stupid plumbers

[sammyg2]

I just had a plumber come out and give me an estimate to replace about 100 feet of copper pipe, about a third of the piping in the house. It is leaking under the slab and I asked him how much to run it in the attic.
Now this isn't going to be a simple job because of the way the house is built, but it can be done.

Anywho, he looks it all over and says "it's going to be about $4200".

I told him thank you for your time, I think we're done here.
He asked why, I told him I already had an estimate to repipe the entire house for $5200.

He said he had to call his supervisor.
He came back in after 5 minutes and said, "I think I can get it done for under $2000.
Heck of a discount, don't you think?
I told him that he was trying to rip me off with the first quote, or he didn't have a clue about what a job should cost. either way i didn't want to deal with him.

If he had made the original quote $2500 I would have given him the work, instead he lost out on it because he jacked the price through the roof.

[motion]

Hehehe.... I just went through this. Had a hot water under slab leak. Had 5 or 6 different plumbers come out to give me estimates to run about 30' of pipe through the ceiling. One guy quoted me $7,250!!!! I ended up going with the second cheapest one for $1800.

So the guy shows up with his helper (both hispanic) and is done in 3 hours. Yes, I feel ripped off. But what do you do. I did my due diligence and still got taken. Maybe I should be a plumber.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

LOL!

Too funny. I see stuff like that every day.

If you want a ballpark figure so you at least have an idea of what it's going to cost, just call an architect or residential construction management firm. Either should be able to give you a rough cost estimate for very little charge and in the case of a CM outfit, can even handle finding the contractor for you.

Or just pick up a Means book - at least you'll be able to get SOME kind of idea what it should be. 150% mark-up?!?! Cripes. Copper is expensive right now, but it ain't THAT expensive!

[nineoneone]

r

[charlesbahn]

DIY, it isn't that hard. I replumbed my whole house back in about 1985. Took some time, but was fun once I got the hang of it. Saved a ton of money. Even put in a new bathroom and fire sprinklers in the attic.

[stevepaa]

Yep, I do almost everything myself. It takes time, but you know how it was done and you save big bucks.

My brother and his wife both work so he hires someone for all that. Of course, he is off playing golf while I am doing work around the house.

[turbo6bar]

Originally posted by motion
So the guy shows up with his helper (both hispanic) and is done in 3 hours. Yes, I feel ripped off. But what do you do. I did my due diligence and still got taken. Maybe I should be a plumber.

And that's why I DIY virtually all work on my rental properties. The cost to hire can be downright ridiculous. I know when I'm beat, though. I still hire out carpet and roofing work.

[craigster59]

Originally posted by turbo6bar
And that's why I DIY virtually all work on my rental properties. The cost to hire can be downright ridiculous. I know when I'm beat, though. I still hire out carpet and roofing work.

I do the same on my house and rentals although I add drywall taping and sanding to the "hire" list. I have a friend who owns alot of rental property and never hesitates to open up what he calls "the Jewish toolbox" (checkbook). In case anyone takes offense, he is jewish.

[madmmac]

Give him a break, he can't help himself. He probably used to sell cars........

[trekkor]

You could have asked the plumber about how long it would take and to work by the hour...

Even $200 per hour would have been a "deal".


KT

[Evans, Marv]

Maybe you could try getting a quote on that process where they flow some kind of epoxy bhrough the pipes to seal them on the inside. That way you wouldn't have to change anything. But, I have not idea what the cost is.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by charlesbahn
DIY, it isn't that hard. I replumbed my whole house back in about 1985. Took some time, but was fun once I got the hang of it. Saved a ton of money. Even put in a new bathroom and fire sprinklers in the attic.

What was the cost (ballpark) and how old was the house? Just curious and like the sprinkler idea. Lots safer that way.

[sammyg2]

I altready got a quote on the epoxy sealer trick, $6100.
Plus I've heard many horror stories about how they sometimeas can't control the flow well enough and they get puddles in the low points which effectively make a 1/2" pipe flow like a 1/4" pipe.
Either that or sometimes they do not get 100% coverage.

if it was cleaper than repiping the entire house I might have gone for it, but seeing how it is more expensive for less work and more risk, I said no thank you.

[Tobra]

My father in law did commercial flooring for 40 years, and built two houses from the slab up, his and his mother in laws place. Two brother in laws, both know flooring and general contracting stuff, very handy.

Only thing I pay done is A/C work, or on the car when it will cost as much to buy the tool I need as it will to do the job. People are crooks

[motion]

Originally posted by turbo6bar
And that's why I DIY virtually all work on my rental properties. The cost to hire can be downright ridiculous. I know when I'm beat, though. I still hire out carpet and roofing work.

That's a smart philosophy. I've been taken so much in the past few months I can't believe it. People don't show up to finish work, they do crap work, overcharges, etc, etc. I'm going to have to adopt more of the DIY spirit to keep from going nuts. Nice to pick up a few new skilz as well.

[Dantilla]

I have rentals, too.

I've got a full time maintenence guy, buy we also have the phone numbers for a plumber and electrician for anything over his head. Both work for an hourly rate plus materials. I've found that on the rare occasions we call them, it's money very well spent.

I've also got a good carpet installer. He does some vinyl, but we do most of that ourselves.

I usually do my own sheetrock work, but that's not needed very often, and it's usually small jobs not worth subbing out.

[creaturecat]

fuchin plumber cost me $ 1300.00 - to install a set of shower taps.

[charlesbahn]

House was built in 1925. Had old iron pipes that were beginning to leak. I replaced everything from the meter on. Bought all the supplies at Hechingers (now gone) which is like Home Depot. The house is 3 stories and a large basement. Has 3 full baths and one powder room.

If you do the sprinklers there are a few extras to put in - a separate shut off valve and a one way valve. It really isn't hard. Of course you do have cut holes here and there and repair them and paint. But someone has to do that even if someone else does the plumbing. And thats another significant cost.

The cost in 1985 was about $500 for all the pipes, fittings and solder.

Easier than working on the Porsche.

I got so good with copper, that my next project was to redo the gutters in copper. But that's another story.

[sammyg2]

Here's some more info for the DYI guys, copper has gone way up in price. I had a plumber tell me that a few weeks ago and of course I didn't believe him so I checked for myself.
1/2" thinwall copper pipe is going for almost $2 a foot at the big box store (home depot), that's almost twice as much as the last time I bought it.

[Brian 162]

As a sidebar scrap copper pays alot as well. We save copper fittings that we replace ( 2 inch and up). We stock pile it buntil we get enough to get a decent load. We have been ripped off twice in the last 6 months. Once during the day.