I was wondering if any of the pro plumbers could fill me in on this. I paid to have a new dishwasher installed. I called a plumber and they said the rate was $70/hour. We had them do it and apparently an apprentice was there as well which kicked on an extra $60 (for 2 hours at $30/hour for apprentice rate). I was at work when they did the work. My wife was home, but they said nothing about a higher overall rate.

I would've liked to have known ahead of time if I was going to pay $100 per hour, and would've gone elsewhere. Is this a common practice? Thanks in advance,

Jeff

My family owns a commercial contracting company that does include plumbing.

I will assume you also paid a additional service call amount, in their case I believe it is 75 which includes about the first 15 minutes and getting to your location.

The apprentice would have made the job go faster ( of that is the idea)
So in basic the over all cost of one person at a certain rate, or two people at varoius rates, the over all cost should be about the same if the two were faster than one would have been.

So it was 100 a hour for two people but two people would have done it faster.

Example one plumber at 70 a hour at ( three hours by hisself) would be 210 dollars. Two workers at total of 100 dollar a hour for 2 hours is 200, or cheaper than just the one person doing it.

What you wanted or needed would have been a set rate for the job, not an hourly fee. If you want a set price, not an hourly price you need to specify that when you bid your service out.

By the way, 70 dollar a hour is cheap for a licenced plumber as to what our family business charges a hour. ( but they would not go out and do a dishwasher in a residence any longer)

Hi,
In my local area in VA, the normal "service call" and to install a dishwasher is $70. It usually takes less than an hour, so don't know if that is considered per hour or not.
You really got "ripped off", and I would question the "apprentice" charge. Go back to those who installed it, and ask for your money back on that charge. You might not get it, but let them know how you feel, and tell them you will tell all your friends and neighbors about it. Let them know they have some "public relations" problems coming their way. Nothing illegal in that. They may change their mind; depending on the volumn of business they do.

Thanks for the responses. I understand the logic of what Fr Chuck said in his response, but my wife said the apprentice really didn't do anything. As far as I know it was a pretty straight forward installation. They just yanked the old one and put the new one in. I guess I assumed one skilled person could get it done in less than 2 hours.

Jeff

In my business I have a minimum charge of $54.50 This gets me and my truck to your place for the work to be done along with any normal material that I should need for the job. Then I have a set price for certain jobs,
A dishwasher change our is $75 plus any parts that are changed, and that doesn't make any difference if a helper is there or not, and if the helper is there and is needed it saves the time of having to go get a helper. I consider a dishwasher change out to be a one hour job, if I don't finish in that amount of time then shame on me.

I would like to ask some of the other plumbers what they charge for changing out a Water Heater that the customer has purchased. My total charge for changing out a customer bought Water Heater is highter than if I had furnished the heater myself. And if there is something wrong with the Customers water heater that causeses it to have to be replaced again there is another charge that is equal to the original charge. So a warning to people that buy their own, beware of the total charges and find out who is goint to warranty the heater.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JeffSav

Thanks for the responses. I understand the logic of what Fr Chuck said in his response, but my wife said the apprentice really didn't do anything. As far as I know it was a pretty straight forward installation. They just yanked the old one and put the new one in. I guess I assumed one skilled person could get it done in less than 2 hours.

Jeff

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Right on Jeff,

If two men were sent out to installa dishwasher then one would be working while the other watched. If you were charged for two men you were overcharged. I disagree with Fr_Chuck, ( God! How I want to keep calling this guy "Friar Tuck") that two men can do a one man job twice as fast. I've been retired for 18 years but when I worked my company charged 50$ for the first hour, (one hour minimum) and 50$ thereafter. Letmetellu was bang on when he said it shouldn't take more then a hour to install a dishwasher if that long. All you need to do is slip it in,( a GE) and fasten two wood screws. Then all that's left is connecting a 3/8ths supply and connecting the discharge hose. Somebody please shown me where two men fit into that equation. Regards, Tom

Lillia, this thread is 5 years old... If you have question, start your own... Thank You... Milo

I have my own Home Improvement / Commercial Repair Company and have been performing HVAC, Plumbing Repairs / Installations, Electrical Repairs / Installations, Appliance Repair / Installation and misc. Hardware application Repairs / Installations like Doors, Locks, Window Repairs, Closet Shelving etc. for over 21 years I offer free estimates and stick to the quoted price without any parts that may be needed but the client is informed of that right away.
I would have charged approx.: $40.00 - $45.00 without and parts needed to remove a dishwasher and install a new one the client already purchased, this is not a difficult job and can be done rather fast and easy.
Michael Hendricks

Hi Michael and welcome to The Plumbing Page at ANHD.com. You're responding to a 7 year old dead thread. Please check the date before you post. Thanks for your input, Tom

Hi Michael

Sorry to respond to this older thread, but I think it is important for people that read this thread to know that it is people like you that are what give licensed plumbers or any legitimate contractor a bad name!

Have you given consideration to licensing fees or continuing education? Are you even licensed in any of the trades you posted? How about insured... are you insured? Taxes... DO YOU PAY TAXES... I DOUBT IT!! How about health insurance, truck insurance, tool replacement... OH GOD, don't get me started on overhead and basic business costs beyond this!!

You think you are running a business... don't you? I promise you, at the rate you quoted, you are losing money every day! In fact, you would do better to work for home depot (where I figure guys like you belong) as you would actually make more money, at least in terms of being legitimate and paying taxes!

I could spend hours beating you up here, but I won't! Seriously, you need to consult SCOPE or a similar group in your area! For the first time in all the years I've been posting online I am going to make a "blanket statement" regardless of where you live...

There is NO PLACE in the USA or UK where $40.00-$45.00 plus parts is even remotely reasonable to install a dishwasher (have you ever installed a BOSCH or a MIELE dishwasher... darn near doubles the labor)!!

Finally, how much do you charge to DISPOSE of the old dishwasher... certainly you charge for this as it takes gas/time to drop this off? I WILL mention the fact that most towns/cities/dumps charge a minimum of a $10.00 fee to dispose of old appliances!!

Hope you learned something, Michael!

Mark

Well Mr. Mass Plumber, first of all I think you one of the rudist people by accusing me of issues that you have ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF OF!! I take into account each and everyone of your accusation, I've installed and replaced almost every brand out there, been doing HVAC, Plumbing installation / Repairs, Electrical Installation / Repairs, and Appliance Installation/Repairs for over 21 years, I pay for everything myself and keep my overhead low so that I can help people that need work done when they have trouble paying the EXPENSIVE PLUMBERS etc. and I do it enough to keep me going but not so I can fly to France every week for a glass of wine. Disposal of the appliances is to use your mind and resources around you, I have what is called Restore Facilities all around me when donated items are sold it helps Habitat for Humanity, they are on my way to and from a job so I swing in donate the appliance and off I go, nothing lost only gained, or a dishwasher I replaced in a clients home she donated to her brother that needed a new dishwasher and I delivered it and installed it also... so as far as I'm concerned right now... there's nothing you could spit from your expensive mouth to make me do anything different, I kind of wished I never wrote this back to you because it makes me look as bad as you bad mouthing your competitors, but I had to speak my peace... good bye forever!!

You say, "ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF"...

What are you talking about... NO PROOF? You said you charge $40.00 to $45.00 to install a dishwasher, right?

I don't have to prove anything... you proved it for me by presenting the price you gave!

For fun though, let's break the job down, OK? You have to get the call to the job and schedule it in to start. Next, you must travel to the job... I'm sure you'll say that all the jobs are 5 minutes away (but I'll bet some are as far as 1/2 hour or more)... this by the way takes gasoline, a working truck (needs repairs and tires on occassion) and an insured vehicle! Next you need to greet the customer, shut off the water, shut off the electricity (have to find the electric panel first), remove the old dishwasher and load it on your truck 'cause you take it away and give it to CHARITY (and that takes time/gas whether you want to count it or not). Then you need to uncrate the new dishwasher and install the new dishwasher. That means connecting the water supply and connecting/running the dishwasher discharge hose and connecting it and wiring the dishwasher.

Here, many of the new dishwashers have different connections that require new fittings and adapters that don't always come with the dishwasher... carry those with you do you (can you even tell me what adapters I am talking about? )? Many new dishwasher installations also seem to be associated with new countertops (granite, corian, quartz) and they are NOT easy to attach too, so this will definitely add extra time to the job.

You'll need to spend some time and test your work, right? Do you test the dishwasher and all connections by running the dishwasher... darn well should, right? At the same time, you should be showing your customer how the dishwasher works and how to cycle through the buttons/knobs and finally to drain/cancel the dishwasher cycle.

Finally, you need to make out a bill and collect your money, or you could bill them later, but still need to say goodbye in a friendly and professional manner, right?

Let's see now... how long did that take us?? For me, and let me tell you something Michael, I'm one of the fastest around, the whole shot takes about 2 hours start through to finish. My guess is that it takes you even longer... just guessing, of course, but seeing how I have trained maybe 40-50 men in this trade over the years, I'm betting I'm right here!

So at 2 hours, plus dropping the dishwasher off at a charity (how ridiculous did that sound.. *UGH*) and you charging $40.00 to $45.00 and using your own vehicle, gas, insurance (so you say) and everything else that goes into a business AND PAYING TAXES ON THAT MONEY (right?? ) and you having to pay SELF-EMPLOYMENT TAXES... you are making about $10.00 an hour. I pay 16 year old helpers more than that! Hopefully, you can clearly see that you have made less money than if you worked for someone!

Good luck with that there...

Finally, let me "SPIT" one more thought out to you...;) The only rude person here is you...the person that thought he could walk in and post the nonsense you posted on a PLUMBING FORUM and get away with it!