Pricing

What we charge in Vancouver

We publish our rates rather than making you ask for them. We are not the cheapest crew in Metro Vancouver and we do not try to be — everyone here has at least 5 years in their own trade, we carry WorkSafeBC coverage, and regulated work goes to a licensed subcontractor instead of being bodged in-house. That is what the rate pays for.

  • Metro VancouverVancouver and surrounding cities
  • WorkSafeBC coveredRegulated trades subcontracted
  • 5+ years eachSix tradespeople, own specialisms
  • Every day, 6am–10pmFree written quotes

Labour rates

All figures exclude GST. Prices are held for 30 days from the date of a written quote.

Standard labour rates for Handyman Vancouver
RatePriceWhat it covers
Standard hourly rate $145/hr Carpentry, repairs, mounting, assembly, painting touch-ups and general work. Billed in half-hour increments after the first hour.
Minimum callout $290 Two hours. Travel and setup cost the same whether a job takes twenty minutes or two hours, so short visits are charged at the minimum — group several tasks into one visit and you get the full 2 hours of work you have already paid for.
Half day $540 Four hours on site. Roughly a ten to fifteen item punch list, or one moderate job with a clean finish.
Full day $1,020 Eight hours on site less a short break. The rate that applies to most single-room work and installations.
Licensed trade rate $185/hr Plumbing, electrical, HVAC and gas work. We are not a licensed contractor in these trades — the work is performed by a licensed subcontractor and this rate covers their time plus our coordination. Two-hour minimum ($370).
After hours & emergency $265/hr Outside our 6am–10pm working day, and same-day emergency attendance. Two-hour minimum. We will tell you on the phone whether your job genuinely needs this rate.
Diagnostic visit $145 Appliance faults and anything that has to be found before it can be quoted. Credited in full against the repair if you go ahead with us.
Travel beyond the inner ring $65 flat Vancouver, Burnaby, North and West Vancouver, Richmond and New Westminster carry no travel charge. Surrey, Langley, Delta and Coquitlam add a single flat fee per visit, not per hour.
Materials are always separate Materials are always separate from labour and passed on at cost. We show you the receipts. For anything with a specific finish or a matching part, buying it yourself in advance is usually faster and cheaper than having us guess.

Typical ranges by trade

Ranges, not quotes. They exist so you can tell before you call whether we are in your bracket. The written quote is what binds us, and it is free.

General Handyman

$290 minimum callout · $145/hr · $540 half day

Charged by time, not by task. Most lists of small jobs land between the two-hour minimum and a full day.

Carpentry

$1,400–$14,000 for built-ins, trim and stair work

Quoted after a site visit, materials separate. Trim and baseboard runs start around $1,400; a full alcove built-in in a heritage home, scribed to out-of-square walls, runs toward the top of the range. Decks are quoted separately and typically start at $22,000.

Painting

$950–$2,400 a room · $7,500–$22,000 whole-home interior

Prep is the variable, not the paint. A sound room in good condition sits near $950; heavy filling, stripping or three-coat colour changes push it up. Exterior repaints run $12,000–$38,000 depending on cladding and access.

Plumbing

$370–$2,600 for most callouts

Performed by a licensed subcontractor at $185/hr with a two-hour minimum. Fixture swaps sit at the bottom of the range; re-piping a vanity or relocating a supply sits at the top. Permit-gated work is quoted separately.

Electrical

$370–$3,200 for most work

Performed by a licensed subcontractor, who pulls any permit under their own licence. Device and fixture replacement is a minimum-callout job. New circuits, dedicated runs and anything involving the panel are quoted individually and may carry a permit cost on top.

HVAC

$420–$780 service · heat pump installs $11,000–$24,000

Annual service and diagnostics are a fixed visit. Installs are quoted after a heat-loss assessment — an undersized system is a more expensive mistake than the price difference between quotes.

General Contracting

Bathrooms $32,000–$78,000 · kitchens $55,000–$140,000

Multi-trade renovation, quoted from drawings with a fixed payment schedule. The range reflects specification more than square footage — the same bathroom can sit at either end depending on tile, glass and fixtures.

Appliance Repair

$145 diagnostic · repairs $290–$1,100

The diagnostic is credited in full against the repair if you proceed. Where a repair costs more than half of replacement, we say so and you keep the diagnosis.

Siding

Repairs $1,200–$4,500 · full re-clad $45,000–$120,000

Spot repair is only honest pricing when the water ingress is genuinely local. We open it up and show you before quoting either way.

Railings

$3,200–$16,000 installed

Painted steel and wood sit at the bottom, frameless glass at the top. All work is built to current BC Building Code guard requirements, confirmed for your specific drop height.

TV & Electronics

$240–$1,200

A standard drywall mount with cables surface-run is a minimum-callout job. Concrete, in-wall cable routing and full home-theatre commissioning move up the range.

Assembly

$145/hr · $290 minimum · most items $120–$400

Charged by time because that is what a flat-pack actually consumes. Wall anchoring of tall units is included, never an extra.

Smart Home

$290–$2,400

A doorbell or thermostat swap is a minimum-callout job. Whole-home hubs, multi-camera systems and anything needing new power sit higher, and we hand over with everything paired and demonstrated.

Cleaning

$290 standard · deep clean $580–$1,100

Standard clean is a three-hour visit for a typical two-bedroom. Deep and move-out cleans are quoted on size and condition, and we bring everything.

Moving

$190/hr for two movers · three-hour minimum

Labour only — we do not supply a truck. In-home moves, loading and unloading are all charged the same way, with floor and doorway protection included.

Window Treatments

$110 per window installed · $290 minimum

Measured, mounted and levelled. Motorised blinds start at $260 a window because of the power and pairing work. Hardware supplied by you or sourced at cost.

How we quote

Quotes are free and written. We do not start work on a variation without telling you what it costs first — if a job turns out to be bigger than it looked, we stop and talk to you rather than presenting a larger bill at the end.

For anything beyond a list of small jobs we come and look first. Photos are useful and we will give you a range from them, but a range from a photo is not a quote and we will not pretend otherwise — what is behind the wall decides the price on most of this work.

When the higher rates apply

The licensed trade rate of $185/hr applies to plumbing, electrical, HVAC and gas work. That work has to be done by someone licensed for it in British Columbia, so we bring in a licensed subcontractor and the rate reflects what they charge plus our coordination. The after-hours rate of $265/hr applies outside our working day of every day, 6am–10pm, and to same-day emergency attendance. We will tell you on the phone which rate your job falls under before we book it.

Not sure which bracket you are in?

Describe the job and we will tell you the likely range on the phone, in a minute, for free — including when the honest answer is that you want someone cheaper.

Pricing by trade

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