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so a plumber came to sort out a gas leak... how much should it be ?

A

andylawcc

Lifer
wall of text:

So there was a gas leak in my dad's house, the Gas Company already shut the gas off, and we called a plumber to come check it out. An apprentice came and only located some of the leaks but a few leaks cannot be found; the master plumber then show up the next day to finish off the job. He charged us 2 days of work, at about $150/hr.

a week later, another leak is found, and the plumber came back to fix it again, this time he put in another 2 days of work, and billed us again for those 2 days.

now, my dad is pissed, cuz 1) allegedly $150/hr is highway robbery, and 2) how come the plumber can't fix it the first time, and have to bill us for his 2nd trip a week after. So he refused to pay, and the plumber placed a mechanic lien on the house. Total lien amount is $3500 dollar. I was told it is a surprisingly small amount, usually they won't bother to do it and rather go through small claims court.

so what should my dad do? What way can he dispute the amount?
 
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so it is already too late huh? once the job is done, no matter how "highway robbery" it is (i know it is a relative term), there is no dispute.
 
andylawcc said:
so it is already too late huh? once the job is done, no matter how "highway robbery" it is (i know it is a relative term), there is no dispute.
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Can take it to small claims court.

There is normally a $ amount limit that varies depending on where you are.

Sounds reasonable to take to small claims court.
 
so small claims count is kinda like, judge judy, you present your facts, they present their's, and the judge will the call at that moment and it will be final ?
 
andylawcc said:
so small claims count is kinda like, judge judy, you present your facts, they present their's, and the judge will the call at that moment and it will be final ?
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Yes, though most states have an appeal type process, but then lawyers get involved.
 
I think I would ditch the Gas powered appliances and switch to electric.

PS: Why so many leaks...seems very suspicious.
 
If its an old house. The "leaks" have always been there its just the way we test for them now. I hate using my electronic gas leak detector in an old house it means I might as well redo everyday gas line in the place. I've heard guys say the sealant wears out but I don't know if I buy that.

So OP thats propbably what your dad paid for. Plus if a leaks in the middle of the run it all has to be taken apart from one end. That can be a lot of work.

Was your dad calling the POCO for smelling gas everytime? Around here the first guy to come out marks the dial on the meter waits 10 mins sees if it moves. That way still allows leaks but generally will keep the house from blowing up. I've had people keep calling when they don't really smell gas. Thats when the POCO breaks out the electronic leak detector and they don't stop finding tiny leaks.
 
Didn't anyone think to ask what the labor rate was before agreeing to the work? Dunno about anyone else, but it's one question I always ask, be it a plumbing repair, auto repair, etc.
 
The plumber should have did the callback for much less or free, as he did not do the job properly the first time. And we don't know all about the house. Probably old and gas mains back then were all done with threaded connections, any one of which is a potential leak spot, as are the flex lines connecting gas powered appliances.
 
2 days to find a leak is pretty bad. Shouldn't take too long to run a gas detector around the connectors to find the leak.

Pay the guy, and make sure you never call him again.
 
Apprentice unsupervised dealing with gas lines the first day? First off, fuck them, don't bill me professional rates for that. Second, yeah pay up and then ruin their day with honest reviews, complain to BBB/AG, small claims if he wants. Third, have him find the pipefitters local in his area. There are likely rules about apprentices not working alone (trade apprenticeship is monitored through the DOL), I know for electricians and even us half-watts there are ratios in place that are supposed to be followed. Local union hall should be able to tell him and would be interested in hearing about this (more supervision for apprentices also happens to be more people working).
 
Anytime you are dealing with a pressurized system that has multiple leaks, there is always a possibility that smaller leaks in the system are being masked by larger leaks. Once the larger leaks are fixed and higher pressures are restored, smaller leaks could then present themselves. After the plumber fixed the active leaks, they should have retested the system to make sure there were no smaller leaks. If he just fixed the leaks that were first found and then just assumed there were no others, then that would be questionable.
 
If it wasn't agreed upon beforehand to be free then it isn't free. It's unlikely that these were intentionally missed... A plumber is different from an electrician or something, this isn't a guaranteed science.


However, it SHOULD be free. But, this is why you negotiate these things up front. Whether it's hvac, gas, water... Always ask if they come back if something else pops up.


$150 an hour for a pro plumber is a fair rate in my area. $75 will get you bubba, which is great for working on water lines.. But dealing with gas needs to be a pro.

He needs to negotiate a flat rate for a job like this.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
If it wasn't agreed upon beforehand to be free then it isn't free. It's unlikely that these were intentionally missed... A plumber is different from an electrician or something, this isn't a guaranteed science.


However, it SHOULD be free. But, this is why you negotiate these things up front. Whether it's hvac, gas, water... Always ask if they come back if something else pops up.


$150 an hour for a pro plumber is a fair rate in my area. $75 will get you bubba, which is great for working on water lines.. But dealing with gas needs to be a pro.

He needs to negotiate a flat rate for a job like this.
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Never happen unless he's re-plumbing the whole house. He doesn't know how many leaks there will be or how long it will take.
 
highland145 said:
Never happen unless he's re-plumbing the whole house. He doesn't know how many leaks there will be or how long it will take.
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If they spent two full days there already then he's looking at $2500.

Gas only goes to what, hvac/water heater, maybe a fireplace? Seems like he might not be that far off.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
If they spent two full days there already then he's looking at $2500.

Gas only goes to what, hvac/water heater, maybe a fireplace? Seems like he might not be that far off.
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Yeah but they didn't know that. Could have been 1 fitting or 10. That's the problem with flat rating for the customer. At best, they'll be charged what they should pay for an hourly job.
 
The price should be whatever he was charged. If you don't find out BEFORE the job starts, complaining about it afterwards is childish.

The problem with chasing leaks is that once you find and fix one leak, another one might pop up later as the increased pressure causes another already sketchy seal to go.
 
The tough thing about gas leak detection is that if you do have multiple leaks, the gas in the air makes it difficult to detect smaller leaks. (especially if you aren't using a real leak detector and just using your nose)
 
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