Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Advice on getting a plumbing estimate....

Ha! We jokingly call it the "remodeler's remorse" clause.

I just built a new house on 3 acres. 220 ft of triwall supply line buried 5 ft deep including connecting both ends and covering the trench cost $1790.

I did my daughters water line last fall. I bought the supply line at Lowes and rented a ditch witch, got the city permit and gave a licensed plumber $150 to do the connections at both ends. Total run was 110 ft. Cost was $850.

Thinkin the OP might save a little money by using a shovel.

I emailed him Thursday night saying I would like a contract with a firm price. Haven't heard anything back from him. My wife was supposed to go up on Wednesday to be there while they do the work. I hope he at least has the class to write back.

I don't have a problem paying $2k or 2500 if I know it going in. What I am afraid of happening is he started off at 1500 and then by the time we're done it 3500. I understand paying a premium for certainty, but there are electrical lines already running more or less the same course, so I there shouldn't be a concern about hitting bedrock or anything.

I paid one of the better plumbers in eastern NC $900 for 100' of 3/4" pvc from meter to inside garage. It took about a year to get it done with some long periods of rain, etc. They cut concrete driveway, used a small trencher to lay it about 18" deep and went in a brick veneer wall.

water line is traceable by switching easily.....

Personally unless the ground is crazy, I don't see why you can't find the leak and put a clamp over it in a few hours. Unlesss the line is crazy deep or as noted the soil will never show it.

In that case I"d just contract for a brand new line, hell with the old one period. Run it as straight as possible.

PVC isn't cheap anymore. And 2000 doesn't sound too bad for what plumbers charge these days. I don't agree with their charges or electricians, as they make way more than I do as an inspector of both, but its fair to charge what the market will pay.

DIY is the way I"d go if legal.

If it's several hours away I can understand that being a pretty big hurdle for a do it yourselfer...

Have it done T&M and watch them do it if you want. A bid will typically be higher than a T&M job. If contractors have lot's of work, they can't take the time to negotiate pricing on small jobs like this. $2,000ish seems like a fair price. Everyone in that town knows what others charge.

Get a written "itemized" estimate before you start.

So this is how this situation turned out.

I emailed him Thursday night, after the spike is estimated base price from $1500 to $2000, and told him I would like to reach a contract fix price.

Saturday night he emailed back asked how much am I thinking? I responded right away how about $2100, thinking if he didn't like it he would at least counter offer. By last night I had heard nothing so I emailed him told him it would be nice if he responded before my wife drove up for the work.

He responded this morning that he only works on time and materials and he is very honest. He already has 4 hours in planning this job (I call BS on that) but he is calling it off stating: " AT THIS JUNCTURE, I FEEL IT BEST FOR US TO PAUSE UNTIL THERE IS CLARITY."

Interesting perspective, I would have thought clarity might have most easily been achieved by a contract for an agreed price. I'm sure as hell not giving him an open check to figure out how long it is going to take him.

When ever someone claims they are honest it's a huge warning bell for me. It always seems to play out that when someone has to claim they are honest, that is a character trait they sorely lack.

If it takes somebody 4 hours to estimate a $2000 job, they either don't know wtf they are doing, or they are slow.

I've generally found the best approach to selecting a contractor is to choose one that has a solid reputation for good work, and paying them the going rate. Selecting the cheapest guy is often a good way to get burned.

As a person in the Plumbing field, this thread has provided me with a few laughs.

I'll offer no opinion on the Contractor, nor his price,

Why? because I have so little info to go by, about the same info as all the other "Plumbers" here...

Yet their so freely telling you how bad you're getting bent on this deal,

Landscape conditions, trees, hand digging, type of material,codes, depth of Water service, tieing into city main,Road cut, backfill,,,yada yada yada......

You don't trust the Plumbing contractor, but you trust the Roofers, Rum drinkers and Retirees on a web forum?

Ask a Well driller for an exact price, won't happen.

Well I found a contractor with an in house plumber and excavating capabilities. He said the utility lines were too tight to make it cost effective to put a new line around the back of the house.

He said there is a very good likelihood that the problem stems from a freeze damaged pipe from an outdoor faucet that has a hose attached right above where the line goes into the house. It will cost $500 to excavate that and fix the problem if that's where it is. If not, that would have to be excavated anyway to run a new line into the house. So he could then just dig out to the curb and install the new line. Won't give an estimate on that until he knows how deep the line is. But it least he has a firm plan and sounds like he knows what he's doing, so he will start work next week.

Well here's the final update on this...the problem's fixed and it cost less than $1k.

The problem was that the city had increased the pressure on the line, requiring pressure reducing valves in the house. Supposedly they sent out notice regarding this a year ago...but we never got that notice.

Apparently the pressure was so great that it overcame the shutoff vavle and caused a toilet in the basement to run around the clock.

So it was matter of installing a the valve and putting in a new shutoff valve.

I'm glad I called BS on the guy from the OP who was going to put in a new line, price uncertain, and it wasn't even the problem.

I'm not sure what the take away is here but you can never be too careful.

Glad you got it figured out.. What "shut off valve" that got damaged are you referring to? I assume you mean the fill valve in your toilet tank?

True dat but not always as it can pay off to shop around.

Two reputable contractors bid on our propane line installation.

1st guy said two days, two guys, $1500 and I had to give him a tissue to wipe the tears away as he is losing money and he likes me. Hmmmmm,... don't wanna kiss.

2nd guy says $300 bucks and he'll squeeze me in as he's really humpin'. Two guys, 3 hours and the final bill was $269. Great job. He did some other work for me and it was OK but in the long run we parted company when he was paid up front for an insurance job and it took him 2 years to complete.

Sometimes it's a crap shoot.

^^^This^^^

Multiple bids is the way I always go.

The water department, and or guys at Home Depot should give you some contractor referrals.

To turn of the water right where it comes into the house.

I thought it was a bad water main.

I have seen toilets go bad, and cause water to run. This can be fixed for about $20.00

I just had 110 ft of 1 inch water line run from the street to the house. to hook up to county water. He charged me 400 bucks for everything. including one way valve. pressure reg, water line and two cut offs one at the street and one at the house. He was here about 3 hrs.