But you bolster your point with the specifics, making your point seem less valid. Even if the guy paid a dolar a foot, which is ridiculously low, any competent installer could do a 300 sq ft room in a day with just one helper. Yes, I have done it myself. Being a tradesman, I know that the illegals' effect on wages and the ability of Americans willing to work to make a decent living is grossly exagerrated. It is the Chinese and Mexican willing to make our crap for a few dollars a day hurt employment here far more. Kicking out illegals will just mean more work for them as American industry leaves in even greater numbers.
Okay, look -- I have no idea as to the sq footage. It was a hallway and livingroom area in a NYC condo, figure several hundred square feet. If he paid them 5 bucks an hour each, that's $15.00 an hour total multiplied by 16 (two days work) -- so you do the math. Figure he also spent at least some of that time driving them out to Home Depot in brooklyn to pick up the flooring and additional time waiting in line to get the rental van. I mean, if you want to get real specific, you can factor in the time it took to move the flooring up in the elevator, assuming the service elevator was out of service, as it frequently is.