How much do I charge a friend to refinish her deck?

[brandino29]

A friend/neighbor messaged my wife yesterday asking if I'd be willing to pressure wash and restain her deck for her.  I'm not sure how to go about giving her a fair price that I'd be willing to do it for. I want to be fair to her and do it for cheaper than a professional she would hire would do it (I'm no professional) but without selling myself short either.

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

[brotatochip]

Since she is a friend/neighbor maybe you could try to barter something/service that she may be able to provide later on down the line. 

[Ricky]

Depends on the size of the deck. I would say $15/hr to be safe. That's cheap and it gives you an incentive to do it. Don't feel bad about charging money. Bartering/trading is no different. If the time comes around, the friend can charge you for their services. I've never understood why friends/family are so weird with money. There's always that expectation that the other will just return the favor when the time comes. Money eliminates the awkward obligations and is universally accepted. And the ones that genuinely deserve somehing for really cheap or free usually aren't your friends or family.

Don't be taken advantage of just because they are your neighbor. People are always looking for a "deal". Just come at it from a reasonable angle to them: "I've done some research, and it looks like $15/hr works out to be about half what a pro would charge. I'm willing to do it for half since I don't have a lot of experience and you're a good friend/neighbor".

[rmendpara]

I'd figure a few different angles to get to a reasonable value:

top end price: What a professional would charge. Obviously, you should not request more than someone who does this all the time

For what it's worth, I generally offer my tenants to do work for me for cost of materials plus $10/hr ($20 minimum). Works out great for me if I put together a list of a few things and have it all taken care of once or twice a year for non-skilled things.

If it were me, I'd probably do it all the same way. Cost of materials that you would need, plus $10/hr (my guess would be around half of what a professional would charge for time only).

Maybe offer a discount if she's hot and single.. :)

[ltt]

I'm (and kids) currently working on staining our deck.  It's a huge wraparound deck with a lot of rails, plus it's been raining every other day.  Not only that but the deck/rails are up high, so will need a ladder and extension rollers to reach some of them. I imagine it will take much longer with a lot of rails involved.  If it's a simple deck, you can probably mentally figure out how much total.  If it's a larger deck with a lot of rails, you will probably put in a lot of hours. 

[Dee18]

Wish you were my neighbor!  I would pay you $300 right this minute!

[Prepube]

Either say, "No, you need a professional for that.", or do it for a beer and a sandwich.  Keep your relationships clear and your roles within them obvious, and you cant go wrong. Why risk a friendship?