Plumber help

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by fotze

Installing it took an hour and a half for an expert so that means it would take me at leas 4 hours if I can actually do it, I don' have the patience for that.

I think that's your problem right there. An hour and a half for "an expert" to replace a faucet? I'm your typical do it yourselfer (i.e. four trips to Home Depot for every hour of work required) and I can guarantee you it would take you an hour let alone "an expert". And that includes the two beer you'll have while doing it. Just Google faucet replacement and away you go.

[prarieboy]

I vote for doing it yourself. I do alot of jobs around the house myself and think you should be able to tackle it. I would suggest getting some of those flexible, braided water lines to connect the faucet to the water supply. They have a built in rubber gasket and are much easier to install than the plastic lines. I have picked up faucets at Canadian Tire which were heavily discounted at the time.

[ken0042]

When I get one of my plumber buddies to do something for me, I usually get them to purchase the fixtures. Because they have the inside track, that means they can either save me a bit of money, or charge me retail and have a little bit of cash for themselves.

The big thing with that though is they also have their own recourse when a fixture is defective. What you are doing is like buying a car part at Auto Value, then taking that part to a mechanic to be installed.

[Tron_fdc]

Put it in yourself, it's super easy. I'm not sure why it took an expert an hour and a half to put in a kitchen faucet....I did mine in about 10 minutes.

If your water line is cracked you should replace it with a braided steel line, which you can purchase at Home Depot (they're real cheap). Rent a pipe crimper from their rental dept and put it in yourself....you would be surprised how easy it is.

Failing that you could always pay me $900 to fix it.......

[Bobblehead]

If it is just compression fittings to attach the pipes to the supply lines then do it yourself (just be sure to shut off the water and open the tap before you begin).

I'm kind of curious why it would take a plumber an hour and a half to replace something like that. Unless it is in a really tough spot to work on, this sort of a job should be the type of thing he charges an hour for but is done in 25 minutes.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Leeman4Gilmour

I think that's your problem right there. An hour and a half for "an expert" to replace a faucet? I'm your typical do it yourselfer (i.e. four trips to Home Depot for every hour of work required) and I can guarantee you it would take you an hour let alone "an expert". And that includes the two beer you'll have while doing it. Just Google faucet replacement and away you go.

###

Replacing a faucet with an average IQ should take 30-45 mins tops. Save youself a BOATLOAD of money, hit up Chapters or Rona or something for a do-it-yourself book. Those things are great and cover everything you could imagine doing in your house. Well, for home repairs anyways......

[ernie]

When we bought our house we replaced every faucet. Started with the kitchen one which took about an hour when i had trouble with one connection. Having some practice the 3 bathroom ones were done in about 15 minutes or less.

And believe me I'm not handy. This type of install can be done quite easily yourself.

But if you don't want to do that, check with Home Depot on getting them to do an install. Every one I've been to will have a plumber they use and they will warranty the work and most pick up the re-install in this type of case.

[ken0042]

For all of you "do it yourself- it's easy" types; I can really see Fotze's point of view. There is just some stuff that I don't feel comfortable doing; and plumbing is one of them. Mind you I'm also lucky to not only know 3 plumbers, but none of them are good with computers. (which is my line of work.)

So, getting back to the hiring of a plumber to also supply parts- instead of calling up some guy, call up a small to medium sized company. Explain the situation- that you are looking for a decent fixture and want them to supply and install it for you. They should be able to point you to websites that show what's available, and then you can pick what you want, have the plumber order it, and bring it with him to do the install.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by ken0042

For all of you "do it yourself- it's easy" types; I can really see Fotze's point of view. There is just some stuff that I don't feel comfortable doing; and plumbing is one of them. Mind you I'm also lucky to not only know 3 plumbers, but none of them are good with computers. (which is my line of work.)

So, getting back to the hiring of a plumber to also supply parts- instead of calling up some guy, call up a small to medium sized company. Explain the situation- that you are looking for a decent fixture and want them to supply and install it for you. They should be able to point you to websites that show what's available, and then you can pick what you want, have the plumber order it, and bring it with him to do the install.

I get your point. While I am actually pretty comfortable with electrical, I wouldn't do much more than replace outlets, switches or fixtures on my own place. Anything more substantial and I'll get a pro. But unless this job involves soldering pipes it should be pretty straight forward. While I can understand with not wanting to do it, it sounds like the plumber fotze has used up to this point has been more than a bit shady.

Perhaps you can recommend one of your plumber friends, Ken?

[GoinAllTheWay]

I understand that some may feel uncomfortable doing something like that but how can you can ever expect yourself to get comfortable doing that kind of work unless you try it? Now there are obvious exceptions like laying carpet or something as it pretty much has to go in right the first time or you may be buying more carpet and that aint cheap but things like plumbing/wiring/framing/drywalling can all be done by someone who is trying it out for the first time.


Personaly I find paying someone to do easier stuff like replacing a faucet to be a huge waste of money and I'm robbing myself the oppurtunity to learn something new. Not to mention the satisfaction of doing the job yourself is fantastic.

[Flash Walken]

Imagine that, Fotze havin' problems layin' pipe...

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by fotze

If I was assured of getting to the end point with a quality product then I would do so. I have a buddy who installed his toilet on his own. Did something wrong and it enden up flooding the house, costing probably $7000 in damage. If make that mistake and end up having to rip out the very nicely finished basement ceiling and carpet I would just be sick. These things seem so damn leaky and non-idiot proof. You would think for $200+ you would get some high end threads and solid connections.

I just replaced my kitchen faucet myself Fotze. I know you're nervous, but it was so damn easy it made me laugh. I am the ultimate do-it-yourselfer, but I am nervous about plumbing and I was stunned at how easy it was. I also found that Rona had a really good selection of faucets.

[Frank the Tank]

Oh ya, forgot to mention....I went from a two handle system with a seperate pull out sprayer thingy, to a one handle job with the pull out thing as part of the faucet. Still easy as pie to do.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by fotze

If I was assured of getting to the end point with a quality product then I would do so. I have a buddy who installed his toilet on his own. Did something wrong and it enden up flooding the house, costing probably $7000 in damage. If make that mistake and end up having to rip out the very nicely finished basement ceiling and carpet I would just be sick. These things seem so damn leaky and non-idiot proof. You would think for $200+ you would get some high end threads and solid connections.

Wow, not sure what he could have done to do that, only thing I can think of is he may have cracked the tank while tightening down, very easy to do with a toilet but you generaly know you have damaged it as a very audible "crack" would have been heard. That is a pretty extreme case, when doing something with a kitchen faucet, you are not likely to run into that kind of problem. If you turn all your water back on your are going to know pretty quick if you have a problem, even then it shouldn't be a pretty minor one.

I understand where you are coming from, I really do, but I think your friends example was extreme and very uncommon.

[pope04]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

###

Replacing a faucet with an average IQ should take 30-45 mins tops. Save youself a BOATLOAD of money, hit up Chapters or Rona or something for a do-it-yourself book. Those things are great and cover everything you could imagine doing in your house. Well, for home repairs anyways......

Or, better yet, go to the library, spring $12 for a year-long membership, and take out a FEW books on the subject.

[Sample00]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Imagine that, Fotze havin' problems layin' pipe...

*cracks up* Fotze plumbing not working!

[Flames_Gimp]

man, what plumber did u call? a good plumber would know if it was defective before installing it..i think