A question for Plumbing Experts

[Tony-OH]

The screw on the knob of my hose bib on the side of the house has rusted to the point that I can't shut off the water )it runs all over the place). I shut off the water from the inside and called my home warranty company who sent out a plumber. $60 later hey told me I needed new hose bib and valve. The home warranty wouldn't pick it up so they want to charge me $380 on top of the $60 to fix the problem. That seems excessive.

They can easily reach the valve from the drop ceiling since I already knocked out some of the dry wall so I can't imagine this is a very tough job.

So my question to any plumbing experts out there, is this a good price and should I be able to call some plumbers, explain the problem and get some estimates?

[weams]

The screw on the knob of my hose bib on the side of the house has rusted to the point that I can't shut off the water )it runs all over the place). I shut off the water from the inside and called my home warranty company who sent out a plumber. $60 later hey told me I needed new hose bib and valve. The home warranty wouldn't pick it up so they want to charge me $380 on top of the $60 to fix the problem. That seems excessive.

They can easily reach the valve from the drop ceiling since I already knocked out some of the dry wall so I can't imagine this is a very tough job.

So my question to any plumbing experts out there, is this a good price and should I be able to call some plumbers, explain the problem and get some estimates?

You might want to get a bid on service magic. I have had good success that way. http://www.servicemagic.com/

[Tony-OH]

You might want to get a bid on service magic. I have had good success that way. http://www.servicemagic.com/

I tried service magic one time but got slammed with voice mails for weeks.

[weams]

I tried service magic one time but got slammed with voice mails for weeks.

Yeah, I guess that is part of it. Up here, they are not so aggressive ;)

[Miller192]

Is the water line in the house PVC or copper?

I just replaced a house bib on the outside of my house on Saturday. It's a really simple task.

If you're working with PVC, you can tackle it easy. If it's copper, you might want some help but I would still do it myself.

I would replace the hose bib first, then see if the valve really is bad.

EDIT: That kind of money just seems ridiculous to me but I do a lot of my own home repairs.

[Brendan25]

One thing to keep in mind is that copper is fairly expensive these days so the cost of the pipe is included in that. Most of that cost seems like labor though. I've never heard of replacing a hose bibb taking 3-4 hours which is what it looks like they are estimating it is going to take.

[Tony-OH]

I have copper piping but the real problem is at the hose Bib. The valve looks like it work (moves back and forth). Just can't get the valve to shut off because the screw is rusted tight and when I turn the handle it just spins and spins.

[Brendan25]

I have copper piping but the real problem is at the hose Bib. The valve looks like it work (moves back and forth). Just can't get the valve to shut off because the screw is rusted tight and when I turn the handle it just spins and spins.

It still shouldn't be that hard to replace the valve if it is copper. You can just cut the valve right out and braze a new one in with new piping. It should take the cost of the new valve, the piping, and the labor to braze it.

[Satyr3206]

The cost of the hose bib, pipe, fittings and tubing cutter if you need one is only about 60-70 bucks. It's an easy fix and I could probably talk you through it. BTW it's not brazing with copper pipes it's soldering. And make sure you get non acid solder. Let me know if you decide to tackle it yourself.

[Miller192]

I have copper piping but the real problem is at the hose Bib. The valve looks like it work (moves back and forth). Just can't get the valve to shut off because the screw is rusted tight and when I turn the handle it just spins and spins.

Just pull the entire bib off and put a new one on. It should be a simple fix. Make sure you clean the threads and put some plumbers tape on and you should be good to go.

[Satyr3206]

Miller is right about replacing the bib that way. However sometimes the bib won't release when you try to take it off and it bends the tubing behind it so usually I cut back a foot or so from the bib and replace it that way.

[Tony-OH]

The problem was that the bib was under the siding a bit. Thanks for all teh advice, but in the end I ended up spending $311 for a plumber to fix it. It took him like an hour so I hope the parts cost like $200 because that's a ridiculously high hourly wage.

[Old#5fan]

The problem was that the bib was under the siding a bit. Thanks for all teh advice, but in the end I ended up spending $311 for a plumber to fix it. It took him like an hour so I hope the parts cost like $200 because that's a ridiculously high hourly wage.

All because of a $.10 cent screw not being galvenized, which it might have cost another $.05. This kind of stuff really aggravates me as to how cheaply they make stuff nowadays. Its just ridiculous.