Domestic Irrigation Engineer Salary.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I have been tasked to come up with a price on the stuff I do around here, mow, blow, trim hedges, and water......

Whilst I can get estimates for trimming, blowing, hedge trimming the one thing I can't find is the price to water land with hoses and sprinklers (no automatic sprinkler system, no buried irrigation system).

I don't even know how to phrase my question to Google.

I do know I spend about 8 hours a day moving hoses, turning on and off sprinklers. Since its on a well and the plumbing is ancient (thus corrosion and mineral build up has narrowed the pipes) I can only run 1-4 sprinklers at a time, 4 applies to only one special series of faucets on.


1 for the far back yard, which If I turn on another one the water pressure isn't sufficient to make the sprinkler head turn.

To do the whole back yard, for instance, requires at least three moves of the sprinkler, 5 if I want to water our near cliff (which I do that once a week).

I think all in all I spend about 30 -32 hours a week watering. Never actually timed it as I'm usually doing other things whilst water is running.

Whilst I'm not actually out there hauling around hoses all of those hours, I am pretty much able to just sit back with a lemonade and wait 45-60 minutes, the reality is that I am having to remain here and wait...

I do this every other day, more on hotter days. I also hand water a few beds (hold my hose and spray )....

Any idea how this should be charged for dollars?

Other than my humorous "I'm a domestic irrigation engineer" any other real titles such work falls under?

Mind California Minimum Wage is $10.00 an hour. but since I'm not actually doing anything for most of that time aside from waiting for the house to spray its contents all over the place, do I charge for that waiting time, or just the time I'm moving hoses, turning off and on faucets?

Ideas? Directions? Suggestions, perhaps you have a link to a mind reading search engine that 'gets' what I'm trying to ask....?

Thanks

[ceez]

I would charge for the whole time you are out working and increase the amount by a few dollars, but it may be something that you'll have to negotiate and remind the person that you do have to eat and pay bills.

[ceez]

here's another handy dandy tool I use sometimes called the salary calculator http://us.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/hourly.php it may help find a good asking price.

[LJay]

Perhaps you could call some landscaping services that do this sort of thing and see what they charge their customers and/or pay their workers. Another approach would be to all a temp agency and ask what it would cot to hire someone to do such work. Your state labor board or employment ageny may also have some figures to help. If you are doing it as self-employed, don't forget the costs of insurance, self employment tax, licensing, etc.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I'm sorry, but this isn't about negotiations, its about billing for services rendered. Without a contract. As the person who I work for said in Feburary that he would draw up a contract and negotiate. Nothing happened.

This is all part of my I am hella pissed for your disrespecting me after all of the services I have done without a single dime sent my way for labor... Payment is now due thing.

I just talked to the judge's wife (The neighbor on the good side of me not the Banshee), and she told me I can also claim the services rendered as caregiver, and the maid services I took over when the maid quit, and other things.

She is the third person this week (and the week has just started) that has advised me to start invoicing and pushing.

She also informed me that both Bob and the kids had/have money - and from the way she talked a lot of money.

However in order to send invoice, I have to have a dollar amount in which to charge.

And here is when it gets tricky as I know of no one else who does watering (by hand) as a job. As far as I know I'm the only person in the whole wide world who has not been made redundant or obsolete by that new fangeled technology called 'automatic sprinklers'.

So no, this is not about negotiations, this about my sending invoices for services rendered, and about my withholding rent (which is services rendered - meaning I will no longer water Mirkwood, mow it, blow it, etc.

And since I'm technologically impaired, I will most likely be knocking on your all's door to tell me how to use google to find the sorts of information I need in order to get an average (reasonable of course not) price for stuff to fill out my invoice.

Irrigation comes first since it is the main thing that has kept me prisoner to this property for nearly 17 years...

[Virge]

Let me guess.

The person who wants all this broken down by tasks is
a current to retired public school teacher/ administrator
a current or retired state or federal employee/executive
a 45+y/o housewife or alimony recipient of a man who makes over $300,000 a yr.

I'm on the edge of a real similar issue here Bowyn. City and school board have reconfigured bids for guys doing snow plowing mowing and shrub maintenance andddddd watering. They want it all broken down to hours per week per job description over the entire year for their "budgeting purposes." They cannot wrap their brains around the fact that all those hours depend upon variables in weather that no one is willing to loose their financial asses guessing over in order to come in a low bid.

If you're watering samelawn areas daily to every other day you are working yourself to death. You need to put out cans to see how long it takes to get 3/4" over the area. That much will last a lawn 10-14 days and promote deep root growth instead of the shallow that shallow watering causes.

I'll check back to see if you add more info

EDIT
Just read your post with info. I see what you need it for. Expect them to bicker about everything you invoice sonce you're estimating for services rendered.

[cunningluvr]

As Virge says, they'll argue over everything, so:
write down everything you have to do to maintain the grounds, the lawn, your departed landlord. keep the descriptions general, i.e, you're not a lawn waterer, plant planter, hedge trimmer, grass mower, you're a groundskeeper. List them all.
groundskeeper
housecleaning
caretaking
etc.
estimate how much time you spend a week doing each thing, say you work 8 hours a day, 7 days a week on your duties
groundskeeper 35 hours
housecleaning 15 hours
caretaker 6 hours
I can't see any of that being less than $20/hr, but google it for the area you live in (pay varies widely by location) - say you live in San Diego, in the search bar, enter "groundskeeper salary San Diego", repeat for each duty. pick the highest rate of the duties, multiply that by the hours you spend. How many weeks did you have an agreement (contractual or spoken)? Multiply that times your weekly total. That's what you're owed.

You know how to do this, just your mind is perhaps understandably muddled right now. Not to worry, your mind will clear in time and meanwhile many folks here to help. Don't fret about asking questions.

Don't give them too much detail, since that will give them more nits to pick. Just an honest accounting of your work that a fair-minded person (and you may find those in court as a last resort) can look at and judge.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

$20 an hour? Sheesh....

To get an idea of what I have to do look at my photos: https://gayspeak.com/album.php?albumid=61

Mind this is in the central valley, one picture shows the river and what is on the other side (from last year, this year its kinda black due to a minor fire - I should take a pick to post).



Note: My side of the river is green... the other side not so much.

While I would love to spin a yarn that the green is all elven magic, the reality is that its water.

This spring:



Last summer (almost the same spot)



Note the shrub where the water spicket is... I trimmed it in spring, its already as largely grown as it was last year this year (yeah I need to get out there and cut it - its on my list)

Note the ivy wall was actually a fence, which in the first picture was being removed. Its all gone now.... all 125 feet of it... Now that was a project to remove.

I'll upload more pictures tonight, I haven't for a while....

It should give a better idea of why it is I am watering all the time, and why I am outside working all the time.

Mirkwood is not an easy place to keep.

[Anocxu]

$20 an hour? Sheesh....

To get an idea of what I have to do look at my photos: https://gayspeak.com/album.php?albumid=61

Mind this is in the central valley, one picture shows the river and what is on the other side (from last year, this year its kinda black due to a minor fire - I should take a pick to post).



Note: My side of the river is green... the other side not so much.

While I would love to spin a yarn that the green is all elven magic, the reality is that its water.

This spring:



Last summer (almost the same spot)



Note the shrub where the water spicket is... I trimmed it in spring, its already as largely grown as it was last year this year (yeah I need to get out there and cut it - its on my list)

Note the ivy wall was actually a fence, which in the first picture was being removed. Its all gone now.... all 125 feet of it... Now that was a project to remove.

I'll upload more pictures tonight, I haven't for a while....

It should give a better idea of why it is I am watering all the time, and why I am outside working all the time.

Mirkwood is not an easy place to keep.

You are freekin talented! ....

[Camfer]

One more piece of unsolicited advice. You are not withholding rent. You are providing in-kind services in exchange for rent. So when you invoice, just make a line item with deduction for your agreed upon rent.

If you are gong to be in negotiation with someone who may balk at your hourly rate, then make your hourly rate even higher. This gives you room to negotiate to what you really feel you deserve, and who knows, you might even get the higher rate!