If you’ve got a job that’ll take a week, contractors will basically fight for it - but if it’s just something that takes a few hours, it’s apparently a real struggle to get anyone to show up.
I just installed a new kitchen sink and hooked up the faucet and dishwasher for a client. He said they had called eight plumbing companies, and all of them either refused outright or said they’d get back to it but never did. One company agreed to come install it but wouldn’t do the hole in the countertop for the sink, so they would’ve needed to hire a carpenter separately - and you can imagine how thrilled a carpenter would be about a job that takes less than an hour.
This is an incredibly common story among my customers. I’m a plumber by training, but when I went self-employed, I expanded my services to cover all kinds of handyman work. Clearly, I’m filling a niche, considering the amount of gratitude I’m getting from customers. I literally received a gift basket from one just last week. I should’ve made the jump a decade ago.
I had some guy come out and say he’d install a washer and dryer hookup for me but he wouldn’t patch the hole he’d make in the wall and he would charge $900 USD for the project. Yeah, no thanks. That’s more than the damn appliances and you won’t patch the hole in the wall when done? He was supposed to be a general handyman, type guy I found off Craigslist.
That was a few years ago and I still haven’t had it done because I just can’t find anyone to do it. I never realized that this was something that didn’t have people available to do. Local plumbers won’t do it, hardware stores advertise “we’ll hook up your appliance for free too!” But that is just hooking up to an existing connection…I just gave up on the idea of having a washer and dryer in my home at this point.