Wild plumbing estimate.

[turnkey4099]

Thanks guys. Had not thought about a rental trencher. I think when the time comes I will do this myself. Think I will go with PEX since I've used it before and I need to make a bit of an arch around a pecan tree.

Even if you don't want to do the actual plumbing you can cut them out of a bunch of that esitmate by digging the trench yourself. I'll bet at least half of that bid is for the digging/backfilling.

Harry K

 

[N80]

$1600 sounds reasonable to me, in fact, I think I would hire him and get done before he changes his mind. With a truck, trailer, TLB, license, insurance, supplies, and an extra helper, what do you think a fair price would be? Be generous, he may not be able to afford working for you.

Well, I watched them do my neighbor's. It took two people about two hours and they had to dig under a sidewalk. Small walk behind trencher, no TLB and again, we're talking 30' here and two connections. And as far as I am concerned if his price makes ME want to do the job myself then yes, he's pricing himself out of business.

But fair is in the eyes of the beholder right? So lets put things in perspective. I had a well dug for my cabin. They went down 200'. Bill was a bit over between $2-3k. Took them two days. Had my entire 2 story 1970's era 4br 3 bath house COMPLETELY re-plumbed in PEX. $4k. Took a day and a half.

So yes, digging two holes, a 30' trench and making two connections for $1600. Maybe 2 hours work TOPS. Not going to happen at my house.

 

[bigtiller]

Well, I watched them do my neighbor's. It took two people about two hours and they had to dig under a sidewalk. Small walk behind trencher, no TLB and again, we're talking 30' here and two connections. And as far as I am concerned if his price makes ME want to do the job myself then yes, he's pricing himself out of business.

But fair is in the eyes of the beholder right? So lets put things in perspective. I had a well dug for my cabin. They went down 200'. Bill was a bit over between $2-3k. Took them two days. Had my entire 2 story 1970's era 4br 3 bath house COMPLETELY re-plumbed in PEX. $4k. Took a day and a half.

So yes, digging two holes, a 30' trench and making two connections for $1600. Maybe 2 hours work TOPS. Not going to happen at my house.

I understand what you're saying, you'll not get a more sympathetic ear than mine. I am just curious to what price you think would be fair. Maybe mention it to him and see what he says. Maybe he will negotiate a little.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Up here where freezing is a problem water pipes need to be six feet down and the trenches can really mess up a lawn. One thing that they often do is use the old pipe as a puller and just pull the new copper service pipe from inside the basement out to the street. You just need the hole at the connection to the meter and a backhoe arm strong enough to pull the old pipe out of the ground. Old rotten galvy pipe they sometimes fish a quarter inch cable through and pull on that as it is less likely to break. And to go really Cadillac they use a directional boring rig to go from the street pit under the lawn and the trees on it and into the foundation then hook on to the drill bit with the copper and pull back. Pulling an old pipe gets ifie after about forty feet but directional boring can go five hundred feet at a shot.
But in your situation with just thirty feet and no frost to worry about I'd just grab a shovel and start digging. Or I'd put a single bottom plow on my tractor and plow the first foot off. :thumbsup:

 

[N80]

I am just curious to what price you think would be fair.

I was thinking $700. No real basis for that, just seemed fair. Was prepared for $1000. Someone mentioned above that they did it themselves for $300. I know the plumber has to cover his labor AND make a living. But I think I can do this job for about $200 and 3-4 weekend hours. So anything above $1000 would make it worth it to me to do the job. That's like putting $1100 dollars in my pocket. My time isn't cheap either but I'll take $1100 for a Saturday work day anytime.

 

[Code54]

Maybe able to buy the pipe, trench it/dig it and do the back fill and just pay a plumber to do the hook up if required by the city. Often guys will do the hook up on the way home or to another job and make a quick few bucks with almost no real time invested. May take car of any city issues and save you some big $
Good luck

 

[murphy1244]

Keep shopping around, I went from 2300.00 to 550.00 on a gas line repair and they even did it on a Sunday.

 

[MasseyWV]

$1600 seems not just a little high but waaaaaaay high to me.

That price sounds high to me as well. Then again, I'd be apt to do the work myself, saving even more.

 

[300UGUY]

One thing I hadn't thought of, was that up here, a water line is 60 inches deep. And water meters are usually mounted to the house, the line to the street is a direct tap into the water main. Still, I'd be surprised if the bill here would be over 1K.

 

[Western]

George, even if you have to trench 30" deep, I'd do it my self in a heartbeat too, If your going with Pex, then I wouldn't even mess with the old pipe either, other than to disconnect it. Then your biggest expense will be the trencher and it wont care if you go 12" or 30" (whatever your frost line) I'd just keep the pip ends as "germ" free as possible and "get-r-done" if it was me.

I have 2 members of my family that are Master Plumbers, I spoke to one today and mentioned your thread at $1600, he laughed and said he needs to move to NC!! ( FIL is at Bragg) My BIL thought that maybe the line was through concrete driveway or something. Here he would send to guys for around $550 for 30' "easy run". Sewer lines are allot higher and require an inspection (here in city limits)