Plumbing charge question...

15 years ago

We are doing a kitchen remodel and when the demo guys ripped out the cabinets, they pointed out the plumbing didn't look too good. So I called a plumber who replaced a couple of the pipes and rerouted another pipe to point up to fit the new sink. 2 plumbers showed up, but the second one just stood around and handed tools to the first.

All in all, they were here for 1.5 hours and charged $268 for technical labor. My husband thinks this is very excessive, so I thought I'd check with the plumbers who post on here. I don't want to say anything to the plumbing company unless that charge is way out of line. Thanks for any input!!

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Comments (6)

kudzu9
15 years ago
I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. In my experience with plumbers, that is on the cheap side. Keep their phone number in case you need more work....
peteinsonj
15 years ago
That would be a bargain around here (NJ). I've found that 2 workers always show up when you hire any of the trades, one is the helper -- hand tools, carries things, sweeps up, etc.
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User
Original Author
15 years ago
The entire bill was $393, including materials. Okay, I'll tell hub we got a bargain, many thanks for the feedback. :o)
aidan_m
15 years ago
That's alot of materials. The labor sounds like a bargain, if they actually used $125 in pipe and fittings.

I got involved with a shower remodel where the plumbing company (the Big infamous "rooter" corporation) charged $6,000 to sweat in 2 shower valves. I provided the valves and everything except a handful of fittings. The plumber completed the job in 8 hours by himself, with out a helper. I paid about $350 for the parts I provided. The handful of fittings might have totalled $20. That plumbing company ripped off the customer.

You got a sweet deal.
User
Original Author
15 years ago
They replaced 2 thin copper pipes with joints, each about 10 inches long, and about 10 inches of plastic pipe, and capped them off pending the sink hookup. They also left a hot water valve and a cold water valve for the new sink connection. There was some welding involved too. They also had to cut out a piece of drywall to access the plumbing. They are usually quite reasonable (we've called them before and hubby even tipped), so I would be surprised if some of the charge was bogus.

That shower incident sounds like quite a rip-off, I knew there was a reason we stay away from Roto R. :o)
ramona1976
15 years ago
Of the two plumbers that I usually use, one charges $91.50/hour and the other charges $100/hour for the journeyman. Neither one charges for the apprentice. I'm in a very competitive marketplace (west), where I can usually have a plumber on site within 2 hours. Your market conditions may differ.