This winter I came home, the day before a business trip, to find the hot water flex hose had sprung a leak, blasting through the heater wall into the garage, flooding it and part of the master bath closet. I couldn’t get a new flex hose back on(previous owner had a garden hose bib ending the line above the tank), and in a panic to make sure my wife had hot water during my absence, I googled “24 hr plumber” in my zip. Called the one closest to me, and long story short, the guy is licensed, etc., comes over at 9 pm and gets the flex hose on for me.

He then tells me he hates flex hoses and he wants to put a copper line in instead when I get back in town. I say “okay”,so how much do I owe you for this after hour gig? he says “let’s worry about that when you get back from your trip and we can do this up right. For now your wife has hot water. Call me when you get back in town.”

Can you believe that? I called him and he did the job for $200. I’ve been loyal to him for that reason alone. Maybe I am a sucker, but you never hear of anything like that any more.

Sorry, I just had to share that story.

Thanks for the comment. I will tell you… when I was a plumber, there were few things I hated more than having to tell a client, “Yea, not only is this going to cost you a ton of money, but another one could spring up tomorrow, and we would have to do it all over again.”

As for feeling guilty… while I am a firm believer in finding a plumber that you like and keeping him, there is nothing wrong with keeping him on his toes. More than once, I have had regular clients let me know that they felt a price I was giving them was a little high. It gave us a chance to sit down and discuss it in further detail… maybe I could trim a few bucks here or there, call in a favor, etc. It also gave me a chance to go over the details a little more specifically with them to make sure everyone was on the same page.

Just for the record… I do not even know what I would charge to tunnel 7′ to get to a leak. How would I even keep my torch lit in there? I would have to make a cave!

Steve

As for the cost… well, I used to do them in 1-2 days, with 2 plumbers, with a 1/2 day added to that (1 plumber) for permitting, inspection, etc. I billed repipes at around $1500 a day per plumber plus parts. That means an average of $7-$11k, depending on the size of the house, overhead access, different options (whole house filter, recirc system, etc.). Partials can be cheaper. Big houses with lots of options can be more. It is more expensive to do a repipe overhead, than in an under-house crawl space though.

So, yes, for the price of roughly 2-3 slab repairs, you can get the house repiped, and never have to worry about it again. There is a complication, however, that sometimes comes up. Where I live, a lot of insurance companies will reimburse the homeowner for some or all of the slab leak repair. This could result in the homeowner paying as little as a couple hundred dollars (plus deductible). Most of them will not, however, reimburse for a repipe. Although that sounds kind of silly, it is true… at least here in Cali.

Some homeowners still decide to go with the repipe option, though. Long term, it is a better investment in the value of your home, and the peace of mind alone can be worth the cost. Depends on the homeowner, I guess.

Steve