Tradies earning above average

HIRING a tradesman is more expensive in Queensland than any other state – a fact that may not surprise many home renovators.

HIRING a tradesman is more expensive in Queensland than any other state - a fact that may not surprise many home renovators.

The average hourly rate for a Queensland tradesman is $63.14, according to the latest figures from independent service comparison site serviceseeking.com.au - up 7.5% on last year and 6.4% more costly than the national average of $59.70.

A survey of 58,000 people showed the biggest increases to hourly rates were in concreting, up 11.5% in September this year compared to the same time last year, and in landscaping, which had a 9.2% rise.

Sunshine Coast tradesman Marcelo Alvarez was surprised by the figures and said he definitely wasn't receiving the state-wide average.

"There's no way I'm getting that money," said the tiler of 19 years.

A subcontractor, Mr Alvarez said there was huge variety of pricing and quality in his industry, and encouraged home renovators to shop around.

"Sometimes you get a guy who knows how to charge but not how to tile," he said.

"Sometimes you get a bloke who's cheap, cheap, cheap, but he does a great job."

Mr Alvarez's wife, Silvina, said home renovators could end up "getting in too deep".

"Then they wonder why the tiles fall off their walls," she said.

Local hardware supplier Sunshine Mitre10, at Kunda Park, said many home renovators enjoyed cutting costs by doing handiwork themselves.

"Obviously, if you do it yourself you save money, but if you don't have enough knowledge and if it goes wrong, it costs more," Michael Mueller said.

"It pays to research what you're doing very well before you just charge off like a bull at a gate.

"If it's a project you're not confident in, definitely you're better off getting a qualified tradesperson to do it."

Increasing cost of QLD tradespeople

• Building & home renovations $56.43 per hour - 5.9%

• Carpentry $49.57 - 4%

• Concreting $49.56 - 11.5%

• Landscaping $66.57 - 9.2%

• Electrical services $74.36 - 2.8%