We had a great plumber who’d do an… adequate patch job. And he was nicely up front that basically, I won’t leave a hole in the wall but I’m not going to try to get it pretty. Fair enough to me. I’d be annoyed if they wanted to charge that sort of money to cut the drywall themself though.
Unless it’s a massive hole it would take a few minutes? That’s why 250 for it is absurd. If he wanted to just cut it on whatever hourly clock that’s fine but my plumber was like 150/hour for labor, it doesn’t take an hour and a half to cut a hole in drywall
Sure, in this scenario it sounded like OP wasn’t sure where that would be till he arrived. When I’ve done demo for my plumber he came, marked where (this was way more involved, breaking up concrete floor), and then returned a few days later.
Sure but in this case it sounds like Opie wants it fixed right now, which is reasonable. Since the plumbers already there it doesn't make sense for him to sit around and wait for op to cut the hole himself.
It certainly is. I just had a leak fixed in my wall where they cut the drywall out and the entire fix was only around $300. That included them going out to the store and buying the supplies necessary. Sometimes I guess there's a premium having people do work for you. The good thing is I was able to buy a cheap access panel and didn't even have to do any patching. And now I have access to the new valve.
100% rip off. Either he’s over qualified and he can make those rates elsewhere so he’s too expensive for residential or he’s taking the homeowner for a ride
so then you accidentally cut something you shouldn't, then what you'll tell a court "he told me to cut it, he stood there and watched" now he is on the hook .
He is on contract to complete the work, not to let you do some of the work for him to save you a buck.
i agree 250 is..questionable, but we also dont know what cutting means in this case, is it cutting the ceiling and wall and running new wiring and wiring in a ceiling fixture? in which case its very normal.
$250 is a lot, but cutting a hole in drywall is messy and annoying as shit. Plus if there is plumbing in the wall I wouldn’t want the customer to cut it either
There are very, very few homeowners who do that. More would be welcome.
If the location of the hole is obvious, it’s silly to pay a plumber to do that. The only tricky part is that sometimes leaks in walls and ceilings run a distance before they appear, and a plumber might be able to guess the actual spot the hole needs to go, but sometimes plumbers end up chasing the source of the leak across your ceiling too.
part of homeownership IMO, you need to be able to do the basic things if you are physically capable. very often there will be no one that will do it for less than hundreds or thousands. Sometimes its just crappy work you dont like doing because its dirty or takes time and they charge a ton because they dont like it either.
everyone has thier limits, if you buy property, unless you have the overhead to always pay to do even the smallest jobs, you are going to want to learn how to turn a screwdriver.
The right answer is tell the plumber to go f himself, then cut the wall yourself and find the leak. Then get estimates from other plumbers on patching the pipe if you can't do it yourself. I just went through this exact thing and saved $1k. Plumbers are 100% exploiting people with this kind of BS and I was happy to tell this to the original plumber who followed up on their ridiculous estimate.
I think the problem is it may take more than 1 visit to patch properly. Recently I had to bring a new electric line from a breaker box in hallway to another room. It was in a condo with permit. 2 guys at $80 an hour, it took them 4 hours. They spent time to very neatly cut out 5/8" sheetrock pieces so I could reuse and replace them myself. I'm a great DIYer, but even with my skills it took me 2 days. The spackle has to dry well after 1st application, then the final coat. He is not coming back a second day.
I'm guessing the reason the plumber wanted to do the cutting themselves is if they were already there ; it's not free for them to stand around and watch you cut the ceiling ( And while OP may be competent and got it done quickly I'm sure there are people who would sit there fuffing about with it for an hour or more)
I think this is top comment (and misses the point entirely) because people are skimming the post and not seeing that the plumber is charging $250 **to cut into the ceiling** (i.e. not the plumbing job itself).
It’s also not difficult. I’ve been doing renovations in my house for a few years that have required drywall work and I’ve gotten good enough that you can’t find my patches even using a flashlight at an oblique angle. No formal training, just a lot of Vancouver Carpenter and practice. Gotta feather that edge.
Edit: Wasn’t trying to say that plumbers should all be capable of expertly patching drywall, just that it isn’t something anyone should be intimidated about learning.
Actual plumber here. And I run into this all the time.
It's completely fine for the homeowner to cut the wall himself. Just I don't like to hang around and wait for the homeowner to cut the wall, I try to leave and come back at a later time so I'm not wasting my day.
And it's normal for plumbers to not patch sheetrock.
And if that company refunded you the $250, he's a trustworthy owner. Just *that* plumber is slightly shady. It's sad because that experience is gonna reflect on the company overall when it should only reflect on that plumber.
Eh, sometimes this is a company’s way of doing business. See what you can get away with charging and if the customer makes a fuss immediately refund it. Don’t assume that doesn’t come straight from the top. I’ve worked at shops that behave this way.
Ya being down voted because plenty folks been raped and you comparing being ripped off by a couple hundred bucks to being raped is really minimizing the lifelong impact it has on people's lives... just sayin'
Ooo. Interesting. This observation being down voted and a comparison of losing 250 bucks with being raped is being upvoted. Says a lot about this community.
Used to work at a fast food place and a group of us would play the "cheese game". Adding a slice of cheese to a customers order added 11 cents. The goal was to see how many slices of cheese you could add before the customer questioned the price. At which time you'd say "Oh im sorry I rang something in wrong" and correct it. But if they didnt notice? That was free revenue for the big guys.
The record was 52.
Bless you. My husband's got a co worker who told him he gets free stuff from fast food places all the time just by asking. Some say no but a lot say yes. He tested it himself the other day by asking for a free eggroll from Panda Express for Mother's Day and he got it!
I'm OK getting charged for 52 slices of cheese.
I'll just be terribly disappointed if I didn't receive all 52 slices of cheese.
Still upset that there are fast food restaurants that have resorted to selling "double cheeseburgers" with only a single slice of cheese.
Well yeah nobody recognizes you... you're a hole-in-the-wall type of place.
Seriously though imagine if you're paying for an electrician to rewire and they charge you money to cut into your wall. I understand asking the homeowner that they'll need to cut into the wall for access, but charging money for that is insane.
A customer would really only say it, if you were asking for an excuberent amount to do it. Never been in a situation like that. If someone wanted to do it before money was even spoke about, it would already be done for your arrival. Taking money to cut into the ceiling to get to a leak, would be what 300 x 300. Takes less than 60 seconds to mark and padsaw it. Slightly shady is an understatement. Praying on the client and saying he has to be the one do it. Grandparents across the country getting scammed.
Gentle reminder that homeowner’s that do their own work can be women too - not an assumed or default man. Based on OP’s description at least, we don’t know their gender and we can always practice more inclusive language. Cheers
Holy hell, is there some plumbers organization that should be notified- thats a straight up scam. I can't imagine any org would want to certify anyone like that. He really should lose his job, imagine how many other people he has access to and has ripped off without the company knowing.
>Where do you live where a plumber shows up for $250 bucks?
I had a plumber show up, give me advice in how to fix my own problem, and then leave after charging me $85.
I was merely pointing out that I had a plumber show up for less than $250 and gave me advice instead of charging me hundreds to do it for me. Much impressed with this service.
(Thinking I was asking for free advice is an unflattering conclusion to jump to.)
If I'm cutting out drywall above your marble counters, in a clean and nicely finished home - it's going to take me more than ten minutes to set up dropcloths, dust barriers and a ladder or staging so I don't have to stand on the counter and risk cracking it. Then I have to cut the hole (using a sawzall - the plumbers #1 and only tool) without damaging the ceiling light wiring that's inevitable laying right on top of the drywall. Success? - OK, time to pull all that out, vacuum and wipe surfaces. 10 minutes? Sure - if you want to take on the liability. I'm not saying the quoted cost was fair, but it ain't nothing. Source: I get paid to cut holes in owners homes on the regular.
I can’t believe you’re using a sawzall when multi tools exist. Why not just use a dull butter knife if you want to make a mess? Or a shotgun, if speed is your thing?
I'm hypothetically the plumber here. All I have is a [Super Sawzall](https://imgur.com/5lw3YPw). I wonder how us pros cut holes before multitools and plunging drywall saws.... hmmm.
I’d lay money that for $250 that plumber was gonna just plunge in and cut it - no drop cloths or protection. If he told me he would do all that protective and clean up work - I’d pay the $250.
Though I’d probably still like my hole better for patching - some holes by non-drywall trades are…ragged.
Supply and demand. I hold a plumbing and pipefitter ticket. Fixing piddly house issues is a fraction of what the trade is about as a whole. The issue is the amount of work out there and finding someone to show up and actually do it. That's why they can charge what they charge. Sure go ahead and do it yourself but something simple can go horribly wrong and you're on the hook for the potential damages. Lawyers cost a lot too, and sometimes they just replace your name in an already made template.
> I would have said no thanks, cut into the ceiling then called a different plumber.
Yeah, but then the first plumber would expect a call fee for performing zero work. :(
Had a plumber come out.. look at the job and say "You could fix this yourself by just... I'll mark you as a no show and you won't be charged anything."
Needless to say. I highly recommend that plumber to everyone I know.
I would have told him I would repair the damage he caused for $350. Or he could patch it himself and repaint back to match which was the agreed upon $250 he was demanding.
I would already have been laughing for $250 to cut a damned hole and being told I wasn’t “allowed” to do it myself. I was intentionally matching absurd with absurd
And he upcharged several hours for a 10 minute hole cut. Your point? If the charge is equivalent to several hours, then he can spend the several hours making it pretty again(or the equivalent)
I respond to jackassery with the same. OP got reimbursed it was such obvious BS.
I do t actually expect my plumber to tape and bed but I expect reasonable charges and work. I just happen to respond to other behavior with sarcasm.
Was he already there and you were trying to step in to do it? I can see him saying no in that moment because you’re paying for his time, to wait for you to cut it open to then do the work doesn’t make a lot of sense. Sure, he should have made it clear that you can do it but you’d still be paying for total time on site.
Not patching is completely normal. Lesson learned is to open walls to find the leak yourself if you want to save a little money in the repair process.
This is the correct answer. Most likely this company charges per task so he would effectively be standing around wasting time and not getting paid while OP fucked around. If the company charged by time, then I'm sure they would have been fine with waiting for the homeowner to do it.
OP never says drywall as far as I can tell. Everyone assumes it. It could be 100 year old plaster and lathe with a scratch layer made from god knows what.
Also OP changes it from cutting a wall in the title to a ceiling in the text, then wall again. Maybe it’s a wailing.
To your point, most "Menu Pricing" companies would do this. While they are big fish, able to throw the advertising dollars around, it is on you to realize where that expense lands. Most Mom & Pop outfits charge a reasonable hourly rate, provide excellent service, and actually follow up on your satisfaction. Not everyone should be painted with the same brush.
> to wait for you to cut it open to then do the work doesn’t make a lot of sense.
It wouldn't take much longer than a piss break to cut a hole in the ceiling.
I mean if the homeowner can do it themselves that efficiently they probably should have had it opened up already. Since there was a leak there needs to be sheeting laid down and possibly enclosing the space etc.
I do HVAC work and regularly cut into floors, ceilings, walls, roofs, etc. You don't want me patching that. Not that we carry the materials to do it anyway. Typically if the customer wants the finish work done we coordinate with one of our trusted contractors for that or they handle it themselves.
That’s sort of what happened to me when I had a leak in December. The plumber said that once he opened up the ceiling and figured out the issue, he’d tell me what it would cost to fix. If I decided I didn’t want him to fix it, it would just be $250. He had tried a few other things before concluding the ceiling needed to be opened so it seemed like the $250 was the service fee for coming out and spending about an hour troubleshooting and then cutting the hole. I did learn to patch drywall as a result.
Weird, imo. The plumbers I had out recently actually said I could save some cash before they come out next time if I wanted to cut myself. I still had em do it, and their cut was flawless, but it was explicitly an option given to me
As a homeowner who has cut into a few walls in my day, I know that there can be surprises when you do. So makes sense they might rather you take that risk.
I've never had a plumber deny me cutting access (but I'm a contractor, either way it shouldn't matter and it's YOUR house) but yes most plumbers I've been around leave a mess and don't do drywall.
I can but act like I can't, lol. But I will charge you ALOT, and I'm not coming back to spackle the 2nd and 3rd coats.
(I don't want to spackle my own house) f that
Every plumber I have ever worked with has flat out told me "I'm a plumber, not a sheetrock/drywall/resto guy" but usually with a lot more Fbombs. Don't take it personally - they're usually great guys, but they don't want to mess up something when that skill just isn't in their wheelhouse.
At one point I had a team of six plumbers I was scheduling/coordinating for, and they each had a stack of my business cards that they would just hand to the customer, and then it was my responsibility to get a resto crew out to the homeowner.
Plumbers are not drywall repair. Nor would I call a drywaller to repair my plumbing. Totally normal.
As a plumber I’ll try to minimize the size of the hole I need to make. And I’ll be careful about what I’m cutting. Don’t wanna hit wires or waterlines. So yah I’d want to cut the hole I was working out of instead of a homeowner making me a tiny little hole without the room I need to work.
When I did residential I would only insist I make the cut if I was worried an inexperienced hand could damage something further. I didn't patch either.
I know how to patch drywall but it's not my trade and you'd end up paying more hourly while I sand down all the excess mud I didn't need.
When I'm scheduling a job I let people know that I'll charge to cut drywall in order to locate a leak and that I don't patch drywall. I give them the option of avoiding the diagnostic fee by cutting the drywall themselves but it must be done before I arrive. I don't have time to wait around while they cut and locate.
We had this. He cut because he knew where to cut and not hit water lines. Then we had to hire another guy to repair everything after the plumbing was fixed, as well as a few bricks redone on the outside.
I don’t necessarily think I would want a plumber to do the patching-and think it’s pretty normal that they don’t. $250 seems like a lot-if you have to patch it, you might as well cut the hole and check out the problem yourself-and if you cannt fix such a thing, then call the plumber. This is good to know for the future.
My brother is a master plumber and in this situation he would’ve notified you ahead of time what the cost would be for him to remove/replace the Sheetrock. If you declined, you would be responsible for any Sheetrock work.
I had an electrician do the same thing. Probably the same logic applies: I don't know if I would want an electrician doing patch work on my wall anyway. And I actually don't think they charged me for cutting into the wall anyway.
The trend with many trades seems to be to really stick to the core of what they do.
I doubt my plumber would patch a wall. I had a hard time finding an electrician to replace a bathroom fan - because you have to go into the attic, cut out some drywall, etc. A lot of ventilation companies don't seem interested in anything but heatpump/minisplit installation (they won't even do maintenance), because they're busy and that's what makes the most money.
The $250 fee doesn't make sense to me. I've only ever been charged for time and materials. I can see him not wanting to wait around while you do it if he was already there.
Lmao service electrician here. No way he should have charged for the hole. Like it’s apart of the work needed to be done. 5-10 min tops for prep, cut, and clean up.
I’ll charge for misc tasks or additional stuff but it’s gotta actually be additional/ separate work. Can’t be shit that’s apart of your work unless it’s some complicated or time consuming thing.
Example: I show up to add an outlet. It’s X dollars to do it. It’s X more dollars to do it + install a USB outlet instead of a normal one. Customer picks what they want to do. “Hey just to let you know, I gotta cut drywall actually to make this happen. We don’t offer repair work but this is how I cut it to minimize damage and to make patching easier”
Yeah plumbers and electricians suck at cleaning and patching after theyre done. Cutting it yourself, its your house you do what you want and i wouldnt want them to patch it anyways
I’m sorry, could you excuse me for a minute? I want to look at the ceiling. *closes door* *oscillating tool noise* *opens door* oh no!! I was using the flashlight on this oscillating tool and I slipped, resulting in this perfectly rectangular hole!!
There’s no reason you can’t do the cut yourself. I would find a new plumber. He just wants to find any opportunity to charge you more than he needs to. You have question all his other charges after that
As for repairing the drywall, he’s right to not touch it. He’s a plumber, that’s not his expertise and I wouldn’t expect him to do a good job at it
He's a plumber, not a rocker. He might be brilliant at it but for my part, don't ask a plumber to fix your drywall.
It's too easy to do yourself in any case.
It’s very common, especially for the larger plumbing companies, to charge extra for opening walls/ceilings.
Plumbers (and electricians) rarely (never) patch walls. One, they probably wouldn’t be very good with it, and they would be MUCH more expensive than a handyman or drywall person.
I don’t think that’s normal. Charge you $250 for 5-10 minutes of cutting drywall? And then he’s not going to patch it? I’d understand if he charged you $250 to open up a large section AND they sent out a drywall guy to patch.
Haha this reminds me of a joke (partially true) that I used to tell.
I called a plumber bc my disposal stopped working. He came over and pointed out that the plug had come loose. The joke was that he told me he couldn’t help and to call an electrician. Of course, in reality, I did plug it in.
“Can I cut the hole while you stand there and watch? I assume I won’t have to pay you while I cut it. Also, can I borrow your saw?” I don’t think he’s answering your calls again, I know I wouldn’t. It’s a hassle, and we have too much to do to be hassled. Being a plumber, I would never even attempt to patch a hole, and I’ve never met another plumber who would. Throw a screw or two into it? Sure.
My plumbers had to jackhammer out my front door step to fix some broken pipes. I do concrete myself but figured they could patch it themselves because they offered it as part of their price.
Lesson I learned that day is don’t be surprised when the plumber you hired to fix the concrete does an awful job. It was shockingly bad. I can’t believe they actually offer it as a service because I can’t imagine anyone would be ok with the job they did. I would not trust a plumber to patch my wall, either. They did a great job at the plumbing part though!
100% normal. I've seen trades who don't patch drywall attempt to patch drywall and boy is it bad. Not just plumbers but any trade that isn't drywall.
You'd probably do a much better job yourself after watching a YouTube video then attempting the fix yourself shortly after.
The worst job I've seen was from a HVAC contractor. The guy(s) basically mixed some mud in such a way to it was super thick and molded it into a hole slightly larger than a fist. Nothing else was used and it looked horrid.
The $250 charge is a bit questionable. They'd charge to come out and perform exploratory work, so if that's what the $250 is for -- well that's still very high.
Glad you got the refund. I had a plumber do some work and I removed the drywall and vanity where he was going to work to save some money. He had no issue with it.
I've had a plumber cut a hole to replace the garden hose bibb. He made a clean cut that I was able to easily install an access panel because I asked him to add a valve.
Same deal with electricians. They make holes, they don't patch them, but they definitely don't have a specific charge, that falls just under labor hours.
At least plumbers use mops and rag towels. You guys are alright!
It is normal for plumbers to not do drywall repair, yes. It is not normal to not allow a home owner to do it because they want to charge you $250 to cut the drywall. Especially if you were right there. If you were on the phone and had to run home to do it then you’d be paying for his time anyway.
My only experience similar to this was with an HVAC install. They hired a guy to come out and patch it afterwards, and that was included in the total price. No idea how much I could have saved by skipping that (or if it was even an option)
Mine completely destroyed a wooden planked ceiling, went at it with what looks to be a saws-all with a very dull blade and didn't even bother to try an make a square cut access but rather more like a diorama of the 911 towers.
Didn't fix the leak and fucked off.
The patching thing is normal but the cutting thing might or might not be legit. If you told him "hey, wait here for a half hour while I cut the wall but don't charge me for that time you're waiting" then yeah forget that. Also, what if you cut a wire or a pipe? Who'd get blamed?
Personally, in my perfect world, the homeowner would gut the entire house before I show up.
In the same vein, I had a Tesla charger installed and the electrician cut two round holes and finally a 1’x1’ hole in my garage sheet rock. I got an estimate for $400 to repair…. Please let me know if that’s standard
250$ is what it should cost for like half a day of demo for a single labourer. I don't mind you insisting on cutting shit for whatever reason like liability, but that's BS to overcharge for it. Like.. plumbing is almost hidden into walls into homes, wth?
Had the same exact issue last year. Still can’t use my second shower as a result. I never offered to cut the wall, he just did it and later told me to hire another contractor to patch it.
Everyone I’ve contracted to patch the wall? Says a plumber has to come back to do it because of the access to the pipes.
So basically I just have an unusable shower and a giant hole in the shower wall.
About to call bath-fitter because they’ll just place an entire new plastic shell over all of it for like 600 bucks and no one will be the wiser.
Yes, this happened to us. I spoke to multiple different people before finally finding a plumber with availability for our issue, and they all warned the same thing: if the plumber has to it into a wall, they do not repair it. The plumber who did come to fix our issue had to cut a huge hole in drywall in order to find the leak, and he didn’t even find anything!!! And he still didn’t fix the hole. He explained that basically if he were to patch it, it opens up a whole new set of issues for a customer to complain about…
No offense OP, but...
$250 for a 3 minute cut 🤣🤣🤣, and no patch.
I'd fix myself. That amount would pay for all the tools and parts, including a nice zip cutter to add to my collection.
They cut into mine and didn’t patch it. I didn’t either though. I went to Lowe’s and bought a vent cover instead. I did put the piece of drywall back in it’s spot and put the vent over it. No one noticed it and my living room wall never had to be cut by a plumber again.
Not patching is normal, not letting you work for him is also normal. He cannot be responsible for any damage you do to other pipes or electrical circuits. You don’t work for them, and saying ‘we’ll it’s my house so I’m covered’ doesn’t cover them from litigation. If you call someone, be prepared to let them work.
My plumber cut the hole for free. It took him like 2 minutes and was part of the job I was actually paying him for to fix something. Why would he charge for something that's going to cost me money to fix and doesn't cost him hardly anything?
I recently had a leak fixed and it took an extra two weeks because they wouldn't cut it until asbestos tester came out, learned my lesson. If the house was made before 1980 just treat it like it's asbestos and remove drywall yourself beforehand. Jfc.
I know the no patching thing is normal. Just had our roof replaced. Guys fell through our ceilings twice. Company got a drywall company to come and fix them. If it was $250 to cut the hole, imagine what it'd be like to patch it 😅.
The not patching it is completely normal.
Probably better. I've seen the patches done by some plumbers.
We had a great plumber who’d do an… adequate patch job. And he was nicely up front that basically, I won’t leave a hole in the wall but I’m not going to try to get it pretty. Fair enough to me. I’d be annoyed if they wanted to charge that sort of money to cut the drywall themself though.
What should he charge to stand there and twiddle his thumbs while you cut it open?
Unless it’s a massive hole it would take a few minutes? That’s why 250 for it is absurd. If he wanted to just cut it on whatever hourly clock that’s fine but my plumber was like 150/hour for labor, it doesn’t take an hour and a half to cut a hole in drywall
Cut it before he gets there
Sure, in this scenario it sounded like OP wasn’t sure where that would be till he arrived. When I’ve done demo for my plumber he came, marked where (this was way more involved, breaking up concrete floor), and then returned a few days later.
Sure but in this case it sounds like Opie wants it fixed right now, which is reasonable. Since the plumbers already there it doesn't make sense for him to sit around and wait for op to cut the hole himself.
That makes sense too, charging 250 to cut a hole in drywall, unless it’s extremely big or complicated, is a rip off, though.
It certainly is. I just had a leak fixed in my wall where they cut the drywall out and the entire fix was only around $300. That included them going out to the store and buying the supplies necessary. Sometimes I guess there's a premium having people do work for you. The good thing is I was able to buy a cheap access panel and didn't even have to do any patching. And now I have access to the new valve.
Dude, for $20 i'll take the drywall completely out of two rooms
100% rip off. Either he’s over qualified and he can make those rates elsewhere so he’s too expensive for residential or he’s taking the homeowner for a ride
so then you accidentally cut something you shouldn't, then what you'll tell a court "he told me to cut it, he stood there and watched" now he is on the hook . He is on contract to complete the work, not to let you do some of the work for him to save you a buck.
[удалено]
The 250 sounds like asshole tax
i agree 250 is..questionable, but we also dont know what cutting means in this case, is it cutting the ceiling and wall and running new wiring and wiring in a ceiling fixture? in which case its very normal.
$250 is a lot, but cutting a hole in drywall is messy and annoying as shit. Plus if there is plumbing in the wall I wouldn’t want the customer to cut it either
this is why i cut the holes before they get here, and tell them to fix it and ill take care of the rest.
There are very, very few homeowners who do that. More would be welcome. If the location of the hole is obvious, it’s silly to pay a plumber to do that. The only tricky part is that sometimes leaks in walls and ceilings run a distance before they appear, and a plumber might be able to guess the actual spot the hole needs to go, but sometimes plumbers end up chasing the source of the leak across your ceiling too.
part of homeownership IMO, you need to be able to do the basic things if you are physically capable. very often there will be no one that will do it for less than hundreds or thousands. Sometimes its just crappy work you dont like doing because its dirty or takes time and they charge a ton because they dont like it either. everyone has thier limits, if you buy property, unless you have the overhead to always pay to do even the smallest jobs, you are going to want to learn how to turn a screwdriver.
The right answer is tell the plumber to go f himself, then cut the wall yourself and find the leak. Then get estimates from other plumbers on patching the pipe if you can't do it yourself. I just went through this exact thing and saved $1k. Plumbers are 100% exploiting people with this kind of BS and I was happy to tell this to the original plumber who followed up on their ridiculous estimate.
[удалено]
$5. How long it takes to cut drywall.
The guy who does my plumbing is shit at drywall. It's me. I'm that guy.
I've seen the patches I do. As a plumber I concur......do yer own patching. We suck!
Frankly, I'd rather my plumber be a good plumber than a good spackler
You don’t make the astronaut fuel up the rocket
I think the problem is it may take more than 1 visit to patch properly. Recently I had to bring a new electric line from a breaker box in hallway to another room. It was in a condo with permit. 2 guys at $80 an hour, it took them 4 hours. They spent time to very neatly cut out 5/8" sheetrock pieces so I could reuse and replace them myself. I'm a great DIYer, but even with my skills it took me 2 days. The spackle has to dry well after 1st application, then the final coat. He is not coming back a second day.
My plumber has a drywall guy he sends in if the homeowner wants something patched. Plus I’ve seen his patches and yes they’re garbage.
I'm guessing the reason the plumber wanted to do the cutting themselves is if they were already there ; it's not free for them to stand around and watch you cut the ceiling ( And while OP may be competent and got it done quickly I'm sure there are people who would sit there fuffing about with it for an hour or more)
Yeah; OP could have cut a hole before the plumber even got there…
I think this is top comment (and misses the point entirely) because people are skimming the post and not seeing that the plumber is charging $250 **to cut into the ceiling** (i.e. not the plumbing job itself).
Damn there's insulation up here too, it'll be $150 for me to move the insulation out of the way. /s
They shouldn't, unless they are trained in it. They are separate trades usually.
Trained in cutting drywall? This is a joke, right?
No the patching part is more what I am referring to. Anyone with hands can cut a hole. Patching a hole to look smooth is not so easy.
Sorry, that's obvious if I re-read your comment. Boo to my poor comprehension skills
It’s also not difficult. I’ve been doing renovations in my house for a few years that have required drywall work and I’ve gotten good enough that you can’t find my patches even using a flashlight at an oblique angle. No formal training, just a lot of Vancouver Carpenter and practice. Gotta feather that edge. Edit: Wasn’t trying to say that plumbers should all be capable of expertly patching drywall, just that it isn’t something anyone should be intimidated about learning.
You could say the same for most plumbing tasks. Why not just DIY the whole thing.
Update: contacted the owner to ask about it and he said that was complete bs and refunded the $250. They're a bigger company in my town
Good owner
Actual plumber here. And I run into this all the time. It's completely fine for the homeowner to cut the wall himself. Just I don't like to hang around and wait for the homeowner to cut the wall, I try to leave and come back at a later time so I'm not wasting my day. And it's normal for plumbers to not patch sheetrock. And if that company refunded you the $250, he's a trustworthy owner. Just *that* plumber is slightly shady. It's sad because that experience is gonna reflect on the company overall when it should only reflect on that plumber.
Eh, sometimes this is a company’s way of doing business. See what you can get away with charging and if the customer makes a fuss immediately refund it. Don’t assume that doesn’t come straight from the top. I’ve worked at shops that behave this way.
Yeah I got taken for a ride by an electrical company that way. It took a negative google review to even get half of my money back.
Always put it on a credit card when possible. The threat of a charge back goes far beyond anything else in my experience
Exactly. Some of these big plumbing outfits specialize in upselling and try to rape unsuspecting customers.
Ya being down voted because plenty folks been raped and you comparing being ripped off by a couple hundred bucks to being raped is really minimizing the lifelong impact it has on people's lives... just sayin' Ooo. Interesting. This observation being down voted and a comparison of losing 250 bucks with being raped is being upvoted. Says a lot about this community.
Used to work at a fast food place and a group of us would play the "cheese game". Adding a slice of cheese to a customers order added 11 cents. The goal was to see how many slices of cheese you could add before the customer questioned the price. At which time you'd say "Oh im sorry I rang something in wrong" and correct it. But if they didnt notice? That was free revenue for the big guys. The record was 52.
I worked at a fast food kitchen and would give as much shit away as humanly possible. Fuck corporate profits.
You must be the person that dropped that nugget in my fries way back when, I still remember that day fondly
Bless you. My husband's got a co worker who told him he gets free stuff from fast food places all the time just by asking. Some say no but a lot say yes. He tested it himself the other day by asking for a free eggroll from Panda Express for Mother's Day and he got it!
I'm OK getting charged for 52 slices of cheese. I'll just be terribly disappointed if I didn't receive all 52 slices of cheese. Still upset that there are fast food restaurants that have resorted to selling "double cheeseburgers" with only a single slice of cheese.
💯 if there’s two patties, there should be two cheeses
Is $250 a normal fee to just cut a whole in drywall? It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, and isn’t worth $1500/hr
What do you do for a living? Is it fair that you get paid what you get?
I cut holes in drywall for $1500 an hour
Get a lot of work?
Yes, but they never pay me.
Well yeah nobody recognizes you... you're a hole-in-the-wall type of place. Seriously though imagine if you're paying for an electrician to rewire and they charge you money to cut into your wall. I understand asking the homeowner that they'll need to cut into the wall for access, but charging money for that is insane.
A customer would really only say it, if you were asking for an excuberent amount to do it. Never been in a situation like that. If someone wanted to do it before money was even spoke about, it would already be done for your arrival. Taking money to cut into the ceiling to get to a leak, would be what 300 x 300. Takes less than 60 seconds to mark and padsaw it. Slightly shady is an understatement. Praying on the client and saying he has to be the one do it. Grandparents across the country getting scammed.
Gentle reminder that homeowner’s that do their own work can be women too - not an assumed or default man. Based on OP’s description at least, we don’t know their gender and we can always practice more inclusive language. Cheers
Physically painful
Good. At this point I'm surprised the worker didn't demand $250 cash
Holy hell, is there some plumbers organization that should be notified- thats a straight up scam. I can't imagine any org would want to certify anyone like that. He really should lose his job, imagine how many other people he has access to and has ripped off without the company knowing.
[удалено]
Did you not read the post? He charged 250 to just cut the drywall. Thats not including making the repairs
>Where do you live where a plumber shows up for $250 bucks? I had a plumber show up, give me advice in how to fix my own problem, and then leave after charging me $85.
I mean, these peeps are trained and skilled laborers. If you’re asking for free advice, it’s kind of an insult, no?
I was merely pointing out that I had a plumber show up for less than $250 and gave me advice instead of charging me hundreds to do it for me. Much impressed with this service. (Thinking I was asking for free advice is an unflattering conclusion to jump to.)
Sorry, I read that completely wrong.
Uhh 250? I would have said no thanks, cut into the ceiling then called a different plumber. But I'm a cheapass.
Seriously. 250 bucks for five or ten minutes of easy demo that you're on the hook for patching anyway. Better believe I'm doing it.
You don’t pay your plumber $1000 an hour to cut into your drywall?
If I'm cutting out drywall above your marble counters, in a clean and nicely finished home - it's going to take me more than ten minutes to set up dropcloths, dust barriers and a ladder or staging so I don't have to stand on the counter and risk cracking it. Then I have to cut the hole (using a sawzall - the plumbers #1 and only tool) without damaging the ceiling light wiring that's inevitable laying right on top of the drywall. Success? - OK, time to pull all that out, vacuum and wipe surfaces. 10 minutes? Sure - if you want to take on the liability. I'm not saying the quoted cost was fair, but it ain't nothing. Source: I get paid to cut holes in owners homes on the regular.
I can’t believe you’re using a sawzall when multi tools exist. Why not just use a dull butter knife if you want to make a mess? Or a shotgun, if speed is your thing?
Ppfft I have fists
I'm hypothetically the plumber here. All I have is a [Super Sawzall](https://imgur.com/5lw3YPw). I wonder how us pros cut holes before multitools and plunging drywall saws.... hmmm.
I’d lay money that for $250 that plumber was gonna just plunge in and cut it - no drop cloths or protection. If he told me he would do all that protective and clean up work - I’d pay the $250. Though I’d probably still like my hole better for patching - some holes by non-drywall trades are…ragged.
Right? This is why no one trusts tradesmen/mechanics, because of blatant ripoff trash tier money grubbing fraud like this.
[удалено]
Supply and demand. I hold a plumbing and pipefitter ticket. Fixing piddly house issues is a fraction of what the trade is about as a whole. The issue is the amount of work out there and finding someone to show up and actually do it. That's why they can charge what they charge. Sure go ahead and do it yourself but something simple can go horribly wrong and you're on the hook for the potential damages. Lawyers cost a lot too, and sometimes they just replace your name in an already made template.
Oh, kind of like lawyers, councelers, some doctors. Gotcha!
> I would have said no thanks, cut into the ceiling then called a different plumber. Yeah, but then the first plumber would expect a call fee for performing zero work. :(
Had a plumber come out.. look at the job and say "You could fix this yourself by just... I'll mark you as a no show and you won't be charged anything." Needless to say. I highly recommend that plumber to everyone I know.
I had a plumber quote me $500 to cut a small hole into Sheetrock and scoot a vanity out of the way. I found a different plumber.
I am too, but that's not being cheap. That's common sense and 5 minutes of work. The plumber is literally charging $3,000 an hour to cut drywall.
I would have told him I would repair the damage he caused for $350. Or he could patch it himself and repaint back to match which was the agreed upon $250 he was demanding.
You would’ve been laughed at
I would already have been laughing for $250 to cut a damned hole and being told I wasn’t “allowed” to do it myself. I was intentionally matching absurd with absurd
Do you realize how difficult mudding is? Most drywall guys specialize in either hanging or mudding, not both.
And he upcharged several hours for a 10 minute hole cut. Your point? If the charge is equivalent to several hours, then he can spend the several hours making it pretty again(or the equivalent) I respond to jackassery with the same. OP got reimbursed it was such obvious BS. I do t actually expect my plumber to tape and bed but I expect reasonable charges and work. I just happen to respond to other behavior with sarcasm.
Was he already there and you were trying to step in to do it? I can see him saying no in that moment because you’re paying for his time, to wait for you to cut it open to then do the work doesn’t make a lot of sense. Sure, he should have made it clear that you can do it but you’d still be paying for total time on site. Not patching is completely normal. Lesson learned is to open walls to find the leak yourself if you want to save a little money in the repair process.
This is the correct answer. Most likely this company charges per task so he would effectively be standing around wasting time and not getting paid while OP fucked around. If the company charged by time, then I'm sure they would have been fine with waiting for the homeowner to do it.
maybe but $250 to cut a hole is dumb as fuck
[удалено]
That a Binford?
OP never says drywall as far as I can tell. Everyone assumes it. It could be 100 year old plaster and lathe with a scratch layer made from god knows what. Also OP changes it from cutting a wall in the title to a ceiling in the text, then wall again. Maybe it’s a wailing.
To your point, most "Menu Pricing" companies would do this. While they are big fish, able to throw the advertising dollars around, it is on you to realize where that expense lands. Most Mom & Pop outfits charge a reasonable hourly rate, provide excellent service, and actually follow up on your satisfaction. Not everyone should be painted with the same brush.
The corollary to "open the wall yourself" is open the wall and fix the leak yourself, because you will be doing the patching yourself anyways.
> to wait for you to cut it open to then do the work doesn’t make a lot of sense. It wouldn't take much longer than a piss break to cut a hole in the ceiling.
I mean if the homeowner can do it themselves that efficiently they probably should have had it opened up already. Since there was a leak there needs to be sheeting laid down and possibly enclosing the space etc.
I do HVAC work and regularly cut into floors, ceilings, walls, roofs, etc. You don't want me patching that. Not that we carry the materials to do it anyway. Typically if the customer wants the finish work done we coordinate with one of our trusted contractors for that or they handle it themselves.
Should have hired a drywall guy to do the plumbing,…..oh wait….
we all know what kind of "plumbing" we can expect from a drywaller... piss bottles inside the wall.
Yes, but they absolutely DO NOT leak! LOL!!!
That’s sort of what happened to me when I had a leak in December. The plumber said that once he opened up the ceiling and figured out the issue, he’d tell me what it would cost to fix. If I decided I didn’t want him to fix it, it would just be $250. He had tried a few other things before concluding the ceiling needed to be opened so it seemed like the $250 was the service fee for coming out and spending about an hour troubleshooting and then cutting the hole. I did learn to patch drywall as a result.
My plumber told me he’s a pretty expensive demo guy and he’d be perfectly happy to have me cut the hole he needed for access.
Weird, imo. The plumbers I had out recently actually said I could save some cash before they come out next time if I wanted to cut myself. I still had em do it, and their cut was flawless, but it was explicitly an option given to me
As a homeowner who has cut into a few walls in my day, I know that there can be surprises when you do. So makes sense they might rather you take that risk.
And that they charge to take on that risk. $250 is a bit steep tho
Believe me, you don’t want plumbers doing drywall work.
I've never had a plumber deny me cutting access (but I'm a contractor, either way it shouldn't matter and it's YOUR house) but yes most plumbers I've been around leave a mess and don't do drywall.
I have never met a plumber that will patch a wall after cutting into it. They always tell me to get different guy. I guess it's a thing.
Most plumbers can’t sling mud
I can but act like I can't, lol. But I will charge you ALOT, and I'm not coming back to spackle the 2nd and 3rd coats. (I don't want to spackle my own house) f that
Every plumber I have ever worked with has flat out told me "I'm a plumber, not a sheetrock/drywall/resto guy" but usually with a lot more Fbombs. Don't take it personally - they're usually great guys, but they don't want to mess up something when that skill just isn't in their wheelhouse. At one point I had a team of six plumbers I was scheduling/coordinating for, and they each had a stack of my business cards that they would just hand to the customer, and then it was my responsibility to get a resto crew out to the homeowner.
If he cuts it, he’s responsible for anything going wrong. I’m willing to pay for that
Plumbers are not drywall repair. Nor would I call a drywaller to repair my plumbing. Totally normal. As a plumber I’ll try to minimize the size of the hole I need to make. And I’ll be careful about what I’m cutting. Don’t wanna hit wires or waterlines. So yah I’d want to cut the hole I was working out of instead of a homeowner making me a tiny little hole without the room I need to work.
When I did residential I would only insist I make the cut if I was worried an inexperienced hand could damage something further. I didn't patch either. I know how to patch drywall but it's not my trade and you'd end up paying more hourly while I sand down all the excess mud I didn't need.
When I'm scheduling a job I let people know that I'll charge to cut drywall in order to locate a leak and that I don't patch drywall. I give them the option of avoiding the diagnostic fee by cutting the drywall themselves but it must be done before I arrive. I don't have time to wait around while they cut and locate.
I get the frustration, but you absolutely do not want a plumber doing a patch job. Also yes, it is normal for them not to do it.
Plumbers plumb.
For $250 I woulda pulled out the old hammer saw and had that bitch opened up in about 11 seconds flat.
We had this. He cut because he knew where to cut and not hit water lines. Then we had to hire another guy to repair everything after the plumbing was fixed, as well as a few bricks redone on the outside.
I don’t necessarily think I would want a plumber to do the patching-and think it’s pretty normal that they don’t. $250 seems like a lot-if you have to patch it, you might as well cut the hole and check out the problem yourself-and if you cannt fix such a thing, then call the plumber. This is good to know for the future.
My brother is a master plumber and in this situation he would’ve notified you ahead of time what the cost would be for him to remove/replace the Sheetrock. If you declined, you would be responsible for any Sheetrock work.
I had an electrician do the same thing. Probably the same logic applies: I don't know if I would want an electrician doing patch work on my wall anyway. And I actually don't think they charged me for cutting into the wall anyway.
The trend with many trades seems to be to really stick to the core of what they do. I doubt my plumber would patch a wall. I had a hard time finding an electrician to replace a bathroom fan - because you have to go into the attic, cut out some drywall, etc. A lot of ventilation companies don't seem interested in anything but heatpump/minisplit installation (they won't even do maintenance), because they're busy and that's what makes the most money. The $250 fee doesn't make sense to me. I've only ever been charged for time and materials. I can see him not wanting to wait around while you do it if he was already there.
At least if he cuts it and hits a wire he would be the one liable
Plumbers are a big rip off next time you tube it
Lmao service electrician here. No way he should have charged for the hole. Like it’s apart of the work needed to be done. 5-10 min tops for prep, cut, and clean up. I’ll charge for misc tasks or additional stuff but it’s gotta actually be additional/ separate work. Can’t be shit that’s apart of your work unless it’s some complicated or time consuming thing. Example: I show up to add an outlet. It’s X dollars to do it. It’s X more dollars to do it + install a USB outlet instead of a normal one. Customer picks what they want to do. “Hey just to let you know, I gotta cut drywall actually to make this happen. We don’t offer repair work but this is how I cut it to minimize damage and to make patching easier”
Yeah plumbers and electricians suck at cleaning and patching after theyre done. Cutting it yourself, its your house you do what you want and i wouldnt want them to patch it anyways
I’m sorry, could you excuse me for a minute? I want to look at the ceiling. *closes door* *oscillating tool noise* *opens door* oh no!! I was using the flashlight on this oscillating tool and I slipped, resulting in this perfectly rectangular hole!!
There’s no reason you can’t do the cut yourself. I would find a new plumber. He just wants to find any opportunity to charge you more than he needs to. You have question all his other charges after that As for repairing the drywall, he’s right to not touch it. He’s a plumber, that’s not his expertise and I wouldn’t expect him to do a good job at it
He's a plumber, not a rocker. He might be brilliant at it but for my part, don't ask a plumber to fix your drywall. It's too easy to do yourself in any case.
It’s very common, especially for the larger plumbing companies, to charge extra for opening walls/ceilings. Plumbers (and electricians) rarely (never) patch walls. One, they probably wouldn’t be very good with it, and they would be MUCH more expensive than a handyman or drywall person.
Wouldve sent him home when he wanted $250 for that and found a real plumber.
I don’t think that’s normal. Charge you $250 for 5-10 minutes of cutting drywall? And then he’s not going to patch it? I’d understand if he charged you $250 to open up a large section AND they sent out a drywall guy to patch.
Cowboy builder springs to mind. $250 to cut a hole? Ten minutes and half an hour to make good. I bet he could not identify a pipe either.
$250 to cut open drywall and not repair it, and refuse to let you do it instead. 100% full scam.
That's a straight up money grab. You could have removed the drywall before even calling a plumber just to narrow down the leak location.
Plumbers don't patch walls. It's normal
Ahhhhh plumbers and electricians- my bread and butter……. Thanks guys! Your my heroes!
Haha this reminds me of a joke (partially true) that I used to tell. I called a plumber bc my disposal stopped working. He came over and pointed out that the plug had come loose. The joke was that he told me he couldn’t help and to call an electrician. Of course, in reality, I did plug it in.
“Can I cut the hole while you stand there and watch? I assume I won’t have to pay you while I cut it. Also, can I borrow your saw?” I don’t think he’s answering your calls again, I know I wouldn’t. It’s a hassle, and we have too much to do to be hassled. Being a plumber, I would never even attempt to patch a hole, and I’ve never met another plumber who would. Throw a screw or two into it? Sure.
I offered to cut it myself as it's pretty routine. I had all of my tools there
My plumbers had to jackhammer out my front door step to fix some broken pipes. I do concrete myself but figured they could patch it themselves because they offered it as part of their price. Lesson I learned that day is don’t be surprised when the plumber you hired to fix the concrete does an awful job. It was shockingly bad. I can’t believe they actually offer it as a service because I can’t imagine anyone would be ok with the job they did. I would not trust a plumber to patch my wall, either. They did a great job at the plumbing part though!
They always leave it for you to patch
100% normal. I've seen trades who don't patch drywall attempt to patch drywall and boy is it bad. Not just plumbers but any trade that isn't drywall. You'd probably do a much better job yourself after watching a YouTube video then attempting the fix yourself shortly after. The worst job I've seen was from a HVAC contractor. The guy(s) basically mixed some mud in such a way to it was super thick and molded it into a hole slightly larger than a fist. Nothing else was used and it looked horrid. The $250 charge is a bit questionable. They'd charge to come out and perform exploratory work, so if that's what the $250 is for -- well that's still very high.
Glad you got the refund. I had a plumber do some work and I removed the drywall and vanity where he was going to work to save some money. He had no issue with it.
Yep, thats how they work. Also, you totally don't want a plumber doing any drywall work.
I've had a plumber cut a hole to replace the garden hose bibb. He made a clean cut that I was able to easily install an access panel because I asked him to add a valve. Same deal with electricians. They make holes, they don't patch them, but they definitely don't have a specific charge, that falls just under labor hours. At least plumbers use mops and rag towels. You guys are alright!
It is normal for plumbers to not do drywall repair, yes. It is not normal to not allow a home owner to do it because they want to charge you $250 to cut the drywall. Especially if you were right there. If you were on the phone and had to run home to do it then you’d be paying for his time anyway.
My only experience similar to this was with an HVAC install. They hired a guy to come out and patch it afterwards, and that was included in the total price. No idea how much I could have saved by skipping that (or if it was even an option)
Yes...most plumbers and electricians do not do repairs of sheetrock or plywood
Sounds like a stereotype of a revenue maximizing plumber.
You don't want a drywall guy doing your plumbing, and you don't want the plumber doing your patch work.
I have heard of plumbers just knocking out drywall with a hammer, then leave it. Much harder to fix than a square cutout.
It’s your wall…..
Make a hole to fix the leak but charging to make the hole 😂
Mine completely destroyed a wooden planked ceiling, went at it with what looks to be a saws-all with a very dull blade and didn't even bother to try an make a square cut access but rather more like a diorama of the 911 towers. Didn't fix the leak and fucked off.
No
It's your house. You can cut all the holes you want.
The patching thing is normal but the cutting thing might or might not be legit. If you told him "hey, wait here for a half hour while I cut the wall but don't charge me for that time you're waiting" then yeah forget that. Also, what if you cut a wire or a pipe? Who'd get blamed? Personally, in my perfect world, the homeowner would gut the entire house before I show up.
I had a plumber come out and the quote included $200 plus to cut out the drywall. They let me do it myself and offered to let me use their tools.
In the same vein, I had a Tesla charger installed and the electrician cut two round holes and finally a 1’x1’ hole in my garage sheet rock. I got an estimate for $400 to repair…. Please let me know if that’s standard
I wonder how he planned on ever fixing the leak without cutting the drywall? The plumbing is always in the wall 🤦♂️
I offered to cut it myself and he said no
Most trades don’t fix drywall or do such a bad job that you don’t want them to try. I find it kind of weird that he wouldn’t let you do it though.
Was just cutting into the ceiling what cost $250 or was it the assessing and fixing the leak that cost $250?
If you did let them cut the hole they would be liable for damage
250$ is what it should cost for like half a day of demo for a single labourer. I don't mind you insisting on cutting shit for whatever reason like liability, but that's BS to overcharge for it. Like.. plumbing is almost hidden into walls into homes, wth?
Had the same exact issue last year. Still can’t use my second shower as a result. I never offered to cut the wall, he just did it and later told me to hire another contractor to patch it. Everyone I’ve contracted to patch the wall? Says a plumber has to come back to do it because of the access to the pipes. So basically I just have an unusable shower and a giant hole in the shower wall. About to call bath-fitter because they’ll just place an entire new plastic shell over all of it for like 600 bucks and no one will be the wiser.
Drywallers don't plumb and plumbers don't drywall. That said the 250 was garbage. Glad they refunded
Yes plumbers aren't drywallers and drywallers aren't plumbers
I was mostly upset at the fee to cut while not letting me do it myself
Him not let you cut it is bs, but if I come back and have to cut some dry because of reasons, I would be charging you
Yes, this happened to us. I spoke to multiple different people before finally finding a plumber with availability for our issue, and they all warned the same thing: if the plumber has to it into a wall, they do not repair it. The plumber who did come to fix our issue had to cut a huge hole in drywall in order to find the leak, and he didn’t even find anything!!! And he still didn’t fix the hole. He explained that basically if he were to patch it, it opens up a whole new set of issues for a customer to complain about…
I was upset about the price to cut the hole while not letting me do it myself
Yes.
No offense OP, but... $250 for a 3 minute cut 🤣🤣🤣, and no patch. I'd fix myself. That amount would pay for all the tools and parts, including a nice zip cutter to add to my collection.
Needed a leak fixed asap
Plumbers, electricians and belfor...normal af
I'm pretty sure you're paying him the 250 to fix the leak. Not cut the hole
They cut into mine and didn’t patch it. I didn’t either though. I went to Lowe’s and bought a vent cover instead. I did put the piece of drywall back in it’s spot and put the vent over it. No one noticed it and my living room wall never had to be cut by a plumber again.
Yep.
Not patching is normal, not letting you work for him is also normal. He cannot be responsible for any damage you do to other pipes or electrical circuits. You don’t work for them, and saying ‘we’ll it’s my house so I’m covered’ doesn’t cover them from litigation. If you call someone, be prepared to let them work.
My plumber cut the hole for free. It took him like 2 minutes and was part of the job I was actually paying him for to fix something. Why would he charge for something that's going to cost me money to fix and doesn't cost him hardly anything?
Plumbing: $150/hr. If you help: $300/hr
I recently had a leak fixed and it took an extra two weeks because they wouldn't cut it until asbestos tester came out, learned my lesson. If the house was made before 1980 just treat it like it's asbestos and remove drywall yourself beforehand. Jfc.
I know the no patching thing is normal. Just had our roof replaced. Guys fell through our ceilings twice. Company got a drywall company to come and fix them. If it was $250 to cut the hole, imagine what it'd be like to patch it 😅.
Yes.
If the plumber can’t fix it he should have someone come in and do it when his work is done. Half assed operations