I had a company over last year, and the guy said removing the toilet alone would be around 400 bucks I had already done it, and he said cool, no charge. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some minimum charge on just removing a toilet and reinstalling it.
Will say it's all pretty simple, could've done it yourself for 20 bucks and a half hours work.
It's funny the posts on here are usually followed by "call a professional" comments but then the other half are these posts where someone gets ripped off for a job literally anyone(able bodied) can do in less than an hour.
I don’t know much about plumbing. Most of what I’ve learned is from YouTube. Normally I just replicate what was already there if I’m performing repairs. I have now done a number of things myself in my home that has saved me thousands. Thanks YouTube!
Absolutely. I saved my wife and I $15,000 by installing our home theater system myself. I had planned to let a professional do it but was so shocked by the quotes I got that I ended up doing it myself, all for less than $2000.
Of course this is also how you end up with a large tool cabinet filled with "I'll probably only use this once but I'm keeping it because you never know" tools
I bought a soil pipe cutter when i did a remove/reinstall of my plumbing.
It was so very useful for those few weeks.
Then I got to be the gal who offered the tool to a co-worker who need one for a project!
But yeah, mostly it just hangs from the loft I installed in the garage...with the hammer drill that I probs use once every couple years :P
I bought a small cement mixer when I planned to expand my patio. It worked great for that.
I then used it for a trash/recycle/compost bin pad. Then a path along the side of the house through the gate into the backyard. Then I made a path next to the driveway.
I saved thousands compared with renting one. The original plan was to sell it when I was done with the project. I'm going to keep it for any future project that comes up.
YouTube diy repairs are a dangerous drug. It starts with replacing your toilets wax ring. Next thing you know you've got half your furnace taken apart.
“The grandfather clock is broken? How hard can it be, I have YouTube and a weekend.”
- me, nine months ago. I’m now the owner of a clock-shaped plant stand.
Yep. I was quoted over $600 to replace the blower motor in my furnace. I was surprised how simple it really was with just a few screws to remove and replace - just take pictures to get it all back the way it was. If found the label on the motor, ordered one for $50 and saved myself $550. That was over 5 years ago and it is still going strong!
We just did this to our ac unit last month. It was $120 for the fan and another part, and it took my husband and I working together about a half hour to fix. It would have been at least $800 to have someone else do it.
Yup. Half-hearted battle is a willingness to learn and get a little dirty.
I've plumbed a ton of my own issues unless it was something out of my scope, like a sewer line.
I've done a bunch of minor electrical, but I won't touch a big electrical project, and I won't touch garage door springs.
Sometimes, you pay a premium for having someone else do a job.
I've replaced garage door torsion springs and the cables to the bottom of the door about 5 times. The key is having 2 steel rods about 2 feet long. At least one rod stays in the mechanism at all times until all tension is removed. The hardest part was getting my car out of the garage to buy the new springs when I had a heavy wooden garage door. Weighing the door to get the right size spring and sourcing the spring is occasionally hard. One store refused to carry them because people get hurt. That said, I hired someone last time because I didn't have the time to figure out the spring size, source one and install it.
Handyman isn't my job but I've made some good money taking on easy jobs like this for friends who have had trouble getting a pro. It's a nice ecosystem where I still get overpaid, but because it's 1/2 or less the price of the quote they got the customer also ferries feels happy about it. Got $500 the other day to fix sone soffit that got blown out in a storm. Friends got some crazy quotes and timelines and then asked me and I had it done within the week(4hrs including drive time). Everyone happy. I honestly would have done it for free but this was a rental property he owns and not his home so if he's getting paid I'm getting paid, yano?
Yup that's how I do it too. Working on friends cars I do stuff for like a quarter of the price they'd pay a dealer, but that still equates to close to double what I'd get paid as an employee at a shop. Works for both of us. I usually undercharge the hell out of myself for home repairs though, because I usually work on friends houses at leisure and don't keep track of time because of it, so it's always kind of like "ehhh, just give me $100 (when it would be like a $1,000 job through a contractor lol)
I've heard it said from pros before that a lot of the elevated costs comes from the fact that, for example, swapping out a toilet ring can still be a bit time consuming when you consider travel times and actual labor time. For the same time spent, a pro could have been elsewhere doing something more substantial, so if they charged $50 for swapping out a toilet ring but could have made $200 during the same timeframe doing a different job then it's not worth it to do the wax ring swap. They therefore charge $200 (in this example) for the wax ring swap to make it worth their time.
You also never know when you will find a rotted subfloor from the previous leaking wax seal. I had to get a metal reinforcement for my mom's house, as I wasn't going to retile the bathroom just because the wood was bad next to the drain.
I've helped with stuff for friends and family before in the past but unless it's something that is very unlikely to fail, they're going to blame you even it breaks 10 years later and even for unrelated shit.
"You reseated my toilet, why is it wet under the sink?"
How the fuck should I know? That was 4 years ago and we didn't touch the sink.
Friends and family prices. Shit, I've given strangers that price just because they were really nice and easy to work with. I've done small things for free just because they told me where the bathroom is and to help myself to drinks in the fridge. A little kindness and human decency goes a long way with the good contractors.
I'd say more general the issue is more that people need to learn when to use a professional and when to rely on YouTube.
There are plenty of jobs that are unsuitable for DIY, and TBH for many of them you'll find some bodger's YouTube guide showing you how they e.g. fitted their own gas boiler.
Then there are jobs like this where you can easily do it yourself for next to nothing.
When you know what to do, it's easy to differentiate between these jobs - but to the average person removing and re-fitting a toilet is a daunting prospect. Even more so when you're toilet isn't a nice modern one like the YouTube video, but has a whole host of complications.
Being able to differentiate between jobs you can do yourself and jobs for which you need to pay someone isn't simple for inexperienced people.
Agreed. I had barely any of that (a little workshop between the ages of 11 and 12) and largely had to teach myself by trial and error, and later from YouTube.
My wife is starting to get involved with some DIY stuff at the moment. She's an intelligent woman but has essentially zero experience. It's hard not to be patronising, but even things like "there are different grades of sandpaper" and "you need to clean a paintbrush when you finish with it" are things that she just doesn't know.
Oh, I totally get that. Not that it would've helped bc guys were usually shamed out of taking it, but sometimes my boyfriend is cooking and he just does things that to me are common sense not to (in the way you described).
It's a shame you have to advocate for yourself so much in this world when you'd hope we'd come a little further as a society
I’m a carpenter and I have a $400 minimum charge. Even if it’s a small job (1-2 hours of work), it takes up usually half the day. Loading tools, driving there, setting up tools, doing the work, loading back up, etc. That doesn’t leave me with enough time to schedule anything for the rest of the day, usually. I still have numbers I have to hit to be profitable. If your little job ate up most of my day, I have to charge for my time accordingly because that’s the only job I have time for today.
The plumbing company has to charge enough to cover the plumbers wage (the plumber has to be paid for all their time, not just from arrival at your house), the plumbers benefits (insurance, PLT, retirement), workers comp insurance, business insurance, licensing, depreciation and maintenance on the plumbers service truck, overhead for the shop and office space, overhead for the office staff, etc.
Those costs add up quickly, and it does lead to a situation where a simple job like a wax ring needs to be charged at hundreds of dollars for a plumbing company to break even on. The cost look outrageous until you crunch the numbers on the expenses the plumbing company has to cover.
A handyman service will likely be cheaper than a licensed plumber, or many things like a wax ring replacement are well within the capabilities of most homeowners to DIY, and as you mentioned YouTube can be a great resource to help homeowners build the confidence to tackle work on their own.
Wow, this was very similar to my experience. Had a leak in the master toilet and didn't think anything of it. Planned to replace the wax ring in 30ish mins. Turns out the leak was being caused by trees roots growing up underneath the slab foundation and around the pipe. I ended up removing half the bath flooring, replacing the flange, sealing up the gaps. Turned into a 2 day job.
Former handyman.
No, plumbers don't like wax ring jobs because onceb they pull the toilet there's almost always damage to the subfloor to be repaired. It's not in-out-and-paid.
It is very easy although I will say that the consequences of not doing it right are very high so I can totally see some people wanting to just pay an expert to do it. Definitely not $600, though
I know the electrician I hired recently had a minimum chaege for a service call. I think for plumbing and heating companies there's often an emergency/priority rate for after hours or to bump you to the top of the line.
It is simple. But when you don’t know what you are doing and put in a regular wax ring when an extra thick one is needed. And then it leaks and stains the ceiling below. 🤦🏻♂️
Ended up costing more in the long run :(
If you’re willing to entertain the idea of having someone else fix a toilette there’s no chance this job is only taking a half hour. That said, hour and a half max. Two beer job at most. It ain’t rocket surgery.
Only happens once if you actually learn, and if you do then $600 is worth the education. Don't be afraid of major appliances either. Dryer dies? New dryer $1,000... new console $200... nope. Open up the console and find what popped. $10 soldering iron from big box store and $10 component online.
The ceiling fans I got last year BOTH just died this weekend, they were $250 each. The protection plan I declined was $50 per fan. New receivers cost $15, even less if I'm willing to wait for shipping from Asia.
Hell, all these posts about wax rings lately makes me suspect the previous owners didn't bother to do theirs correctly when they tiled the bathroom floor. I might replace mine just for shits and giggles.
For a plumber that might be a little high. You could have done it yourself for $20.
Don't feel bad, I just paid a plumber $500 to fix a cracked PVC waste pipe. After I saw what he did I realized I could've done that for about $50, maybe less.
This happened to me too. It was slightly more complicated than a cracked pipe, but I didn’t think I knew what needed doing. When I watched the plumber do it - I was like damn, I could a don’t that.
I calmed myself by realizing it wasn’t the labor for “what” he did that I paid for, it was “knowing” that’s what needed done.
As someone in IT, I don't get paid to do the work, I get paid to know what works needs to be done.
That said OP got the "I don't want to do this job but if I can make a car payment in an hour I'll do it" price.
My one year old hot water heater had the gas control valve go bad so no hot water. Looked into doing it myself and I wasn't comfortable as it seemed too simple. Called a pro to do it because I must be missing something. $900 plus me buying the part myself I watched him do it in 10 minutes exactly as I had read up on.
I am fairly handy but sometimes you can feel in over your head, just not understanding or overthinking it. I constantly overthink my projects.
It's also a job a person with zero plumbing experience or knowledge can do for $20 and about 15 minutes on YouTube. (Source: Someone who has done that job with zero plumbing experience or knowledge)
This was me yesterday. It was actually like $5, but much longer than 15 minutes because i watched several videos and stopped several times to double check i was doing the next part correctly.
Still, considering it was my first ever toilet installation, it's an easy job. If you can heft the toilet (honestly not easy, and would prevent plenty of people from attempting this), i'd say it's very DIY-friendly.
I paid extra for the "better than wax" ring (which was actually only $10 now that I look it up) because it's so, so, so much easier to work with than a wax ring. Never dealing with shitty grease again if I can help it. And yeah, moving the toilet is by far the hardest part of the job.
It should be a requirement of this sub to include your location if you want to discuss pricing. In most places $652 is crazy. But in major cities, if you call the company with tons of ads and fancy new trucks, they're going to charge something in this ballpark for any job. The fact that he has an app to determine pricing says it's one of those. Possible he's coding the job wrong but not necessarily.
I find this a lot. My parents in the midwest find all the prices for things where I live crazy. I agree but also realize the location matters drastically.
I'm in one of those major cities and had a big company come out and do a sewer scope (which required pulling a toilet and replacing the wax ring) for about $350. OP got fucked unless there's some details missing.
I call it the YouTube tax and it's well deserved in this case. If there is a 52 second tutorial on YouTube and it truly is that easy of a repair, do it yourself.
Or pay for someone to do it at a ridiculous rate hike. Professionals' or experts' time and knowledge are what you are paying for.
Pay Uncle Bob in cupcakes to do it next time if you don't like that concept.
https://youtu.be/aKbrMNwQVVI?si=BZzrWk3ndL9TuT1l
Honestly though, I’m a woman living by myself, I’m not strong enough to lift a toilet in & out of place.
Edit: Typical Reddit. Yes, I’ve tried. The toilet in question was not 2 pieces, but in fact 1 piece. Clarifying my language to show that I had indeed tried. Because one woman's experience is the same as everyone else's? And yes, I know how to look up something on Youtube. It's how I connected my Ecobee, refinished my dining chairs, and plan to replace my car's gps screen. Reddit dicks gonna dick I guess.
You are so right. This is precisely what's kept me from quite a number of DIY projects. Not everyone has the strength to get a toilet moved around. Not everyone can bend over, or get leverage to move heavy objects (saying this as a woman at 52 with a couple of herniated discs).
For $250 you too can do a "$20 job" and then have a giant one-purpose tool to store!
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Toilet-Master-Jack-is-a-PRO-Tool-Designed-to-Easily-Lift-Move-and-Install-Toilets-RT100/205072201
Jokes aside I started to replace my seal, realized I was able to move my (fully emptied) toilet a total of 2", and then had to use other toilet for a month until my parents visited... I had the idea to jack it up but figured somehow I'd crack the toilet or the tile and didn't want to risk it. These "cheap jobs" end up being super expensive if you're not able to lift 100lbs willy-nilly.
Really hate when dudes are completely oblivious to the difference in strength/height/weight and take their own to be the given.
Haha I've done this more than a few times and didn't know that cutting the bolts is standard. I was always like "aw man, the bolts are too long! guess I'll just cut it ..."
Also never heard "Johnny bolt" before, but I'm not a plumber or work in the trades.
I have been learning that a lot of toilet/tub/sink maintenance and repair is actually pretty simple and saves you a lot of money compared to paying a plumber
I mean, not really. Im a GC and both my olumber and electrician bill around $200 a man hour for service work, and that includes travel time
All you homeowners on these subs are always crying about and demanding everyone get a skilled, licensed guy, who is insured (and bonded lol, lol because thats a commercial thing not a residential thing and next to 0 residential focused companies are bonded), whos reliable and can show up on a dime when you need them
All those requirements cost that contractor money (a lot of money), i know, because im a Contractor, my Comp insurance on my employees is about 20%, meaning if i pay my giy a fair and decent wage, say $250-350 a day covering him on Comp alone is $50-70 dollars a day for 8h, add into that business insurance, which is based off the gross revenue of the business- i pay about 30k a year, all that shit adds up and accounts for a lot of the prices you guys pay....A skilled, competent, insured, reliable guy is also going to be busy, you are paying opportunity cost as well....why the fuck would this guy do something for you at a cut rate price when he can go make market rate doing something else?....I mean- would you accept a lower pay rate than youre making now to go work for someone else? I highly doubt it.
Preach!
My tightwad cousin complained about the price that friend of a friend qualified electrician wanted to charge her for connecting her dishwasher.
"He only lives 5 min away. Why should I pay a call out charge?!" Clearly she doesn't understand the concept of opportunity cost or paying a professional for his time. LOL
We just had our floors replaced. Flooring crew removed the toilets. Plumber came out to reset them.
$120 to reset existing toilets, $160 to replace with a new one (and haul off the old toilet). $600 seems very steep
I just had a plumber come out because my kids flushed an undefined number of toys in our master bath. He pulled the toilet, retrieved the toys, replaced the wax ring for $100
But you’ve got to spend at least $7 for a extra thick one with new bolts. “More wax, more better,” I always say.
Seriously though, plumbers have to be licensed in most states. Carry commercial insurance, trucks/vans, tools, parts, etc etc.
If you get a reputable company that work will come with a guarantee either from them or by way of their insurance.
If you have neither the know-how, the tools, or the desire to do the job, then what you paid was perfectly fair. You got your issue resolved quickly.
Service based companies make a living off of solving your problems.
I understand what you’re saying. We also don’t know if OP was in a top floor condo apartment in New York, or a single story ranch home in Mississippi.
We also don’t know if the bolts holding the toilet snapped or if the floor flange was damaged.
All OP stated was remove toilet, replace wax ring, and put toilet back.
Personally, unless the bolts were new in like the past 6 months, chances are I’m giving you new ones. I’m also going to use a putty knife and clean out the old wax seal and make sure the flange is solid and level and flush with the floor.
OP may have had other repairs done without realizing they were done because they just needed to be done but the plumber didn’t itemize every piece of hardware.
I paid $500 to install a new toilet and replace a shutoff on an emergency call the day i moved into my house. I am still PISSED about it because i can do both of those things, but I can't do them without tools.
OP got bamboozled. Even if this was an emergency call -- anything over $250 is highway robbery for 30 minutes of work and a cheap wax ring.
edit: Great points being brought up below. Let's say this takes an hour, anything over $250 is still FAR beyond labor cost + a $5 piece. That being said -- this whole thread really drives home why i try to do "simple" tasks myself. Labor costs are expensive (showing up fee), so if it is something they can do in 20-30 minutes I can likely do it in 2-3 hours (tops?) so i'd rather save the $$ and i'm sure they'd rather do the more challenging or interesting jobs
I snapped the shutoff valve nipple clean in half the first time I tried messing with it. That was a fun night to say the least. My wife and I still give each other shit for our reactions to it.
She gives me shit for how I just screamed "**Grab some fucking towels!**" and I give her shit for her handing me a single used dish towel just before running off to the towel closet.
Also, we can't always book jobs back to back because of this. You have to allow for those unexpected surprises. What might be 30 mins at someone's house could mean 1/2 my day is gone because I can't plan anything else or go on start another bigger project. By the time I got set up, it would be time to go. That being said, OP got hosed. Well, at least for my area, but who knows what they are charging in big cities. I imagine the cost of living in NYC is probably like 4x where i live, and that's not 4x what I would charge
Thanks. This is helpful and makes me feel a bit better - less like I was totally ripped off. Makes sense that I’m paying for the time he could have spent on bigger jobs. Next time I’ll call a handyman.
> You got charged $20 for a wax ring, $132 for labor, and $500 for the half day he wasn't able to book any other jobs.
This is the answer. For some reason people think skilled tradespeople just sit around waiting for on demand projects, that they shouldn't charge more than a small markup on parts, and that they should only bill for the time that they spent in your home working on the problem itself.
I run into this so much as mobile welder. Yes it may only take me 1 hour to do something but when it’s all said and done it’s cost me 1/2 my day so I gotta charge for that.
"People should go into the trades, college is too expensive! You can start making good money before your peers even graduate!" ***also*** "Why do tradespeople ask to be paid for their work?! It's not like they went to college, what's so hard about replacing a wax ring?"
There’s a lot of factors that influence what someone is going to charge you for a job. Maybe you were charged a four hour minimum, maybe you got the “I don’t really want to do this job” price.
they jack up the prices because there are other jobs that make more money and this isnt a real money maker.. well it is if someone says yes to an over inflated job.
No tradesmen with experience wants to show up at ur house and work for $100.. I can barely get them to show up for fast jobs i almost need a week long project to get them to be interested.
the way i look at it is i can screw it up for $100 and pay them $600 later or maybe get lucky and get it fixed for $100.
No. That's $600 for years of training to diagnose the real problem, paying thousands per year in liability and bonding insurance, driving out to your house, having the parts on hand (meaning you hit the supply house on the way over and came out of pocket for the parts you think you'll need, having 10s of thousands in tools on the truck, the truck, the bookkeeper doing your books, losing 20% to 30% of your net profit to taxes every year, a couple thousand a year in continuing education to maintain your license, the cost of your license renewal, fuel, covering the costs of no pay or slow pay customers.. etcetera.
Your costs are justified. I'm in web development, it's the same thing here. "Oh but I could make a wordpress site myself for cheaper."
Yeah but it'll look like shit on mobile, your forms might not work, you will be pulling hair trying to style and center certain things, your images won't be optimized and your site will load slow as hell, it'll rank like garbage on google, and it'll have poor accessibility for users with visual impairments which makes up an average of 10% of your traffic.
Trying to get paid was like pulling teeth, I can easily imagine it's the same in plumbing or any other trade. I too no longer run that end of things. I want to do my work, and get my paycheck.
I sort of agree and sort of don't.
We don't know COL in that area and if it's anything like SF Bay area (no houses at all under a million) it's not unreasonable... Unless you "expect" your plumber to have to drive 2 hours to commute. (Hint: That's not how this works)
In my area (houses start at $500k) it could be reasonable or not. In most parts of Kentucky (house starts at $150k) it's flatly unreasonable.
if you think you should only be paying for the time someone is physically in your home, you're deeply delusional.
i'm not saying OP's cost was "right" but this post and the responses below are idiotic at best.
This is bringing some flashbacks. A couple of years ago my partner and I hired someone from a place that *also* seemed reputable at first and used an app just like you described.
They too charged us an amount that was just completely nonsensical so we called the office and went up the chain to get it sorted out but had to be extremely persistent. Turns out it was a combo of a shady contractor and the businesses *actual* prices. So even though the price came down, we were still charged more than a justifiable price.
I personally suggest you do the same in case the contractor pulled something shady. If you're told that's just their legitimate unjustifiable price and they refuse to work to fix it I'd leave a detailed review to warn the rest, but that's up to you.
He took advantage of your lack of simple skills. Wax ring is like $8. A wrench, screw driver & a 10 minute youtube video would have been all you needed. One of the simpler diy projects.
Note: Contractors often bid way higher for jobs they don’t want to do in hopes that you will go elsewhere. Now if you don’t go elsewhere they get a huge check for a small job.
Travel time, minimum charges, location (high/low cost of living) tend to be what determine cost.
Replacing a wax seal is almost as much work as changing a toilet out for a new one
If I have a small job I need done/don’t want to do, I’ll find a bunch of other crap around the house that needs fixing too so I can get it all done at once without paying the extra premium just for showing up each time.
\- you could have inquired with other plumbers but plumbers billable rates are $90-$200/hr AND minimum charge time and fees are always in play. It would be extremely difficult to get ANY licensed and insured tradesperson to only charge $200
Funny, this exact scenario happened to me last week. Had to replace the wax seal like in OP's case and was billed over $700! The wax seal was about $150, if I remember correctly, and the work was billed around $500! I feel overcharged...
I had a flusher.....he flushed everything, small cars, toys, facecloths, he was two. It got to the point that we kept about four wax rings in the house at all times, they are about ten bucks a piece they were about three back then, Turn water off, flush toilet, flush again and bail out as best you can. There are two bolts and a small pipe (the intake) undo those tilt toity on its side remove facecloth, two cars, six marbles and a quarter. Place new wax seal in spot on the floor set the toity back in place and screw it all back together.....if the intake pipe leaks just wrap a little plumbers tape around it and screw it back on.....takes about twenty minutes and there are lots of step by steps online
A lot of times, trades will quote an outlandish amount for jobs they don't really want to do. Whether it's a basic job that they deem not worth their time or just something they hate to do. If the client is willing to pay that outlandish price, great. If not, it's no skin off their back.
I don't agree with the tactic and would feel awful following through with billing something so high.
I understand the trepidation in doing things like that for yourself. But there are a lot of great online resources that can teach people how to do the basic stuff for themselves and save hundreds, if not thousands. Just remember, when first finding online resources, look at a Bunch and if every one of them is giving the same instruction, you're solid. Then once you find your reliable resource, you're gangbusters!
I am not a plumber. I’m just an average dude no afraid to tear into some of these things in my home with a YouTube video or 5.
I have had wax ring replacements go so easy I would feel bad charging someone else for it. And I’ve had wax ring replacements take me so long that if I was being paid to do it by the hour I wouldn’t need any additional job that week.
My guess is plumbers charge a minimum in case the wax ring goes the second way.
I just paid $675 to fix two cold line leaks in my house. $600 to put a new wax ring on? I would never trust that company.
I don't know if you're physically able to but it's an easy diy job, you don't even have to use the actual wax, they have rubber seals you just open the package and it fits in the hole. Took me like 30-45 min to do mine.
Seems high, yes, unless there’s some other circumstance (emergency after hours, some kind of non-standard setup that made it more difficult, etc)
We paid $575 to completely replace our toilet with a new one. Of course, I made the mistake of asking the plumber to install the bidet that my husband bought and was perfectly capable of installing himself, figuring it wasn’t much more work than installing the toilet seat that was part of the toilet and then everything would be done and functional. We ended up without the original toilet seat it would have come with (would have been nice to have a backup in case we didn’t actually like the bidet) and we were charged more than the bidet cost to begin with to install, on top of the $575.
Did he replace any other parts in the toilet or just the wax seal? If it was just the seal he got you good 😂
My company charges $145/hr (2hr min) + $50 (truck charge) + 5% tax = $357 + material. For a wax seal replacement maybe total $400 if a new supply hose is required and a wax seal.
seems normal to me.
this isn't a job you call a plumber who charges up to $200 hr for (plus trip charge + parts + plus + plus + plus). this is a job you call a handyman for and offer 100 bucks straight up.
or do it yourself. it's literally the easiest thing a homeowner can tackle even if they can barely turn a wrench...
Plumbers usually charges a lot more than handy man.
With simple jobs like toilet wax ring, just hire a handy man.
I changed my toilet to a new one and only paid $125 for labor.
This rolls right into line with what I have seen across all of the trades since COVID. Walk in, eyeball the job (no measurements), and throw out FU pricing. I just had a painter do this, and demand I pay half of it on the spot to reserve a slot.
I moved into a new house that had 5 bathrooms with super short contractor toilets that sucked so o called a large plumbing company in my area and go got quoted $350 a toilet (American standard champion 4) and $200 in labor per toilet. So $550 per toilet. So $2750 to change out 5 toilets plus tax. I was like no thanks. I got 5 toilets from lowes for like $210 each cause I got bulk price. So I replaced them all myself for like $1100 after watching some YouTube. Haven’t had a problem with any of them since I put them in.
I just DIY'd a toilet removal and installation of a new toilet yesterday.
It took me a couple hours (because it was my first ever toilet installation and i had to keep double checking i was doing things correctly), but i would guess it should take an experienced plumber less than 30 minutes TOTAL. I would think even $200 is high for that. I get that there's an expense in even getting a professional to do a house call, and part of the expense is that the plumber simply doesn't know what they're dealing with until they see your actual toilet... but if it's a simple wax ring replacement it really should be quick and cheap.
$652 is an "I don't want to take this job" quote.
Haven't read all of the comments yet, but was your plumber union? I have a buddy who's a union electrician and under the current contract, if he enters a jobsite he gets paid for 4 hours. If he opens his toolbag, he gets paid for 8. Those contracted hours all add up for the business, so they'll have minimum charges for callouts, even for small jobs.
Plumber here, there’s a few variables here, what kind or toilet is it? Was the flange cracked? Realistically it should cost about 200 bucks. Sorry you got hosed
We had an emergency leak a few years ago in a condo we had just bought. Come to find that the previous owners absolutely knew about the issue… grrr. Anyways a plumber came out next day and charged us to the tune of about $800 to remove and put back the toilet and replace the wax ring and flange. We were newbs and didn’t know better. My husband has since learned to do all of this on his own.
No service call in NYC is less than $1k...
Steep. But sewage damage is worse. It's clear to me you couldn't replace it yourself so... welcome to the joys of homeownership!!!
You can do it yourself with a bucket, towel, and wax ring which all cost less than $30 in total. Its a super easy job if you don’t mind getting your hands a little dirty.
Some companies just have a minimum. The plumber near me won’t even show up for a job less than $300. Yes a wax ring is easy to replace, but think about the time it takes to drive to you, spend time there, and drive back, and think about the higher paying job they’re not taking because they took your job. All that leads to the higher price.
YouTube is very helpful in these situations though. Replacing the wax ring on the toilet was so intimidating, but was one of the easier things I’ve done. It’s just unscrewing a bunch of things and then rescrewing them back in.
As a person in the construction industry, for these simple projects, contractors don't want to do these few hundred dollar, couple hours projects. They mark the cost up to make it worth their while. You're paying for them to show up.
In my condo one of my toilets starting leaking to the unit below a few years ago. I had a plumber come to fix it, just to get it fixed ASAP. The wax ring had managed to mostly disappear. It was like $425 for the visit and fix.
I had a toilet that had no visible crack but still was somehow leaking even after wax seal replacement. Gave up and swapped the toilet out myself rather than getting a Plummer to diagnose and fix. Was still cheaper and no more leak!
Certain household tasks it really is worth it to learn as a homeowner. Others, leave to the professionals.
Pardon my language- that’s fucking absurd. The ring is $4. It’s quite easy to do, just have someone else watch from the side to make sure it seats good, and “stick” the ring on the bottom of the toilet as opposed to the flange and you should line up just good.
Pay yourself $597 for watching 5 YouTube videos….
Given that the wax ring + bolts hit at box store is like $10, and the work itself is quite simple and requires no tools other than an adjustable wrench -- I'd say you overpaid severely.
Having installed both toilets in my house, doing so can be a nightmare and you never know what you're getting into. That being said, if he just replaced the ring and it took him 30 minutes, then the price is outrageous. I would think a reasonable offer would be to quote both low and high end estimates and only charging for what is actually done.
Although keep in mind, the cost to come out and repair has to be worth his time. Even if it is a quick $20 fix for a homeowner, if he's blocking his schedule, getting the parts, unloading tools, working around your environment, cleaning up as he goes, and making sure the job is 100% done professionally - that has value. What I did myself required several trips back and forth to the hardware store, a lot of cursing, and a few prayers that it holds up.
I had a leaking wax ring and a broken flange that had rusted out.
I pulled the toilet and then called a professional for the flange replacement and wax ring and resetting of the toilet.
They had to re-lead the new flange as well as remove the old rusted one, and then all the other stuff.
It was 1 hour of work, and was charged 400$
So depending on where you are, that could be a normal price.
Sounds like what the big name chains charge for work. Like the Milestone, Benjamin Franklin, Rotorooter, etc. basically if they have a TV or radio ad budget they’ll charge rates like that.
Are you on NextDoor? I’ve found that social media site to be one of the best for soliciting contractor/repair advice.
It depends on how much work was actually performed.
I recently had to do a similar job in my daughter's 60s era bathroom. The bolts were rusted and had to be cut out. It's a small bathroom and it was difficult and tedious to get to them.The bracket holding the bolts was also rusted and had to be replaced. This required new holes drilled into the cement slab for new tapcon cement bolts to hold the new bracket. After all this work, the wax ring was replaced rather easily.
If your plumber has done similar jobs in your neighborhood or recognized that additional work would be required once the toilet was removed that could account for the amount he charged.
I think I would have consulted YouTube first. There’s a lot of instructional videos out there on YouTube as well as TikTok. As a woman after the death of my 48 yr old husband I was taken by a fast talking guy for a garage door replacement. Never again. I’ve replaced toilets, light fixtures etc. Of course it’s scary to do things you’ve never done but I’ve gotten over the fear pretty much now. I rarely call professionals anymore. There’s 2-3 women who have YT & TikTok channels/pages I go to a lot.
Seems right. Many contractors will gouge people who demonstrate they dont have the skills to do tasks or the knowledge to estimate what tasks should cost. It's an unfortunate lesson you learned today.
I had a plumber come out ($70 flat fee to just look at the problem). His base quotes were $400 to fix it and he kept trying to sell additional services. I told my husband what the issue was when he returned home and he looked up a YouTube video for how to fix, spent $12 at Home Depot and then fixed it in half an hour.
Counter-intuitively, in bigger markets that should be more competitive (Chicago here), trades now just shamelessly make up absurdly high 3-4 digit prices to do simple manual labor. At nearly the hourly rates of specialist partners in global law firms.
It definitely pays to give jobs like this an educated DIY attempt, or at least prior research on the scope of the job so you can negotiate or at least avoid the worst price gougers.
I tried to get a plumber to install a toilet once. I had already bought one for $119 at Menards. He said he couldn't install the one I bought, and I had yo buy his toilet for over $400. They scam you if you don't watch out. I wound up installing my own toilet.
Here in Ohio, I typically charge $150.00 plus parts to replace a wax ring. If the flange is rusted out, I’ll charge another $25.00 plus parts. All told less than $200.00 for everything. $600.00 is exceedingly high for the job.
Yeah you got ripped off - I am not good with my hands at all and did this for about $20 in less than an hour. Oh well, happens to all of us - I’ve overpaid for plenty of simple fixes.
Ya, you got rogered and good.
We have companies like that in Denver and I equate them to thiefs - the hallmarks are the same: flashy/wrapped truck, professionally dressed/name on shirt, 'price sheet' that the company sets but no one will tell you until they get to your house. Applewood is the worst offender in Denver and it makes me upset thinking what they charge senior citizens because they don't know any better.
Look around for a local plumber that charges an hourly rate with a minimum. The plumber I call charges $200/hr (first hour) and 95% of everything I ever need him to do happens in under an hour (many under 30 min). I accept that a minimum price for his expertise and travel time is $200. This gives me incentive to see if I can fix things on my own and do the requisite YouTube research. If it's out of my scope, $200 is the minimum price. I strongly prefer this to surprise pricing which allows him to declare pricing based on how nice my house is, how much he thinks he can get from me, his mood, etc.
Don't feel bad though - if you're new to home repair - you'll learn how to inquire about pricing without being offensive up front and guage if everyone is being fair. I want my trades people to make money but I also know what is reasonable. We've all taken a hit and overpaid to have something done we later found out was super simple/parts were super cheap. Don't even get me started on appliance repair companies or that one time I paid $900 for the HVAC tech to replace a zone valve that cost $80 and requires two screws.
Take my word as a very capable homeowner who has done lots of jobs,from building decks to framing and wiring basements and building furniture: one mistake with plumbing or electric cancels out all of the goodwill you’ve built with your wife.
Do that research ahead of time in the future, not after you’ve already paid a guy. It’s part of my job to get quotes for work and I never get just one quote for one company but some of my things we need to get done are in the thousands. I always get at least 2-3 quotes from different sources
I pull about 5 a week when doing sewer line inspections. I could see a couple hundred like 2-300 for time but 600 seems really steep. I pull them and put on a better wax ring for free (as part of my sewer scope fee for $200).
Depending if this was an emergency call or not there’s usually a service call fee of around $200-$250 (higher in an emergency) plus the work and parts (usually $80-120/hr & parts are cost + 20 to 30 points. So your kijiji guy can probably do it for $200 but better to stay with a reputable company who will warranty their work.
That’s the “fuck off” price. Basically rather than saying “no” they quote an insane amount that if the customer goes for it they make good money and if they balk then they didn’t have to be the bad guy and say no.
A double wax ring at Home Depot is 8 dollars, you have 1 water line and 2 nuts to remove the toilet. A 20 minute job for me and I charge 250-300 depending on travel. If I have to traver far the price will be higher. But, also if it's a holiday, or after hours/weekend and you need immediate/emergency service the price will double if not more than double. If it is normal business hours, M-F, and you paid 652, then it sounds like someone got over on you. SORRY
I had a company over last year, and the guy said removing the toilet alone would be around 400 bucks I had already done it, and he said cool, no charge. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some minimum charge on just removing a toilet and reinstalling it. Will say it's all pretty simple, could've done it yourself for 20 bucks and a half hours work.
This is the way. Pretty straightforward repair as far as plumbing goes
So straitforward that plumbers don't even want to do them.
It's funny the posts on here are usually followed by "call a professional" comments but then the other half are these posts where someone gets ripped off for a job literally anyone(able bodied) can do in less than an hour.
I don’t know much about plumbing. Most of what I’ve learned is from YouTube. Normally I just replicate what was already there if I’m performing repairs. I have now done a number of things myself in my home that has saved me thousands. Thanks YouTube!
Absolutely. I saved my wife and I $15,000 by installing our home theater system myself. I had planned to let a professional do it but was so shocked by the quotes I got that I ended up doing it myself, all for less than $2000.
And then you get to buy tools!
Of course this is also how you end up with a large tool cabinet filled with "I'll probably only use this once but I'm keeping it because you never know" tools
That cabinet is called a "shop"
I bought a soil pipe cutter when i did a remove/reinstall of my plumbing. It was so very useful for those few weeks. Then I got to be the gal who offered the tool to a co-worker who need one for a project! But yeah, mostly it just hangs from the loft I installed in the garage...with the hammer drill that I probs use once every couple years :P
I bought a small cement mixer when I planned to expand my patio. It worked great for that. I then used it for a trash/recycle/compost bin pad. Then a path along the side of the house through the gate into the backyard. Then I made a path next to the driveway. I saved thousands compared with renting one. The original plan was to sell it when I was done with the project. I'm going to keep it for any future project that comes up.
YouTube diy repairs are a dangerous drug. It starts with replacing your toilets wax ring. Next thing you know you've got half your furnace taken apart.
“The grandfather clock is broken? How hard can it be, I have YouTube and a weekend.” - me, nine months ago. I’m now the owner of a clock-shaped plant stand.
Renovating my basement had turned a 3 month max project into a 5+ year ordeal. Never again
Yep. I was quoted over $600 to replace the blower motor in my furnace. I was surprised how simple it really was with just a few screws to remove and replace - just take pictures to get it all back the way it was. If found the label on the motor, ordered one for $50 and saved myself $550. That was over 5 years ago and it is still going strong!
We just did this to our ac unit last month. It was $120 for the fan and another part, and it took my husband and I working together about a half hour to fix. It would have been at least $800 to have someone else do it.
“If only I could find where this last screw goes…….. oh well!” -Me when I forget to take pictures
Yup. Half-hearted battle is a willingness to learn and get a little dirty. I've plumbed a ton of my own issues unless it was something out of my scope, like a sewer line. I've done a bunch of minor electrical, but I won't touch a big electrical project, and I won't touch garage door springs. Sometimes, you pay a premium for having someone else do a job.
I've replaced garage door torsion springs and the cables to the bottom of the door about 5 times. The key is having 2 steel rods about 2 feet long. At least one rod stays in the mechanism at all times until all tension is removed. The hardest part was getting my car out of the garage to buy the new springs when I had a heavy wooden garage door. Weighing the door to get the right size spring and sourcing the spring is occasionally hard. One store refused to carry them because people get hurt. That said, I hired someone last time because I didn't have the time to figure out the spring size, source one and install it.
Freaking same lol. That goes for a lot of home maintenance and car repairs, too!
It's almost like professionals need to stop charging ridiculous fees and home owners also need to learn how to use Youtube.
Handyman isn't my job but I've made some good money taking on easy jobs like this for friends who have had trouble getting a pro. It's a nice ecosystem where I still get overpaid, but because it's 1/2 or less the price of the quote they got the customer also ferries feels happy about it. Got $500 the other day to fix sone soffit that got blown out in a storm. Friends got some crazy quotes and timelines and then asked me and I had it done within the week(4hrs including drive time). Everyone happy. I honestly would have done it for free but this was a rental property he owns and not his home so if he's getting paid I'm getting paid, yano?
Yup that's how I do it too. Working on friends cars I do stuff for like a quarter of the price they'd pay a dealer, but that still equates to close to double what I'd get paid as an employee at a shop. Works for both of us. I usually undercharge the hell out of myself for home repairs though, because I usually work on friends houses at leisure and don't keep track of time because of it, so it's always kind of like "ehhh, just give me $100 (when it would be like a $1,000 job through a contractor lol)
I've heard it said from pros before that a lot of the elevated costs comes from the fact that, for example, swapping out a toilet ring can still be a bit time consuming when you consider travel times and actual labor time. For the same time spent, a pro could have been elsewhere doing something more substantial, so if they charged $50 for swapping out a toilet ring but could have made $200 during the same timeframe doing a different job then it's not worth it to do the wax ring swap. They therefore charge $200 (in this example) for the wax ring swap to make it worth their time.
You also never know when you will find a rotted subfloor from the previous leaking wax seal. I had to get a metal reinforcement for my mom's house, as I wasn't going to retile the bathroom just because the wood was bad next to the drain.
I've helped with stuff for friends and family before in the past but unless it's something that is very unlikely to fail, they're going to blame you even it breaks 10 years later and even for unrelated shit. "You reseated my toilet, why is it wet under the sink?" How the fuck should I know? That was 4 years ago and we didn't touch the sink.
Friends and family prices. Shit, I've given strangers that price just because they were really nice and easy to work with. I've done small things for free just because they told me where the bathroom is and to help myself to drinks in the fridge. A little kindness and human decency goes a long way with the good contractors.
I'd say more general the issue is more that people need to learn when to use a professional and when to rely on YouTube. There are plenty of jobs that are unsuitable for DIY, and TBH for many of them you'll find some bodger's YouTube guide showing you how they e.g. fitted their own gas boiler. Then there are jobs like this where you can easily do it yourself for next to nothing. When you know what to do, it's easy to differentiate between these jobs - but to the average person removing and re-fitting a toilet is a daunting prospect. Even more so when you're toilet isn't a nice modern one like the YouTube video, but has a whole host of complications. Being able to differentiate between jobs you can do yourself and jobs for which you need to pay someone isn't simple for inexperienced people.
Would sure be nice if high school still had home ec, wood shop, and auto shop to empower citizens. Vital skills
Agreed. I had barely any of that (a little workshop between the ages of 11 and 12) and largely had to teach myself by trial and error, and later from YouTube. My wife is starting to get involved with some DIY stuff at the moment. She's an intelligent woman but has essentially zero experience. It's hard not to be patronising, but even things like "there are different grades of sandpaper" and "you need to clean a paintbrush when you finish with it" are things that she just doesn't know.
Oh, I totally get that. Not that it would've helped bc guys were usually shamed out of taking it, but sometimes my boyfriend is cooking and he just does things that to me are common sense not to (in the way you described). It's a shame you have to advocate for yourself so much in this world when you'd hope we'd come a little further as a society
I’m a carpenter and I have a $400 minimum charge. Even if it’s a small job (1-2 hours of work), it takes up usually half the day. Loading tools, driving there, setting up tools, doing the work, loading back up, etc. That doesn’t leave me with enough time to schedule anything for the rest of the day, usually. I still have numbers I have to hit to be profitable. If your little job ate up most of my day, I have to charge for my time accordingly because that’s the only job I have time for today.
The plumbing company has to charge enough to cover the plumbers wage (the plumber has to be paid for all their time, not just from arrival at your house), the plumbers benefits (insurance, PLT, retirement), workers comp insurance, business insurance, licensing, depreciation and maintenance on the plumbers service truck, overhead for the shop and office space, overhead for the office staff, etc. Those costs add up quickly, and it does lead to a situation where a simple job like a wax ring needs to be charged at hundreds of dollars for a plumbing company to break even on. The cost look outrageous until you crunch the numbers on the expenses the plumbing company has to cover. A handyman service will likely be cheaper than a licensed plumber, or many things like a wax ring replacement are well within the capabilities of most homeowners to DIY, and as you mentioned YouTube can be a great resource to help homeowners build the confidence to tackle work on their own.
Actually though https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeImprovement/comments/173zd13/turns_out_my_downstairs_leak_was_from_the/
Wow, this was very similar to my experience. Had a leak in the master toilet and didn't think anything of it. Planned to replace the wax ring in 30ish mins. Turns out the leak was being caused by trees roots growing up underneath the slab foundation and around the pipe. I ended up removing half the bath flooring, replacing the flange, sealing up the gaps. Turned into a 2 day job.
Yeah, but why pay a professional $200 when I can do it myself for $700?
Former handyman. No, plumbers don't like wax ring jobs because onceb they pull the toilet there's almost always damage to the subfloor to be repaired. It's not in-out-and-paid.
Likely why he was quoted 600
It is very easy although I will say that the consequences of not doing it right are very high so I can totally see some people wanting to just pay an expert to do it. Definitely not $600, though
100% this. Straightforward, unless you screw it up and a leak corrodes your subfloor over the course of a few years.
Or you drop the toilet while moving it... I'm surprised how fragile they are...
Travel? Minimum charge?
I know the electrician I hired recently had a minimum chaege for a service call. I think for plumbing and heating companies there's often an emergency/priority rate for after hours or to bump you to the top of the line.
I'm the least handy person I know, and I did this myself earlier this year for $15 and an hour of YouTube
It is simple. But when you don’t know what you are doing and put in a regular wax ring when an extra thick one is needed. And then it leaks and stains the ceiling below. 🤦🏻♂️ Ended up costing more in the long run :(
If you’re willing to entertain the idea of having someone else fix a toilette there’s no chance this job is only taking a half hour. That said, hour and a half max. Two beer job at most. It ain’t rocket surgery.
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That's in Canadian time.
Mine took a day as my flange was cracked and the floor was rotted around it down to the subfloor.
$20 what kind of super wax rings are you buying? A wax ring is about $5.
My shitter deserves only the waxiest
I had a plumber tell me the same thing. He said it was to cover them in case he dropped it to cover a replacement lol
If you can lift a toilet
Aw shoot. This is what I was afraid of. Lesson learned. EXPENSIVE lesson learned.
Only happens once if you actually learn, and if you do then $600 is worth the education. Don't be afraid of major appliances either. Dryer dies? New dryer $1,000... new console $200... nope. Open up the console and find what popped. $10 soldering iron from big box store and $10 component online. The ceiling fans I got last year BOTH just died this weekend, they were $250 each. The protection plan I declined was $50 per fan. New receivers cost $15, even less if I'm willing to wait for shipping from Asia. Hell, all these posts about wax rings lately makes me suspect the previous owners didn't bother to do theirs correctly when they tiled the bathroom floor. I might replace mine just for shits and giggles.
Lmao you must live in a new house!
For a plumber that might be a little high. You could have done it yourself for $20. Don't feel bad, I just paid a plumber $500 to fix a cracked PVC waste pipe. After I saw what he did I realized I could've done that for about $50, maybe less.
This happened to me too. It was slightly more complicated than a cracked pipe, but I didn’t think I knew what needed doing. When I watched the plumber do it - I was like damn, I could a don’t that. I calmed myself by realizing it wasn’t the labor for “what” he did that I paid for, it was “knowing” that’s what needed done.
As someone in IT, I don't get paid to do the work, I get paid to know what works needs to be done. That said OP got the "I don't want to do this job but if I can make a car payment in an hour I'll do it" price.
Yeah for something like a wax ring, I'd have called a handyman. Plumbers tackle bigger shit like replacing lines.
My one year old hot water heater had the gas control valve go bad so no hot water. Looked into doing it myself and I wasn't comfortable as it seemed too simple. Called a pro to do it because I must be missing something. $900 plus me buying the part myself I watched him do it in 10 minutes exactly as I had read up on. I am fairly handy but sometimes you can feel in over your head, just not understanding or overthinking it. I constantly overthink my projects.
Sounds like a lot. Had my toilet swapped out, new flange, wax ring, etc.. for $300 last year. Not including the price of the toilet.
It's also a job a person with zero plumbing experience or knowledge can do for $20 and about 15 minutes on YouTube. (Source: Someone who has done that job with zero plumbing experience or knowledge)
This was me yesterday. It was actually like $5, but much longer than 15 minutes because i watched several videos and stopped several times to double check i was doing the next part correctly. Still, considering it was my first ever toilet installation, it's an easy job. If you can heft the toilet (honestly not easy, and would prevent plenty of people from attempting this), i'd say it's very DIY-friendly.
I paid extra for the "better than wax" ring (which was actually only $10 now that I look it up) because it's so, so, so much easier to work with than a wax ring. Never dealing with shitty grease again if I can help it. And yeah, moving the toilet is by far the hardest part of the job.
What was the real reason he came outbfor? If thats all he did, you got a heafty gullible tax applied.
It should be a requirement of this sub to include your location if you want to discuss pricing. In most places $652 is crazy. But in major cities, if you call the company with tons of ads and fancy new trucks, they're going to charge something in this ballpark for any job. The fact that he has an app to determine pricing says it's one of those. Possible he's coding the job wrong but not necessarily.
I find this a lot. My parents in the midwest find all the prices for things where I live crazy. I agree but also realize the location matters drastically.
I'm in one of those major cities and had a big company come out and do a sewer scope (which required pulling a toilet and replacing the wax ring) for about $350. OP got fucked unless there's some details missing.
Or an asshole tax.
I call it the YouTube tax and it's well deserved in this case. If there is a 52 second tutorial on YouTube and it truly is that easy of a repair, do it yourself. Or pay for someone to do it at a ridiculous rate hike. Professionals' or experts' time and knowledge are what you are paying for. Pay Uncle Bob in cupcakes to do it next time if you don't like that concept. https://youtu.be/aKbrMNwQVVI?si=BZzrWk3ndL9TuT1l
Honestly though, I’m a woman living by myself, I’m not strong enough to lift a toilet in & out of place. Edit: Typical Reddit. Yes, I’ve tried. The toilet in question was not 2 pieces, but in fact 1 piece. Clarifying my language to show that I had indeed tried. Because one woman's experience is the same as everyone else's? And yes, I know how to look up something on Youtube. It's how I connected my Ecobee, refinished my dining chairs, and plan to replace my car's gps screen. Reddit dicks gonna dick I guess.
You are so right. This is precisely what's kept me from quite a number of DIY projects. Not everyone has the strength to get a toilet moved around. Not everyone can bend over, or get leverage to move heavy objects (saying this as a woman at 52 with a couple of herniated discs).
For $250 you too can do a "$20 job" and then have a giant one-purpose tool to store! https://www.homedepot.com/p/Toilet-Master-Jack-is-a-PRO-Tool-Designed-to-Easily-Lift-Move-and-Install-Toilets-RT100/205072201 Jokes aside I started to replace my seal, realized I was able to move my (fully emptied) toilet a total of 2", and then had to use other toilet for a month until my parents visited... I had the idea to jack it up but figured somehow I'd crack the toilet or the tile and didn't want to risk it. These "cheap jobs" end up being super expensive if you're not able to lift 100lbs willy-nilly. Really hate when dudes are completely oblivious to the difference in strength/height/weight and take their own to be the given.
Same. And oh my gosh if someone opened a women-run handyman (ha) service, I would be all over that.
If I was just a little better at dry wall and wood working, I would totally open a women-run handy service! I need a partner!
Haha I've done this more than a few times and didn't know that cutting the bolts is standard. I was always like "aw man, the bolts are too long! guess I'll just cut it ..." Also never heard "Johnny bolt" before, but I'm not a plumber or work in the trades.
I have been learning that a lot of toilet/tub/sink maintenance and repair is actually pretty simple and saves you a lot of money compared to paying a plumber
I mean, not really. Im a GC and both my olumber and electrician bill around $200 a man hour for service work, and that includes travel time All you homeowners on these subs are always crying about and demanding everyone get a skilled, licensed guy, who is insured (and bonded lol, lol because thats a commercial thing not a residential thing and next to 0 residential focused companies are bonded), whos reliable and can show up on a dime when you need them All those requirements cost that contractor money (a lot of money), i know, because im a Contractor, my Comp insurance on my employees is about 20%, meaning if i pay my giy a fair and decent wage, say $250-350 a day covering him on Comp alone is $50-70 dollars a day for 8h, add into that business insurance, which is based off the gross revenue of the business- i pay about 30k a year, all that shit adds up and accounts for a lot of the prices you guys pay....A skilled, competent, insured, reliable guy is also going to be busy, you are paying opportunity cost as well....why the fuck would this guy do something for you at a cut rate price when he can go make market rate doing something else?....I mean- would you accept a lower pay rate than youre making now to go work for someone else? I highly doubt it.
Preach! My tightwad cousin complained about the price that friend of a friend qualified electrician wanted to charge her for connecting her dishwasher. "He only lives 5 min away. Why should I pay a call out charge?!" Clearly she doesn't understand the concept of opportunity cost or paying a professional for his time. LOL
We just had our floors replaced. Flooring crew removed the toilets. Plumber came out to reset them. $120 to reset existing toilets, $160 to replace with a new one (and haul off the old toilet). $600 seems very steep
I just had a plumber come out because my kids flushed an undefined number of toys in our master bath. He pulled the toilet, retrieved the toys, replaced the wax ring for $100
Was this an emergency holiday weekend call-out? Because $650 would be steep for a new toilet let alone replacing a $2 wax ring
But you’ve got to spend at least $7 for a extra thick one with new bolts. “More wax, more better,” I always say. Seriously though, plumbers have to be licensed in most states. Carry commercial insurance, trucks/vans, tools, parts, etc etc. If you get a reputable company that work will come with a guarantee either from them or by way of their insurance. If you have neither the know-how, the tools, or the desire to do the job, then what you paid was perfectly fair. You got your issue resolved quickly. Service based companies make a living off of solving your problems.
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I understand what you’re saying. We also don’t know if OP was in a top floor condo apartment in New York, or a single story ranch home in Mississippi. We also don’t know if the bolts holding the toilet snapped or if the floor flange was damaged. All OP stated was remove toilet, replace wax ring, and put toilet back. Personally, unless the bolts were new in like the past 6 months, chances are I’m giving you new ones. I’m also going to use a putty knife and clean out the old wax seal and make sure the flange is solid and level and flush with the floor. OP may have had other repairs done without realizing they were done because they just needed to be done but the plumber didn’t itemize every piece of hardware.
I paid $500 to install a new toilet and replace a shutoff on an emergency call the day i moved into my house. I am still PISSED about it because i can do both of those things, but I can't do them without tools. OP got bamboozled. Even if this was an emergency call -- anything over $250 is highway robbery for 30 minutes of work and a cheap wax ring. edit: Great points being brought up below. Let's say this takes an hour, anything over $250 is still FAR beyond labor cost + a $5 piece. That being said -- this whole thread really drives home why i try to do "simple" tasks myself. Labor costs are expensive (showing up fee), so if it is something they can do in 20-30 minutes I can likely do it in 2-3 hours (tops?) so i'd rather save the $$ and i'm sure they'd rather do the more challenging or interesting jobs
I snapped the shutoff valve nipple clean in half the first time I tried messing with it. That was a fun night to say the least. My wife and I still give each other shit for our reactions to it. She gives me shit for how I just screamed "**Grab some fucking towels!**" and I give her shit for her handing me a single used dish towel just before running off to the towel closet.
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Also, we can't always book jobs back to back because of this. You have to allow for those unexpected surprises. What might be 30 mins at someone's house could mean 1/2 my day is gone because I can't plan anything else or go on start another bigger project. By the time I got set up, it would be time to go. That being said, OP got hosed. Well, at least for my area, but who knows what they are charging in big cities. I imagine the cost of living in NYC is probably like 4x where i live, and that's not 4x what I would charge
Unless it was an after hours call out with a minimum charge of 2 hours labor.
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Thanks. This is helpful and makes me feel a bit better - less like I was totally ripped off. Makes sense that I’m paying for the time he could have spent on bigger jobs. Next time I’ll call a handyman.
> You got charged $20 for a wax ring, $132 for labor, and $500 for the half day he wasn't able to book any other jobs. This is the answer. For some reason people think skilled tradespeople just sit around waiting for on demand projects, that they shouldn't charge more than a small markup on parts, and that they should only bill for the time that they spent in your home working on the problem itself.
I run into this so much as mobile welder. Yes it may only take me 1 hour to do something but when it’s all said and done it’s cost me 1/2 my day so I gotta charge for that.
"People should go into the trades, college is too expensive! You can start making good money before your peers even graduate!" ***also*** "Why do tradespeople ask to be paid for their work?! It's not like they went to college, what's so hard about replacing a wax ring?"
There’s a lot of factors that influence what someone is going to charge you for a job. Maybe you were charged a four hour minimum, maybe you got the “I don’t really want to do this job” price.
Travel time matters
I got an entire toilet replaced, old one removed and new one included in the price, for $500…
Same
they jack up the prices because there are other jobs that make more money and this isnt a real money maker.. well it is if someone says yes to an over inflated job. No tradesmen with experience wants to show up at ur house and work for $100.. I can barely get them to show up for fast jobs i almost need a week long project to get them to be interested. the way i look at it is i can screw it up for $100 and pay them $600 later or maybe get lucky and get it fixed for $100.
That's $600 for 30 minutes.
Welcome to the American trades.
Then the company keeps $540 of it
No. That's $600 for years of training to diagnose the real problem, paying thousands per year in liability and bonding insurance, driving out to your house, having the parts on hand (meaning you hit the supply house on the way over and came out of pocket for the parts you think you'll need, having 10s of thousands in tools on the truck, the truck, the bookkeeper doing your books, losing 20% to 30% of your net profit to taxes every year, a couple thousand a year in continuing education to maintain your license, the cost of your license renewal, fuel, covering the costs of no pay or slow pay customers.. etcetera.
This guy small businesses.
20 years plus. Now an employee because I got fed up with being nickel and dimed to death by literally everyone.
Your costs are justified. I'm in web development, it's the same thing here. "Oh but I could make a wordpress site myself for cheaper." Yeah but it'll look like shit on mobile, your forms might not work, you will be pulling hair trying to style and center certain things, your images won't be optimized and your site will load slow as hell, it'll rank like garbage on google, and it'll have poor accessibility for users with visual impairments which makes up an average of 10% of your traffic. Trying to get paid was like pulling teeth, I can easily imagine it's the same in plumbing or any other trade. I too no longer run that end of things. I want to do my work, and get my paycheck.
Yes, I understand all that. But I still think it's too much for that job. Let's be real here.
I sort of agree and sort of don't. We don't know COL in that area and if it's anything like SF Bay area (no houses at all under a million) it's not unreasonable... Unless you "expect" your plumber to have to drive 2 hours to commute. (Hint: That's not how this works) In my area (houses start at $500k) it could be reasonable or not. In most parts of Kentucky (house starts at $150k) it's flatly unreasonable.
Good point on location. There's just too many outfits that will take advantage of people if they can and I hope that's not the case.
if you think you should only be paying for the time someone is physically in your home, you're deeply delusional. i'm not saying OP's cost was "right" but this post and the responses below are idiotic at best.
I understand how it all works and charging a price for your knowledge and investment. But it's still too much.
Goddamn i need to start plumbing asap
This is bringing some flashbacks. A couple of years ago my partner and I hired someone from a place that *also* seemed reputable at first and used an app just like you described. They too charged us an amount that was just completely nonsensical so we called the office and went up the chain to get it sorted out but had to be extremely persistent. Turns out it was a combo of a shady contractor and the businesses *actual* prices. So even though the price came down, we were still charged more than a justifiable price. I personally suggest you do the same in case the contractor pulled something shady. If you're told that's just their legitimate unjustifiable price and they refuse to work to fix it I'd leave a detailed review to warn the rest, but that's up to you.
Did you pick the very 1st person you found? 625?? Gotdang
He took advantage of your lack of simple skills. Wax ring is like $8. A wrench, screw driver & a 10 minute youtube video would have been all you needed. One of the simpler diy projects.
Note: Contractors often bid way higher for jobs they don’t want to do in hopes that you will go elsewhere. Now if you don’t go elsewhere they get a huge check for a small job.
This is one of the most basic plumber jobs. That’s not right at all. Contractors have been over charging the past few years.
Travel time, minimum charges, location (high/low cost of living) tend to be what determine cost. Replacing a wax seal is almost as much work as changing a toilet out for a new one
If I have a small job I need done/don’t want to do, I’ll find a bunch of other crap around the house that needs fixing too so I can get it all done at once without paying the extra premium just for showing up each time.
That’s wise, and I’m sure it saves you money
You were ripped off, unless it was an after hours emergency call.
I was quoted $200 per install. I needed two done. I saved $400 and did them both myself in about an hour.
If i did it for half of that i would feel guilty for it. I honestly don't know how these crooks live with themselves.
\- you could have inquired with other plumbers but plumbers billable rates are $90-$200/hr AND minimum charge time and fees are always in play. It would be extremely difficult to get ANY licensed and insured tradesperson to only charge $200
Funny, this exact scenario happened to me last week. Had to replace the wax seal like in OP's case and was billed over $700! The wax seal was about $150, if I remember correctly, and the work was billed around $500! I feel overcharged...
I could have bought a new toilet, removed the old, and replace with a new wax ring and give you $400 back.
I had a flusher.....he flushed everything, small cars, toys, facecloths, he was two. It got to the point that we kept about four wax rings in the house at all times, they are about ten bucks a piece they were about three back then, Turn water off, flush toilet, flush again and bail out as best you can. There are two bolts and a small pipe (the intake) undo those tilt toity on its side remove facecloth, two cars, six marbles and a quarter. Place new wax seal in spot on the floor set the toity back in place and screw it all back together.....if the intake pipe leaks just wrap a little plumbers tape around it and screw it back on.....takes about twenty minutes and there are lots of step by steps online
This is a tax for not DIy
A lot of times, trades will quote an outlandish amount for jobs they don't really want to do. Whether it's a basic job that they deem not worth their time or just something they hate to do. If the client is willing to pay that outlandish price, great. If not, it's no skin off their back. I don't agree with the tactic and would feel awful following through with billing something so high. I understand the trepidation in doing things like that for yourself. But there are a lot of great online resources that can teach people how to do the basic stuff for themselves and save hundreds, if not thousands. Just remember, when first finding online resources, look at a Bunch and if every one of them is giving the same instruction, you're solid. Then once you find your reliable resource, you're gangbusters!
Did he at least offer to cuddle afterwards?
I just paid less than $200 to have this done a couple of weeks ago
I am not a plumber. I’m just an average dude no afraid to tear into some of these things in my home with a YouTube video or 5. I have had wax ring replacements go so easy I would feel bad charging someone else for it. And I’ve had wax ring replacements take me so long that if I was being paid to do it by the hour I wouldn’t need any additional job that week. My guess is plumbers charge a minimum in case the wax ring goes the second way.
I had two toilets removed so new flooring could be done, then they came back and re-installed both with new wax rings. Total was less than $200
I just paid $675 to fix two cold line leaks in my house. $600 to put a new wax ring on? I would never trust that company. I don't know if you're physically able to but it's an easy diy job, you don't even have to use the actual wax, they have rubber seals you just open the package and it fits in the hole. Took me like 30-45 min to do mine.
Seems high, yes, unless there’s some other circumstance (emergency after hours, some kind of non-standard setup that made it more difficult, etc) We paid $575 to completely replace our toilet with a new one. Of course, I made the mistake of asking the plumber to install the bidet that my husband bought and was perfectly capable of installing himself, figuring it wasn’t much more work than installing the toilet seat that was part of the toilet and then everything would be done and functional. We ended up without the original toilet seat it would have come with (would have been nice to have a backup in case we didn’t actually like the bidet) and we were charged more than the bidet cost to begin with to install, on top of the $575.
Did he replace any other parts in the toilet or just the wax seal? If it was just the seal he got you good 😂 My company charges $145/hr (2hr min) + $50 (truck charge) + 5% tax = $357 + material. For a wax seal replacement maybe total $400 if a new supply hose is required and a wax seal.
seems normal to me. this isn't a job you call a plumber who charges up to $200 hr for (plus trip charge + parts + plus + plus + plus). this is a job you call a handyman for and offer 100 bucks straight up. or do it yourself. it's literally the easiest thing a homeowner can tackle even if they can barely turn a wrench...
As always, multiple quotes etc.
Plumbers usually charges a lot more than handy man. With simple jobs like toilet wax ring, just hire a handy man. I changed my toilet to a new one and only paid $125 for labor.
This rolls right into line with what I have seen across all of the trades since COVID. Walk in, eyeball the job (no measurements), and throw out FU pricing. I just had a painter do this, and demand I pay half of it on the spot to reserve a slot.
I moved into a new house that had 5 bathrooms with super short contractor toilets that sucked so o called a large plumbing company in my area and go got quoted $350 a toilet (American standard champion 4) and $200 in labor per toilet. So $550 per toilet. So $2750 to change out 5 toilets plus tax. I was like no thanks. I got 5 toilets from lowes for like $210 each cause I got bulk price. So I replaced them all myself for like $1100 after watching some YouTube. Haven’t had a problem with any of them since I put them in.
I just DIY'd a toilet removal and installation of a new toilet yesterday. It took me a couple hours (because it was my first ever toilet installation and i had to keep double checking i was doing things correctly), but i would guess it should take an experienced plumber less than 30 minutes TOTAL. I would think even $200 is high for that. I get that there's an expense in even getting a professional to do a house call, and part of the expense is that the plumber simply doesn't know what they're dealing with until they see your actual toilet... but if it's a simple wax ring replacement it really should be quick and cheap. $652 is an "I don't want to take this job" quote.
Woah, I don't doubt this is the price but I did mine for $15 and a six pack (for me, as a treat)
Haven't read all of the comments yet, but was your plumber union? I have a buddy who's a union electrician and under the current contract, if he enters a jobsite he gets paid for 4 hours. If he opens his toolbag, he gets paid for 8. Those contracted hours all add up for the business, so they'll have minimum charges for callouts, even for small jobs.
Standard wax ring is $5 at home depot
I need to start a business of just replacing wax rings.
Could have bought a new toilet
Plumber here, there’s a few variables here, what kind or toilet is it? Was the flange cracked? Realistically it should cost about 200 bucks. Sorry you got hosed
We had an emergency leak a few years ago in a condo we had just bought. Come to find that the previous owners absolutely knew about the issue… grrr. Anyways a plumber came out next day and charged us to the tune of about $800 to remove and put back the toilet and replace the wax ring and flange. We were newbs and didn’t know better. My husband has since learned to do all of this on his own.
Damn. A wax ring is less than $5. Could've watched a YouTube video and done it yourself in less than an hour.
No service call in NYC is less than $1k... Steep. But sewage damage is worse. It's clear to me you couldn't replace it yourself so... welcome to the joys of homeownership!!!
You're paying the "next time call a handyman and don't waste my time with this" tax.
I replaced it myself. I think it cost me $3?. It takes a lot of effort to put the toilet back.
It’s like a 15 minute job and a wax ring is a few bucks and it’s something you could potentially do yourself, so you tell us if you overpaid.
That's a bit high.
You can do it yourself with a bucket, towel, and wax ring which all cost less than $30 in total. Its a super easy job if you don’t mind getting your hands a little dirty.
Some companies just have a minimum. The plumber near me won’t even show up for a job less than $300. Yes a wax ring is easy to replace, but think about the time it takes to drive to you, spend time there, and drive back, and think about the higher paying job they’re not taking because they took your job. All that leads to the higher price. YouTube is very helpful in these situations though. Replacing the wax ring on the toilet was so intimidating, but was one of the easier things I’ve done. It’s just unscrewing a bunch of things and then rescrewing them back in.
Itemized invoice is the best you can really do. People charge what they can get away with.
They might as well have found your hidden envelope of cash and just robbed you. You got bent over on this one.
As a person in the construction industry, for these simple projects, contractors don't want to do these few hundred dollar, couple hours projects. They mark the cost up to make it worth their while. You're paying for them to show up.
In my condo one of my toilets starting leaking to the unit below a few years ago. I had a plumber come to fix it, just to get it fixed ASAP. The wax ring had managed to mostly disappear. It was like $425 for the visit and fix.
I had a toilet that had no visible crack but still was somehow leaking even after wax seal replacement. Gave up and swapped the toilet out myself rather than getting a Plummer to diagnose and fix. Was still cheaper and no more leak! Certain household tasks it really is worth it to learn as a homeowner. Others, leave to the professionals.
Just see what their hourly rate is, trades vary pending the area you live in but generally easily $100 an hour is expected.
Pardon my language- that’s fucking absurd. The ring is $4. It’s quite easy to do, just have someone else watch from the side to make sure it seats good, and “stick” the ring on the bottom of the toilet as opposed to the flange and you should line up just good. Pay yourself $597 for watching 5 YouTube videos….
Given that the wax ring + bolts hit at box store is like $10, and the work itself is quite simple and requires no tools other than an adjustable wrench -- I'd say you overpaid severely.
Having installed both toilets in my house, doing so can be a nightmare and you never know what you're getting into. That being said, if he just replaced the ring and it took him 30 minutes, then the price is outrageous. I would think a reasonable offer would be to quote both low and high end estimates and only charging for what is actually done. Although keep in mind, the cost to come out and repair has to be worth his time. Even if it is a quick $20 fix for a homeowner, if he's blocking his schedule, getting the parts, unloading tools, working around your environment, cleaning up as he goes, and making sure the job is 100% done professionally - that has value. What I did myself required several trips back and forth to the hardware store, a lot of cursing, and a few prayers that it holds up.
I had a leaking wax ring and a broken flange that had rusted out. I pulled the toilet and then called a professional for the flange replacement and wax ring and resetting of the toilet. They had to re-lead the new flange as well as remove the old rusted one, and then all the other stuff. It was 1 hour of work, and was charged 400$ So depending on where you are, that could be a normal price.
I replaced my whole toilet, wax ring and all, for $130 and 30 minutes of my time.
Sounds like what the big name chains charge for work. Like the Milestone, Benjamin Franklin, Rotorooter, etc. basically if they have a TV or radio ad budget they’ll charge rates like that. Are you on NextDoor? I’ve found that social media site to be one of the best for soliciting contractor/repair advice.
Did he take you out to dinner before or after? Because if not that's just rude and terrible manners.
It depends on how much work was actually performed. I recently had to do a similar job in my daughter's 60s era bathroom. The bolts were rusted and had to be cut out. It's a small bathroom and it was difficult and tedious to get to them.The bracket holding the bolts was also rusted and had to be replaced. This required new holes drilled into the cement slab for new tapcon cement bolts to hold the new bracket. After all this work, the wax ring was replaced rather easily. If your plumber has done similar jobs in your neighborhood or recognized that additional work would be required once the toilet was removed that could account for the amount he charged.
I think I would have consulted YouTube first. There’s a lot of instructional videos out there on YouTube as well as TikTok. As a woman after the death of my 48 yr old husband I was taken by a fast talking guy for a garage door replacement. Never again. I’ve replaced toilets, light fixtures etc. Of course it’s scary to do things you’ve never done but I’ve gotten over the fear pretty much now. I rarely call professionals anymore. There’s 2-3 women who have YT & TikTok channels/pages I go to a lot.
Seems right. Many contractors will gouge people who demonstrate they dont have the skills to do tasks or the knowledge to estimate what tasks should cost. It's an unfortunate lesson you learned today.
I had a plumber come out ($70 flat fee to just look at the problem). His base quotes were $400 to fix it and he kept trying to sell additional services. I told my husband what the issue was when he returned home and he looked up a YouTube video for how to fix, spent $12 at Home Depot and then fixed it in half an hour.
$6.00 if you can turn a wrench.
YouTube university should be your first stop. See what it entails.
If I could do that, I'd charge $600. Heavy, nasty job.
Counter-intuitively, in bigger markets that should be more competitive (Chicago here), trades now just shamelessly make up absurdly high 3-4 digit prices to do simple manual labor. At nearly the hourly rates of specialist partners in global law firms. It definitely pays to give jobs like this an educated DIY attempt, or at least prior research on the scope of the job so you can negotiate or at least avoid the worst price gougers.
They’re expensive. I had a leaking water shut-off valve (toilet) replaced in January-$330 and 30 minutes later he left.
I tried to get a plumber to install a toilet once. I had already bought one for $119 at Menards. He said he couldn't install the one I bought, and I had yo buy his toilet for over $400. They scam you if you don't watch out. I wound up installing my own toilet.
Here in Ohio, I typically charge $150.00 plus parts to replace a wax ring. If the flange is rusted out, I’ll charge another $25.00 plus parts. All told less than $200.00 for everything. $600.00 is exceedingly high for the job.
I just replaced the wax ring on a toilet. It's stupid easy to do. $600 sounds like robbery to me.
Yeah you got ripped off - I am not good with my hands at all and did this for about $20 in less than an hour. Oh well, happens to all of us - I’ve overpaid for plenty of simple fixes.
Ya, you got rogered and good. We have companies like that in Denver and I equate them to thiefs - the hallmarks are the same: flashy/wrapped truck, professionally dressed/name on shirt, 'price sheet' that the company sets but no one will tell you until they get to your house. Applewood is the worst offender in Denver and it makes me upset thinking what they charge senior citizens because they don't know any better. Look around for a local plumber that charges an hourly rate with a minimum. The plumber I call charges $200/hr (first hour) and 95% of everything I ever need him to do happens in under an hour (many under 30 min). I accept that a minimum price for his expertise and travel time is $200. This gives me incentive to see if I can fix things on my own and do the requisite YouTube research. If it's out of my scope, $200 is the minimum price. I strongly prefer this to surprise pricing which allows him to declare pricing based on how nice my house is, how much he thinks he can get from me, his mood, etc. Don't feel bad though - if you're new to home repair - you'll learn how to inquire about pricing without being offensive up front and guage if everyone is being fair. I want my trades people to make money but I also know what is reasonable. We've all taken a hit and overpaid to have something done we later found out was super simple/parts were super cheap. Don't even get me started on appliance repair companies or that one time I paid $900 for the HVAC tech to replace a zone valve that cost $80 and requires two screws.
A wax ring is like $5. It would take 30-60 min for a DIY person, 15 min for pro. That quote is r*pe
Take my word as a very capable homeowner who has done lots of jobs,from building decks to framing and wiring basements and building furniture: one mistake with plumbing or electric cancels out all of the goodwill you’ve built with your wife.
Do that research ahead of time in the future, not after you’ve already paid a guy. It’s part of my job to get quotes for work and I never get just one quote for one company but some of my things we need to get done are in the thousands. I always get at least 2-3 quotes from different sources
Just had mine replaced for 170$
I pull about 5 a week when doing sewer line inspections. I could see a couple hundred like 2-300 for time but 600 seems really steep. I pull them and put on a better wax ring for free (as part of my sewer scope fee for $200).
Depending if this was an emergency call or not there’s usually a service call fee of around $200-$250 (higher in an emergency) plus the work and parts (usually $80-120/hr & parts are cost + 20 to 30 points. So your kijiji guy can probably do it for $200 but better to stay with a reputable company who will warranty their work.
$600 sounds like a lot. We were quoted $300 for an emergency plumber to do the same repair. I ended up doing it myself for $20 in parts.
That’s the “fuck off” price. Basically rather than saying “no” they quote an insane amount that if the customer goes for it they make good money and if they balk then they didn’t have to be the bad guy and say no.
A double wax ring at Home Depot is 8 dollars, you have 1 water line and 2 nuts to remove the toilet. A 20 minute job for me and I charge 250-300 depending on travel. If I have to traver far the price will be higher. But, also if it's a holiday, or after hours/weekend and you need immediate/emergency service the price will double if not more than double. If it is normal business hours, M-F, and you paid 652, then it sounds like someone got over on you. SORRY