Any plumbers out there???

[RIJIMMY]

I had a plumbing company plumber come over this morning and give me an estimate on a installing a new shower nozzle and valve and a new bathroom sink faucet. We bought the shower and faucet at Home Depot.
He gave me an estimate of $225 to install the faucet and $385 to install the shower. Then he told me that the ones we bought we not good quality, mostly plastic and that the lifetime warranty does not really work becasue you have to uninstall everything in order to get it replaced. They're both AMerican Standard
I think the estimate was ridiculously high and the stuff he tried to sell me was better quality but super expensive. Any thoughts or advice?

[Jenn]

I dont know what the "going rate" for a plumber is but as far as the warraty goes we just installed a american standard whirpool tub and one of the jets was leaking......called american standard and they gave us a local # to call...guy came to the house and fixed it in our home.
I dont know if this helps but......

[HighTide]

Originally posted by RIJIMMY
I had a plumbing company plumber come over this morning and give me an estimate on a installing a new shower nozzle and valve and a new bathroom sink faucet. We bought the shower and faucet at Home Depot.
He gave me an estimate of $225 to install the faucet and $385 to install the shower. Then he told me that the ones we bought we not good quality, mostly plastic and that the lifetime warranty does not really work becasue you have to uninstall everything in order to get it replaced. They're both AMerican Standard
I think the estimate was ridiculously high and the stuff he tried to sell me was better quality but super expensive. Any thoughts or advice?

Sounds like he trying to rake you over the coals. Go back to HD, buy a basin wrench and some plumber's putty and install it yourself. It's not brain surgery. Just follow the directions.

[smooth53_98]

I second what HighTide says... a Basin Wrench is just a few bucks and doing the sink faucet yourself is easier than you would think. Toughest part is if you are tall or a big guy, getting your self into or under the vanity to see what the heck you are doing (a mirror and flashlight do help if you can not get your head in there to see what you are doing).

[RickBomba]

Yup, I put in a new kitchen sink with fixtures last year. Had to cut the formica a little, but it wasn't bad at all. Sounds like that's an awful lot of money to me.
Later,
Rick

[Slipknot]

That does seem a little high, you should get another estimate . And I also wouldn't reccomend buyong fixtures from Home Depot, their prices are cheaper because it's crap made in a foreign country usually and he is right it's full of cheap plastic. One thing that happens alot is that there is someting missing or broken right off the bat with Home Depot stuff.
It should take a couple hours to change to shower valve depending on the situation. The faucet is easier, you could do it yourself.
Alot of people don't realize the costs involved in being a contractor, but that price he gave you may have been on the high side because sometimes there are unexpected extras that is hard to charge a customer for after the price has been given.

if you want another name to get a price from, let me know.

[Raider Ronnie]

try calling Ask This Old House
Maybe you can have Rich Trethewey change them and you can be out fishing!

[cheferson]

Its easy , im mechanically declined. I did my ex gf kitchen sink no problem. Go to the library and get some do it yourself books. Easy shiznit.