Hired the septic guy because my alarm was on. Asked for 1/2 hour of his time to show me how to fix simple things, clear alarms, clean filter, set floats etc. He charged $175. It was worth it because he went over the whole system. I now know sh*t.
My toilet was running. I’ve fixed these many times, but this one was a bitch to get to, so I called the plumber. He said “I’m gonna replace the whole toilet.” I said, wait, I just need a part replaced. He said it’s the same charge either way because if I have to replace the part to your satisfaction, it’ll take longer, but if I replace the toilet I know I’ll be done in an hour. Don’t tell me to get another plumber, this is the only guy that shows up when he says he will.
Some years ago we needed a pressure reducer installed to tone down the ridiculous 115 psi water pressure here. Wife called a plumber. Estimated just short of $2000. I bought the reducer, all the parts and pieces and a torch to sweat the joints and did it myself for about $125. And it took me, who didn’t know much about what I was doing at the time, about 45 minutes total.
Guys that can afford to join those advertising associations are going to have to charge more. Without joining, you’ll never find them. Hobson’s Choice.
This is especially funny since Friday and Saturday were spent supervising my electrical/plumbing contractor installing an electrical automatic relay system between the city water through an electrical water pump and into my ground-floor cistern – which in turn is connected to another electrical water pump that feeds water into a holding tank that gravity feeds all the water outlets in my house!
This sounds more Rube Goldberg than it actually is, and if the city didn’t have occasional water shut-offs for one reason or another, I could have bypassed the cistern and gone directly to the feeder tank, but the cistern is my emergency reservoir. Truth be told, if the city had decent water pressure, I wouldn’t need any of this who-ha! But that’s life in a 2 1/2 World Country!
The upside, the cost for parts and for 2 day’s labor for the maestro and his assistant was only $150! Happy spouse … priceless!
I think Home Advisor and Angie’s have the same scam going. Needed a repair on a pool heater. Home Advisor charged me for three hours and told me they would find someone. No one answered my request. So I called a HVAC friend who diagnosed it was the circuit board. Bought a circuit board on Amazon and got it in 2 days. (I did talk to a pool place who said it would take over a week to get the board and cost 3x as much as Amazon.) I replaced the circuit board myself in less than a hour. I have heard from others how Home Advisor really pressures people to pay the 3 hour minimum charge. Fortunately, I did get my money back from them.
I did a fair amount of remodeling at my old house, including carpentry, electrical, and plumbing. No problem, as most things were pretty straight forward. Later I designed and spec’d my in-laws’ cottage, construction and utilities. I convinced the FIL to design it as a year-round home, with consideration for possibly adding on, or building an attached garage. FIL, BILs and I did most of the work, and things went smoothly. But… in the house I’m living in now I’ve found that the original contractors went cheap, or took shortcuts whenever possible. It took years to figure out how the wiring and plumbing was run. Add to that the previous owner did some things himself, and barely knew what he was doing. There have been several items I improved, but anything major I’m going to get the professionals in. No way I want to even attempt working with something that messed up.
allen@home over 2 years ago
Still gonna need a plumber Mike. Only now it’s going to cost you a lot more.
Zykoic over 2 years ago
Hired the septic guy because my alarm was on. Asked for 1/2 hour of his time to show me how to fix simple things, clear alarms, clean filter, set floats etc. He charged $175. It was worth it because he went over the whole system. I now know sh*t.
Zebrastripes over 2 years ago
The shortage in trade workers is astounding. No one wants to work anymore. Sooooo who do ya call, GHOST BUSTERS?
Mighty Phavahg over 2 years ago
My toilet was running. I’ve fixed these many times, but this one was a bitch to get to, so I called the plumber. He said “I’m gonna replace the whole toilet.” I said, wait, I just need a part replaced. He said it’s the same charge either way because if I have to replace the part to your satisfaction, it’ll take longer, but if I replace the toilet I know I’ll be done in an hour. Don’t tell me to get another plumber, this is the only guy that shows up when he says he will.
PO' DAWG over 2 years ago
Plumber or electrician both money well spent in the long run.
bobbyferrel over 2 years ago
Some years ago we needed a pressure reducer installed to tone down the ridiculous 115 psi water pressure here. Wife called a plumber. Estimated just short of $2000. I bought the reducer, all the parts and pieces and a torch to sweat the joints and did it myself for about $125. And it took me, who didn’t know much about what I was doing at the time, about 45 minutes total.
mistercatworks over 2 years ago
Guys that can afford to join those advertising associations are going to have to charge more. Without joining, you’ll never find them. Hobson’s Choice.
Linguist over 2 years ago
This is especially funny since Friday and Saturday were spent supervising my electrical/plumbing contractor installing an electrical automatic relay system between the city water through an electrical water pump and into my ground-floor cistern – which in turn is connected to another electrical water pump that feeds water into a holding tank that gravity feeds all the water outlets in my house!
This sounds more Rube Goldberg than it actually is, and if the city didn’t have occasional water shut-offs for one reason or another, I could have bypassed the cistern and gone directly to the feeder tank, but the cistern is my emergency reservoir. Truth be told, if the city had decent water pressure, I wouldn’t need any of this who-ha! But that’s life in a 2 1/2 World Country!
The upside, the cost for parts and for 2 day’s labor for the maestro and his assistant was only $150! Happy spouse … priceless!
donut reply over 2 years ago
I think Home Advisor and Angie’s have the same scam going. Needed a repair on a pool heater. Home Advisor charged me for three hours and told me they would find someone. No one answered my request. So I called a HVAC friend who diagnosed it was the circuit board. Bought a circuit board on Amazon and got it in 2 days. (I did talk to a pool place who said it would take over a week to get the board and cost 3x as much as Amazon.) I replaced the circuit board myself in less than a hour. I have heard from others how Home Advisor really pressures people to pay the 3 hour minimum charge. Fortunately, I did get my money back from them.
l3i7l over 2 years ago
I did a fair amount of remodeling at my old house, including carpentry, electrical, and plumbing. No problem, as most things were pretty straight forward. Later I designed and spec’d my in-laws’ cottage, construction and utilities. I convinced the FIL to design it as a year-round home, with consideration for possibly adding on, or building an attached garage. FIL, BILs and I did most of the work, and things went smoothly. But… in the house I’m living in now I’ve found that the original contractors went cheap, or took shortcuts whenever possible. It took years to figure out how the wiring and plumbing was run. Add to that the previous owner did some things himself, and barely knew what he was doing. There have been several items I improved, but anything major I’m going to get the professionals in. No way I want to even attempt working with something that messed up.