What Actually Drives the Price of a Plumbing Job

We are not going to put a price list on this page, because the same three words, "replace my faucet," can describe a forty-minute job or most of an afternoon, and quoting the first one to somebody who has the second is how people end up feeling lied to. What we can do is explain what moves the number, so that when you call three plumbers you can tell which quotes are comparing the same thing.

Access is the biggest single factor and nobody mentions it. A water heater standing clear in a garage with a floor drain nearby is a straightforward swap. The same heater in a closet behind a folding door, up three steps, with the old unit having to come out sideways past a washing machine, is a different job with the same part in it. Before you call, look at how somebody would physically get to the thing and get the old one out.

What we find when we open it up. On houses of the age we mostly work on, the shut-off valve that has not been turned since 1978 often will not turn now, or will not seat again once it has. Threads on old galvanized give up. A drain that looked fine turns out to be scaled to half its diameter. A good plumber tells you on the phone that these are possibilities rather than discovering them in front of you and presenting a surprise.

Whether it is a repair or the start of a pattern. One pinhole in a copper line is a repair. The third pinhole in the same house in two years is a system telling you something, and spending repair money on it four more times costs more than dealing with it properly once. Part of what you are paying for is somebody being straight with you about which of those two you have.

Materials, but less than you think. People fixate on the price of the fixture. On most residential jobs the part is a modest share of the total and the labor is the rest. Buying your own fixture online saves less than expected, and if it arrives missing a component the whole visit gets rescheduled. We are happy to install a fixture you bought. Just open the box and check it before we come out.

Timing. A call at two in the afternoon on a Wednesday costs less than the same call at eleven on a Saturday night. That is true of every plumber. If the thing can safely wait until Monday, we will tell you it can wait until Monday.

How to get a useful number on the phone: describe the symptom rather than your diagnosis, say how old the house is, say where the thing is and what is around it, and mention anything that has already been tried. "Sixties ranch in Cambrian, water heater in the garage against the back wall, twelve years old, rumbling and there is rust in the hot water" gets you a real answer. "How much for a water heater?" gets you a range so wide it is useless to both of us.

Our phone consultations do not cost anything, and if what you describe turns out to be something you can sort out yourself in ten minutes, we will tell you that instead of booking a visit. Have a look at everything we do, or just describe the problem and we will come back to you.