what is up with the modern plumber?
 

i took the day off to sit and wait for plumbers. i need to re-pipe my house, and i wanted multiple bids. it took some doing, but i got all four guys to agree to show up on the same day. no sense taking several days off. only two guys showed up. one guy, walked about, and gave me a verbal price. he is going to email me an official bid, in a few days. ok. he was several hours late. 4 to be exact.

the second plumber was also late by an hour, but he kept me up to date with periodic phonecalls. he then donned a jumpsuit and climbed under my house. much more of a pro. he is also going to email me a bid.

i like both guys alright. the second guy gives me more fuzzy feelings. but the $$ will tell. i dont mind spending alittle bit more. i am also going to relocate my waterheater and go tankless.

why didnt two guys show up? they dont need the jobs? no phone call or anything.

i did take the time to get my elephant bushing dialed in, and my ride height perfect! all in all a decent day.

Business must be good for them. Most plumbers would rather work on new construction as it is much easier work.

that is a great point!

I think Kurt is right and there's still tons of new construction happening. I had a similar experience but with an electrician for my kitchen remodel. I called numorous electricians trying to get someone to even return my calls and give me bids. Finally got two to show and only one actually emailed me a bid. He gave me a $5K bid for what he said was 3 days work. It was so out of line it seemed obvious that he felt it was only worth his time if I would cough up $5K.
I got fed up and just did it myself.

See my HVAC thread. Same deal, no one wants to come out. I never got anyone to come and hope I self diagnosed correctly.

I need to buy a book and teach myself HVAC.

I always end up with one of these, I heard crack can kill!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1203997575.jpg

7 years bad luck instantly if you gaze upon one.

Vash, plumbing isn't that hard. Granted, I didn't repipe my house, but depending on the age of the house and where the piping is run, its not always that hard. The bad thing is that it will certainly take you much longer. For example, the piping in my roof is mostly in the attic and walls. The plumbers would open the wall at the emergency valve behind a sink, cut it off and cut the pipe off in the attic and just pull it out. Then they'd shove a new one in and resolder top and bottom, and knock a hole or two in the drywall to install a hold down clamp.

Subcontractors are a mystery to me. I looked for bids for the construction of my house. I got 3 or more bids on each thing & it took some time. Some were rediculously high. For instance the high bid on my electrical was $27K. The low bid was $14K, and I went with a guy that bid $17K. For plumbing, I had one guy bid an even $25K. I ended up going with another for $19.5K The guy that bid $25K came around later & asked what was going on. I told him I had gone with somebody else & asked why his was so high. He said when things are good contractors bid high. What an idiot!
I think your best bet is to just be persistent, keep your eyes open, and kind of do some networking until you come up with something acceptable.

From Evans, MarvHe said when things are good contractors bid high. What an idiot!

Absolutely true! The contractor doesn't care about the market, a few local boys who depend on repeat business might, but if they're smart they'll do your job on an as they can get to it basis, which might save you money, but will certainly take longer. I have a really good contractor who I've used around here three times in 20 years, he's alway very honest, and says if he's too busy that it isn't a good time. I've told him, if I wait three/four months, can he help me out, and that has worked out well for both of us.

Yep, most of the posts and the opinions voiced of the actions of some plumbers and electricians are probably true.

Now, if everyone would start doing the same thing with the azzhole lawyers who charge $300-450 per hour we would be on to something. Just shop around and get price quotes from various attorneys and make them compete or study up and do it ourselves or or use para-legals.

That would make more sense to me than questioning some of the charges of the people who do things that we really need!

Last summer my son who is luckily skinny as a rail did the plumbing under my house for 500. I'd had several bids for 3-4k. I should have paid him way more. 3 bathrooms, 2 water heaters, utility room, kitchen and 2 outide faucets. Total of 240 feet. I only had to help him a couple of times and we now have a cutoff under one of the crawl space doors that wasn't there before.

Now, if everyone would start doing the same thing with the azzhole brain surgeons who charge $300-450 per hour we would be on to something. Just shop around and get price quotes from various brain surgeons and make them compete or study up and do it ourselves or or use manicurists.

Easier for mechanic to price time and materials for the job. The longer it takes the more it costs. How much $/day?

If it's a controller tell them 3x what you can figure.

No specialty contractor's up there Vash?
I know it doesn't do you much good, as I live in the So Cal area, but I know of several specialty contractors that have narrowed in on doing re-pipe business only. No room additions, repair work, or new home construction, all they do are re-piping jobs. Because they are set up for this niche, they are usually much more efficient through the entire process. Typically cheaper too...

It's not just plumbers... I've always tried to get multiple bids for concrete work, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, roofing, etc... and I have never been able to get more than 1 to show up to give me an estimate. I end up going with the one who showed up and so far, that has worked!

BTW, house painters seem to be the least reliable or willing to show up when scheduled. Around here, most of these guys do this work after-hours and have a full-time job, but maybe with the laid off auto workers entering the job market, in the skilled trades, this might change?

The guy who sanded and finished our hardwood floors was 100% reliable and always showed up when he said he would... we recommended to others and he's gotten at least 3 other floor jobs due to our referrals. He deserves to be successful!

Contractors suck. The biggest complaints I hear from my customers are about unreturned phone calls and no shows. I make it a point to make sure I return calls and keep in touch. My business is part time. Most of my work is done on the weekends and some evenings. If by some chance I cant make it, I will ALWAYS let the customer know it.

I know an electrician who works cheap but you'd want him on the job early in the morning 'cause he'll be drunk by noon.
Jim

Sounds like my painter:D