Need a Good Plumber

I have need of a good plumber to fix a leak in a shower/tub hot side which won’t turn off. By a good plumber I mean honest of course (who doesn’t claim I have to replace my whole house just to fix the leak) but also someone who does not charge “by the job” which is a new way many, like my old plumber, have adopted which means a very simple and quick repair can cost many hundreds of dollars. That’s not a very honest way of pricing in my view. It’s greedy.

If anyone can recommend an honest plumber in Dallas I would appreciate that. Thanks.

(edited out when your edit answered the question)

Faucet control leaking? Turn off the water, open it up, and replace the part. It’s either a cartridge or a seat and seal combo. Either way you can get the tools and parts at Home Debit.

If you take your tub up to Home Depot you can probably have it fixed for about five dollars. If you expect someone to drive out to fix it and then drive back home, expect to pay for that time.

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This BS is one of my biggest irritations.
When I’m not out of town in roswell, lubbock, Jacksboro or up north in Mammoth Spring/Thayer area, I have a small business specializing in moving and delivery of small order large size items.
Basically, Uber delivery for big shit.

This is the best way I’ve seen it summed up as a response when somebody, who knows absolutely nothing about the job or the industry much less The Continuous increasing cost of transportation, insurance, tools, Etc while at the same time completely discounting the amount of time you have to put into amassing the skills, knowledge and even sometimes the strength requirements that are needed to complete a job.
I have repeatedly had people that just decided that moving three refrigerators from a second floor walk up to a third floor walk up 5 Mi away warranted no more than $50 charge even though they wanted me to drive 50 miles to do the move for them.
And when they don’t like my quote, I’m referred to as a brainless laborer, stupid, overcharging ripoff, scam artist, Etc because people doing physical labor have seemed to have increasingly gotten more and more disrespected because (as I was told directly to my face recently) labor is a stupid man’s occupation.
At best, it is insulting. Especially coming from someone that hasn’t spent a single day in the industry or doing any kind of job that they’re critiquing and running down.
If its so easy and cheap, you do it.

But I digress and apologize for the rant, it’s been a day along this very same vein.

And now for your reading pleasure and again, the best way I’ve ever seen it summed up quite simply:

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You misunderstand the issue. Of course fair pay for work. But what is fair pay? How much should a plumber charge to come out and spend 1 hour fixing a leaky faucet? Estimates are all over the map.

Plumbing is skilled labor and should be charged as skilled labor. Quote me a price per hour plus parts.
But when I get a flat rate quote of $1500 to fix a leaky faucet which is very likely to take about 1 hour or less and that’s five times what my lawyer friend bills per hour, something is very wrong. The problem is not the skilled individual plumber, it’s the big plumbing company that ups the price game with high fees by charging “by the job” and not by the hour. The individual plumber doesn’t get all that. The company does.

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I expect to pay a reasonable rate not a highly over inflated rate. I don’t expect to pay $1500 for one hour of work. My doctor only gets $200, a lawyer is about $300 so why should my plumber get $1500? Is that fair and honest pricing? This is a growing problem with skilled labor as it is pricing itself out out the range of affordability for many people.

My question to all of you is what should it cost to fix a leaky faucet assuming it takes about an hour or less? What is a fair price? What is an unfair price?

I agree that $1500 is too much, but that is just my opinion.

That’s what “markets” are for. The concept of a “fair” price doesn’t really exist outside of that. (NB: I am not trying to instruct or educate anyone on this; I realize most here already understand it.)

I also agree with your implicit concern that the market for some services like this is broken – as in not working efficiently – to an extent. But it is also clear to almost everyone that there has been a massive influx of people into the area, along with the knock-on/downstream effects of all of the new (or used/rented) housing needed, and the following spike in demand for things like electrician/plumber/handyman/etc. services that brings. Especially in a time & place where people are less and less RWA (ready, willing, able) to do this type of stuff for themselves.

What’s not clear to me is why this current state of affairs hasn’t been drawing more people into these trades to participate in the economic rents currently being earned, such that the increase in supply then naturally brings prices for these types of services down to a more “natural” level.

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