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Question: We have a water meter inside our house at the wall where the water comes in. There's a valve on the supply side of the meter inside the house. The valve began to drip a few days ago so I called a large local plumbing company for an estimate on (1) replacing the dripping valve and (2) installing a valve on the house side of the meter where there is no valve now. I know that it's hard to tell without actually seeing the job, but I wonder if the following estimate is about right. 1 3/4" ball valve $437.18 (supply side of the meter) 1 1" ball valve $377.00 (house side of the meter) pipe work $221.84 (I think, but not sure, that's the pipe and 1/2 hour labor) Total $1,036.02 The plumber's company had a coupon worth $25 in the yellow pages, and since I'm an old person, I would get another $5 discount. So the cost would be $1,006.02 plus local taxes (about 8-3/4% on the parts). I declined to have the work done for two reasons: Having spoken to other plumbers on the phone I got the idea that $350 to $400 might be fair for this job. The second reason is that, at the plumber's suggestion, I tightened the nut holding the valve stem in, and the leak stopped! I did injure myself slightly kicking my own backside for not having done that before. Any opinions on the estimate for this job will be greatly appreciated because I still would like to have a valve installed on the house side, and the "fixed" valve replaced. It appears to be 20 years or so old.
Answer: It sounds like they are going to recoup their $25 coupon pretty fast!!! I would get a couple more estimates.
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