happen to live in a neighborhood filled with home theater pros.

IHI

If the money is right, we'll do what we have to so long as it has no bearing on other jobs taking place at the same time, hardest part is getting the subs talked into that scenario and dont think for a second they're not going to charge extra for it too. Typically it's worth tacking an extra 20-30% onto a job for the inconveince.

I know with some of the restraunts we worked at, it was night shift only. Schedule wise it did'nt bother any of us on site, kind of a change of pace type mentality, but you just hoped and prayed you bought plenty of the right materials to get you through until the next day, and buy stuff you dont think you'll need because if you have an entire job stopped at 3am with everybody standing around waiting, you just lost money big time..so preperation is key, which goes back to adding in the extra % for the extra headache and cushion factor so if things go bad, your still padded.

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SLSTech

Commercial work - fine

Most neighbors for residential work won't tolerate this

I agree with Mike - there is no need for the HO to be there & generally it is easier if there not

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Leo G

Sounds like they need to micro manage the project. Some people just don't trust anyone to be in their home while they are not. Understandable. But you should absolutely charge more. You will have to get all of your materials in the normal working hours and then work at their convenience. Thank goodness we don't need to sleep.

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Tom Struble

some places wont let you work past 8pm

neolitic

90% of the retail work I've done
has been in off hours.
I just plan to be ready to roll
at closing time and work all night.

Residential....with great reluctance
and a very high premium on
the price.
Having the HO there is more than
just a PITA, there are so many conflicts
it boggles the mind.
Are they going to expect that you
are going to make all of the accommodations?
That they can just go on with
uninterrupted daily life while you
work around them?
If I can't get access during the day
there are usually other red flags, and
trust issues are big ones.
Do one of these jobs, and it will likely
be a long time before you entertain
the idea again.

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silvertree

I am stopped with the customer wanting to be there. Depends on how much I need the work. Commercial (retail) yes, residential I would need a good reason and "want to be there" is not a good reason.

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ProWallGuy

Unless you are under the age of 30, I wouldn't even consider this. When I was a young buck, 2 shifts didn't bother me. The older o got, the harder it got. Now I don't even consider it. Paperwork or meetings/estimates are fine, but don't expect much productive labor to get done.

Also remember that when you figure your production rates for 'after hours' work, they will always be lower than normal daytime hours.

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nap

If it were in my home, I would want to be there simply because I am a bit paranoid and have trouble trusting people in my house without owner/owner rep presence.


As to working off hours; I do commercial elect and off shift work is common. That is jjust how it is.

As another posted though, in a resi setting, the community may have ordinances against off shift work but if there were no legal problems, work is work. As I get older, off shift gets harder but considering the current environment, I would think the off-shift situation would be a non-issue.

Take it while you can get it because almost all financial prognosticators are saying it is going to get worse before it gets better.

rbsremodeling

It is illegal here to work in a residential neighborhood after 7pm. . Unless it is emergency work

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neolitic

The big difference here is:
Retail off hours, no one else is there.
Residential off hours, everyone is there.
You start while they are having supper,
work through their evening routine,
laundry, showers, homework,......
then you knock off when they decide
it's bed time.

As mentioned before, my best
margins have always been when
I start the day they leave on vacation.

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shanekw1

The only thing that stops night work here is noise bylaws, can't run a saw or compressors after 7 PM, but if you're just painting or mudding, go hard.

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precisionbuild

In Commercial, I've done it several times. Not a problem.

Residential....NO WAY! So they can sit in their LAZY Boy and watch me. Nope.

It sounds like there are trust issues you need to overcome OR you need to explain things better to them.

I wouldn't do any job without trust issues overcome. And everything is explained upfront.

The police will be having you shut it down after a certain time in residential.