plumbing quotes (help) !!!

[samueljames]

Hello everyone.

Just bought an old house for renovation, could someone advise if the following quotes are reasonable as the missus thinks they are steep, i appreciate you can't see the jobs just wondered on an average price if possible:

Bathroom suite fitted & old cast suite removed £395 (upstairs)

New cold water tank in loft (not the copper one) as old one has rotted £200 (including tank)

Outside tap £80 (including tap)

Washing machine fitted (not including machine) £125 (kitchen)

Dishwasher (not including machine) £100 (Kitchen)

This is as far as we have got for now before the missus has a coronary, i personally think they are par for the course, but would appreciate any plumbers advice just to see if we need more quotes as the plumber who quoted us is known to the family.

thanks for any help .... sam

 

[Agile]

The first two sound like quotes by East Europeans!

The others are about right apart from the outside tap which seems a bit high when done with other work on site if its close to the supply.

( To plumbers, perhaps his outside tap is 20 m away from the water supply and its also a Polish quote? )

Tony

 

[samueljames]

The first two sound like quotes by East Europeans!

The others are about right apart from the outside tap which seems a bit high when done with other work on site if its close to the supply.

( To plumbers, perhaps his outside tap is 20 m away from the water supply and its also a Polish quote? )

Tony

East Europeans... ...i presume there a bit high then, whats a more realistic price for a straight bathroom swap and a new tank then?

 

[scatmanjohn]

I think he means that they are cheap

 

[ACOperson]

Wives/girlfriends have a tendency to think that all tradespeoples quotes are too high.

The prices you have illustrated here are reasonable, the bathroom & loft tank are £100-£200 cheaper than you would find from most plumbers.

 

[Steady]

A bloke I know told me about a job he did recently for a (female) friend (of a friend.) Changed a couple of radiator valves- he was there for nearly two hours. He asked her if she had any objection to paying £45 for the work (incl. parts). Apparently she objected in the strongest possible terms and commented, "I wasn't expecting that, I thought it would be about a fiver."

Perhaps to her the quotes referred to would seem outrageously dear. To the rest of the civilised world (anywhere west of the Oder river) they are seen as being at the lower end of the scale.

 

[corgiman]

A FIVER

45 is way too cheap anyway

cheeky cow

 

[samueljames]

So i guess these are reasonable quotes then, he is a friend of the family so it loks like he is looking after us. I will get the missus to read this thread to calm her down a bit.

The £5 story ..i'm sure even she would expect to pay more than that.

One final question as we are hoping to have loads more work done, what is the average hourly rate of a plumber these days then? .... it may help the missus in calming down a bit for future quotes.

Cheers guys.

 

[corgiman]

out of interest what does your missus think is a reasonable amount for a plumber to earn?

as for hourly rate hard to say as they vary so much. ring around to get an idea

 

[samueljames]

out of interest what does your missus think is a reasonable amount for a plumber to earn?

as for hourly rate hard to say as they vary so much. ring around to get an idea

She seems to think £10 an hour is sufficient, in her words (i dont earn that much an hour and i work in a bank) .. personally i think around £25 per hour is more like it (we live in Nottingham) although i'm sure some company plumbers are asking near the £40 mark.

 

[Nige F]

£10 per hour I used to charge £1.00 thats ONE pound in 1972 for weekend CASH small jobs when I was an Apprentice And the house prices were around £6k in my village...now they are £160- £200k and I`ve got 30 years experience...........You do the maths

 

[ACOperson]

The company I work for in NW London charge £68 per hour PLUS VAT (so thats £79.90p to the customer) for any work, be it plumbing or heating.

When on jobs of my own I charge £45 per hour for plumbing, or £70 for a combi boiler breakdown, thats diagnostic fee and labour if parts are needed.

Installation rates vary, depending on time job takes etc.

 

[Softus]

She seems to think £10 an hour is sufficient, in her words

She won't get a plumber of any quality for £10 per hour. If you hadn't posted in so much detail before this point I would have said that this is a wind-up.

(i dont earn that much an hour and i work in a bank)

And I'm really struggling to believe this. Unless you're a cleaner in a bank...

Regarding your friend/tradesman, a couple seem high and most seem some low, but certainly none of them is taking advantage of you. Does the bathroom quotation include the suite?

A FIVER

45 is way too cheap anyway

cheeky cow

Yeah there's so obviously more to the £5 story than we've been told. For example, why did the plumber ask "if she had any objection" to £45? I can't imagine ever consulting a customer about what I'm about to charge them. It seems more likely that a favour was expected in an act of vicarious friendship.

 

[Agile]

"""Yeah there's so obviously more to the £5 story than we've been told. For example, why did the plumber ask "if she had any objection" to £45? I can't imagine ever consulting a customer about what I'm about to charge them"""

In the rare situation when I have not agreed a fixed price in advance then I always ask the client if they are happy with £xxx. They usually are.

Tony

 

[ItsOverFlo]

I charged a customer £45 for a service/repair to a gas fire.
It took me about 40 mins to do the job.
On top of this there was travel time, about 20 mins each way.
Total time taken, 2 Hours.
I thought i was being reasonable and would gain a customer for life.
When i produced the bill, the guy went all pale. I thought he was going to pass out.
After a couple of puffs on his nebuliser, he said with a grunt;
"Whats wrong with £6 per hour, what everyone else gets."
Some people don't seem to understand what a 'overhead' is. they think its just a excuse to overcharge.
Thats why this muppet only earns £6 per hour...