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The unknown unknowns aren't worth it when you're risking the asset of your house. Yeah, you could spend hours on YouTube watching how to videos, spend a dozen h

The unknown unknowns aren't worth it when you're risking the asset of your house. Yeah, you could spend hours on YouTube watching how to videos, spend a dozen hours on basic tools and safety skills, etc., but you're likely only gonna do this job once in 15+ years. And even then, you might still make it looks aesthetically ugly, not have the institutional knowledge of the best brands for parts that last, etc... it's really not worth it for the average home owner who can afford a house to take time away from his likely more lucrative work hours to learn this stuff, other than in really depressed areas.

bcrosby95 5y ago
It's pretty common to both pay a lot and get a bad job done. I had a bathroom redone and the very expensive plumber sawed through 3/4 of the floor joists. If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. I have noticed though that the large brand name plumbers are the most expensive. I think it's because they're mandated to upsell on any call. I hired one for $100 to replace some shower fixtures. But he spent 2 hours both figuring out what else he could do, and writing it all up and putting it in their database. On that list of things was replacing the water pressure regulator. For $1500. It's a $300 part, and it screws on and off. Or you could buy a $100 restoration kit instead. I was also recently quoted $1100 to replace two toilets. Not including the toilets. Looking online it should take 1-2 hours per toilet for an experienced plumber, and around $50-100 to dispose of each. So that's, at best, $200-$250 per hour. My hourly earnings after taxes are about $50. So I both learned how to, and replaced, the toilets in about 4 hours.
- com2kid 5y ago
  Replacing a toilet takes well under an hour. Disposing of the old toilet, eh, that is a bit more work depending on how far your local dump is.

bcrosby95 5y ago

It's pretty common to both pay a lot and get a bad job done. I had a bathroom redone and the very expensive plumber sawed through 3/4 of the floor joists. If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. I have noticed though that the large brand name plumbers are the most expensive. I think it's because they're mandated to upsell on any call. I hired one for $100 to replace some shower fixtures. But he spent 2 hours both figuring out what else he could do, and writing it all up and putting it in their database. On that list of things was replacing the water pressure regulator. For $1500. It's a $300 part, and it screws on and off. Or you could buy a $100 restoration kit instead. I was also recently quoted $1100 to replace two toilets. Not including the toilets. Looking online it should take 1-2 hours per toilet for an experienced plumber, and around $50-100 to dispose of each. So that's, at best, $200-$250 per hour. My hourly earnings after taxes are about $50. So I both learned how to, and replaced, the toilets in about 4 hours.

com2kid 5y ago
Replacing a toilet takes well under an hour. Disposing of the old toilet, eh, that is a bit more work depending on how far your local dump is.