I stopped calling all contractors, plumbers, electricians, garage door installers, etc for that very reason. Do everything myself saving the family thousands each year.

I love it when they try to scare you with "it has to meet code." Yes, I can read "code" just fine.  No, I won't pay you $250 to change an HVAC capacitor that costs me $16 and 10 minutes to change...I even keep spare capacitors in the garage.  I did get a very disgusted look from an HVAC tech when he saw me buying capacitors next to him at the supply house as a "homeowner."

Best one was when garage door installers in my area would tell me you can't do a high lift conversion on a door.  Hmmm, ordered high lift pulleys and cables, re-wound the springs and had it working great in less than 2 hours. Those installers can learn a thing or two from the internet.

So.. Now we don't like the trades or trade school?

Guess I better get a degree in xerox repair.

Reason #87 why I do not live in Travis County.

Attached File

I'd change my own if the plumber's labor and mark-up was over 300.  But I wouldn't do anyone else's for that.  Fuck people.

You can't be serious

Glad to know that everyone works for free in their chosen profession. Office space is free, phones are free, electric is free, HVAC, computers, employees, insurance, gas, vehicles ,maintenance ,tools, etc. Etc.
Not saying it's a bad thing you can do it yourself. But don't knock someone in the trades till you know what your talking about and what it cost to operate a business. Yes there are some crooks out there but ,don't
lump them in with the professionals.

Called out for water heater replacement.

Drive to customers house to verify tank type/size, check water pressure, and discuss options.

Drive to supply house for water heater (normally 20 minutes minimum wait).

Drive back to customers house.

Hook up pump & hose to drain water heater, cut out heater, disconnect wiring, move aside.

Unbox & hook up new water heater to hand truck, take in basement.

Install new water heater, all soldered connections, change crusty old cold water globe valve and vacuum relief valve.  Fill and purge air from hot side of all faucets/showers.  Clean any aerators that clog up with sediment.  Rewire water heater.  Adjust upper and lower thermostats.  Check for leaks.

Hook up old water heater to hand truck and remove from basement.  Drain rusty water from pump and hose.

Write up invoice and collect payment.

Work rest of the day with water heater banging around back of the truck.

Get home, take water heater off truck.

When 5 water heaters pile up, take to scrap yard and receive $10.

Sure, 1 hour tops and $50 will cover it.

This about sums it up, minus time wasted bullshitting with customer before and after.  9 times out of 10 they ask you to look at something else after the bill is written up.

Water heaters around here sand up or scale up from the very hard water loooooong before the elements or the tanks give out.
You're way ahead by just buying cheap and stacking them deep instead of going high tech, fancy, expensive.

Yeah, about that. I made my living as an on the floor Tool Maker for many years. My job required me to know way more than basic math, computer programming, heat treating, operation of many different machine tools, etc.  Much of my work was very close tolerance work.  Most of what I did was " due yesterday " and  " the customer is SCREAMING for their tooling or the parts that the tooling made.

We got a ten minute break in the morning and 20 minutes for lunch. Your ass better have been out of your chair when the buzzer went off because the boss was watching. EVERY other minute we were there we were working.
Most of my years were high pressure intense work while holding those close tolerances. I worked 6 days a week and sometimes 7..... 10 to 12 hours a day.  I had a two year stretch where I had FIVE ( 5 ) days off in those 2 years. That included holidays.
When I left the floor, I was " highly paid " @ over $24.00/hour.
I worked my way up to Class A toolmaker and top out pay.  When I started with the company I did my apprenticeship with, I got paid next to nothing and cleaned machines, painted the floor and walls, cleaned the fluorescent lights that hadn't been cleaned in years and had an inch of crude on them, swept the floor, sharpened drill bits by hand on a pedestal grinder and if one of the tool makers didn't like the sharpness of the drill bit, it got tossed at me with some choice words, emptied the chip barrels, etc. I did this for a year before I was even permitted to touch a machine.
I worked with a bunch of grumpy toolmakers that were highly skilled and that would give me shit at the drop of the hat. I took it because they had the best apprentice ship programm for many many miles. They had a line a mile long of guys trying to get in. Only one out of 4 finished their apprenticeship.  Snow flakes, boozers, drug addicts, etc. need not apply. ZERO PC in that toolroom.
I know it cost the company/companies more than my hourly rate  to employee me.  I know insurance costs money. Vacation? Forget about it.

My father and I built my first house when I was 20 years old.  He taught me plenty. I worked full time at my apprenticeship and then went and worked on the house. Most guys my age were partying and fucking off.

I told you that to tell you this.

If you think a guy like me is going to pay some uneducated scam artist who uses Rudimentary hand tools , takes a break or lunch whenever he feels like it, works stoned/high etc. $150.00 to $200.00 dollars per hour you are mistaken. Not going to happen.

I AM NOT the Lone Ranger.  Plenty of guys can tell you the same story or worse.

So, that's where I am coming from.

Next week I'm putting new front brakes on my sons car.  He was quoted prices from $350.00 to $400.00 for the job from the dealer and a couple of independent shops. He lives a distance away from me but always ends up here. One shop said turning the rotors was extra.

I get may rotors turned locally for $10.00 each and the brake pads were like $70.00.  Less than $100.00 for the job and about 2 hours work.

I have saved him about $600.00 in the last month.

Like I said, some people have to make big bucks just to keep up with everyday stuff.

Initial cost of water heater (the cheaper one you wanted was out of stock so you had to get the larger uber tank expensive one)
There is the delivery fee
There is the non ground level fee for carrying it down to the basement
There is the unboxing fee
There is the shutting off the water fee
There is the removal of the old water heater fee.
There is the optional disposal of old water heater fee with a non ground level sir charge for carrying it upstairs
There is the installation fee
There is the miscellaneous parts fee for stuff you never knew you needed (odd size pipes they clam they've never seen)
The setup fee if you need the temp dial turned to other than default setting
There is the water turned back on fee
There is a cleanup fee
There is the customer training and set up of the 6 month maintenance visit program fee

subtotal
Tax
Grand Total

Sounds like a vacation compared to what I had to deal with while learning the HVAC trade.

In it's original packaging the hot water heaters have them clearly marked with color coded caps or tags for which is hot and cold.