I was planning to replace a plastic cover as mentioned the other day that has been coming loose on an outlet outdoors where by the looks it of it involves unscrewing the plastic piece which is one screw and you can simply by a cheap replacement. However, I was thinking of installing something more modern day where in this case it is simply a plastic see through cover that goes over the whole outlet. With that said, getting a professional could be better as they should have the experience to do things quickly and safely with all the right tools. Having all the tool is often a reason for me to try and find someone that does this stuff for a living.
But in getting quotes from various vendors it was surprising to see how big of range in fees there were. In some cases people were quoting $200 an hour not including materials and some as low as $80 an hour with a similar stipulation. To make it worst, no one would just give a hard quote for what I think should be a very simple job for those who do it all the time. That actually made me lean towards just doing it myself since this shouldn’t involve re-wiring work.
It’s a good example on how if you are looking to hire a professional it’s good to give yourself some basic understanding of the work and resources necessary to do the job as it will give you a better idea to evaluate what is a reasonable fee and if the price is worth the peace of mind per se.