View Full Version : How to get a quote for hooking up radiant?
richb2
10-14-2006, 12:29 AM
I am putting in a radiant floor in NJ and have laid all the PEX tubing and am putting down the hardwood now. My oil burner system is slightly complex and has 6 zones in it. After much discussion with my floor supplier, we decided that I should hire a plumber to hook the thing into my heating system. My Radiant heat supplier supplied all the parts needed, including pumps (but not copper tubing).
I called up my oil supplier for a quote which came to $1500 (twice what I was told it would cost in Vermont). Again, this is just labor, I have most of the parts. I had a 2nd plumber come in. The quote was the exact same $1500. BTW, these aren't on the spot quotes.
How can I get a realistic quote? I am considering doing all the plumbing work, and then just having someone come in to connect it to the boiler. Would this save any money, or will it most likely still cost $1500 for labor? Should I ask for an hourly rate and get a time estimate?
I called up my oil supplier for a quote which came to $1500 (twice what I was told it would cost in Vermont). Again, this is just labor, I have most of the parts. I had a 2nd plumber come in. The quote was the exact same $1500. BTW, these aren't on the spot quotes.
How can I get a realistic quote? I am considering doing all the plumbing work, and then just having someone come in to connect it to the boiler. Would this save any money, or will it most likely still cost $1500 for labor? Should I ask for an hourly rate and get a time estimate?
2 seperate quotes from reliable sources that come up the same should tell you something, you could get 2 more.
Yes, you can do it your self and put that $$$ in your pocket but then you can also call your self when / if it leaks because you may not do something right.
Most likely the price is double because of where you live now, prices are based on your local economy.
master plumber mark
10-14-2006, 06:18 AM
when someone calls me and asks me to work
for an hourley rate, I usually wont fool with the job....
I suggest you ask for another quote and dont mention the ...stop watch... at least on the phone....
drop that bomb after they arrive to look at the work....
(you might see the guy wince a llittle)
have they seen your work?? have they hinted to you that something is amiss with the way you have installed it???
Im am just wondering what they are in for...
richb2
10-14-2006, 06:36 AM
If it's my work, why would they wince? Anyway, I have a pressaure test running on the tubing that I put in and it holds pressure fine. I am fairly sure that there is price fixing going on. My question is this: now that they have my address on file and the cost of the quote on file, somewhere, if I do all the work and just leave the last part for them to put in, labor only, will the price still be $1500, since that is the fixed price? You must understand that $1500 is more than all the parts (excluding the wood floor) cost. They are not designing anythng since i already have plans from the supplier.
Tell me how they are doing price fixing. Who has your address?
richb2
10-14-2006, 09:02 AM
Tell me how they are doing price fixing. Who has your address?
Cass, you are off topic. Here is the question: what do I need to do to get a "reasonable" price for the amount of effort involved. Not only is $1500 way too high for this job, but it is a round number. As an auditor, I can tell you right off the bat that this is suspect. For two quotes to be exactly the same is eerie.... It is almost Halloween, and you know what comes later next year? April Fools day.
When I give an estimate it is always a "round number". It is not like a used car or gasoline where the price always ends in $99 or .009 cents. If you ask for a fixed price it will include a fudge factor to cover most things that could go wrong, or take more time. If you go hourly, you had better hope you have a rabbit rather than a turtle doing the work, or you will spend a lot more than $1,500. In fact around here that amount would not cover two days labor, and if your piping system is very complex, it might need that much time.
Cass, you are off topic. Here is the question: what do I need to do to get a "reasonable" price for the amount of effort involved. Not only is $1500 way too high for this job, but it is a round number. As an auditor, I can tell you right off the bat that this is suspect. For two quotes to be exactly the same is eerie.... It is almost Halloween, and you know what comes later next year? April Fools day.
Get 4-8 more estimates or do it your self and pocket the $$$$.
There is nothing you can "do" to "get" what you deem a "reasonable" price.
master plumber mark
10-14-2006, 02:21 PM
if you feel that everyone has fixed the price
already, the best thing to do is go to the local
"man power outlet" and find some drunk that claims
to be a plumber......
they will work for about 18 per hour...
and you can pay man power
for his services when he is finished..
that way no one in your town
will get the better of you.....
kordts
10-14-2006, 06:55 PM
Why would your floor supplier be the judge of when you need a plumber or not? Either you are competent to do the final hookup or not. If you are, get it done. If not, hire somebody and be prepared to pay the going rate, at least. The most expensive plumbers around here are the national rooter outfits who flatrape. I wouldn't use them if I were you. Get a local plumber with a good rep.
Bob NH
10-14-2006, 10:18 PM
Why doesn't your radiant heat supplier want to do the job. Maybe he knows something that you don't know. Is he contracted to do the job, but willing take a few hundred off the price if you get it done by a plumber?
Maybe he knows that 3/4 tubing will now cost about $3.00 per foot and he planned to spend $1.50; but the plumber who is quoting $1500 knows it will cost $3.00 per foot.
If you think that $1500 is too much, price the materials yourself and plan to do the job yourself.
I suspect that with winter approaching, most heating work plumbers have more work than they can do and will give you a price of $1500 for any one-day job because they are making that installing new boilers.
There is one point that many people don't understand: The price of a job or product often bears only a slight relationship to the cost, but there is always a strong relationship to market conditions.
richb2
10-15-2006, 09:01 AM
Guys, thanks for all your thoughtful responses. I estimate that this is about 6 hours work for someone who knows what they are doing. The supplier of the PEX is up in VT and I am in NJ. What i am going to do is run the 3/4 back to the boiler room, do whatever I can, short of cutting into the boiler lines, and then get an estimate to attach it to the boiler. I fear that what work will be left will be too small for a plumber come out to do.
I really don't understand licensing of plumbers. Can you guys explain to me when I need a lic. plumber to sign off on a job? Is is municipality by municipality? Or state by state?
jadnashua
10-15-2006, 12:17 PM
Most work requires a permit, but the work itself is determined by the local town - they decide who needs to be licensed or not. The only state that I know of that has a state code for this is MA, which requires a licensed plumber to do certain things - a homeowner isn't allowed to perform the work.
kordts
10-15-2006, 09:51 PM
If you estimate it's 6 hours, then you figure it's a whole day. Drive time, coffee and lunch, and there ya go. In NJ, a plumber for a day is probably 1200-1500, so you're right there.
Here in OH you can be State licensed or, if allowed, county licensed. It is up to the county if they want to allow county licensing. Then on top of that a city can require a county licensed plumber to get the city's license in order for that plumber to work in that city even though that city is in a county he is licensed in. Inspections are based upon what jurisdiction issues the permits. Then each jurisdiction may have slightly different code requirements.
I'll tell you this there is no price fixing here. Sometimes I wish there were as you get bad plumbers that will do shoddy work for next to nothing. You then will hear about the low price but the people that paid next to nothing will never mention the bad work. There would be no way to do it.
You could never get every plumber to meet let alone agree on a set rate.