Just started on a bathroom remodel and was paying the carpenter based on the whole job- materials and labor. Materials are on site sitting in the garage.
Carpenter broke his wrist slipping on the ice and will be unable to work for several weeks (months?) and said I could hire another carpenter/contractor to finish the job and he would just charge me for the wholesale price for the materials. He was nice enough to write off the few hours of labor he spent doing demo. Luckily I have a 3/4 bath in the basement. Located in the upper mid-west if that makes difference.
So what is the going hourly rate for carpenters/contractors with the materials already bought? The guy who was doing the work said he figures $35.00/hour but also admits he pays wholesale prices for materials and charges retail which I know is a common practice for them to make money beyond the labor charge.
Sorry–didn’t see upper MW. $35 is probably fine. If you hire someone without insurance (i.e. a “handyman”) you better damn well check with your insurance company or you could buy any screwups or even a broken wrist on the job. Up to and including burning the place to the ground or flooding it out.
I would be wary of hiring by the hour - the next guy could milk the job and blow your budget sky-high. Perhaps a ‘not to exceed’ clause in the contract, say 10%-15% above the expected cost, would be possible. Make sure the existing material list is referenced and agreed to by contract so there are no “but you need lefthanded widgets and these are all righthanded!” arguments.
The safest alternative would be to get a solid total price installation contract using the materials you now own, again stated in the contract. Lots of contractors bid jobs that they don’t supply materials for.
I’ll second the requirement to get a Certificate of Insurance, and add that you should insist on a waiver of subrogation to boot. If any contractor squawks at those requests there’s something wrong. All it takes is a simple phone call or email from the contractor to his insurance agent. They do these every day.
Out here in far northern coastal California an experienced carpenter with tools and insurance charges $50 per hour. In this rural area a good reputation is worth gold. Independent carpenters do not screw up, or if they do they make it good at their cost.
During the summer of 2019 my brother-in-law fell behind in a job he was doing himself. He hired two carpenters he knew. They completed the work in six days at $800/day. (8hr*$50/hr*2) A finance hit to be sure but my BIL said they were worth it to get the job done.
The first guy should take responsibility for the temporary carpenter. The new guy probably can work under his insurance, although that might cost him, and he can make sure the job is done right and for a reasonable price.
The problem here is that he doesn’t have to, he can return any money you paid him and he doesn’t have to do a thing, so you don’t have a lot of leverage to get him to do this if he doesn’t want to.
We hired a local contractor to do some work on our deck, and his hourly rate for his carpenter was $38. We also paid cost for materials, but I believe paid hourly for someone to go and buy and transport them. This is in Bend, OR.