How to pay unemployed friend to help with small rehab

[James Free]

Looking for experience here.

I have a friend who's down on his luck and unemployed at the moment. I also have a unit to turn over (paint, flooring, countertops, fixtures). In his better days, my friend was doing self-employed HVAC, and I know he's decently handy, so he probably has some expectations regarding compensation. I don't know how to set the market for paying him.

Please don't bother with "never hire friends" responses; I know the drill. We're not even that close and it won't be that much time/work. I can afford a screwup, but I'd still like to do this right. So... what precedents are out there, and how have they worked for people?

I'm leaning towards hourly pay to work alongside me; that minimizes possible disagreement over what work was "completed." But what's a fair rate to offer?