Cost to install a new gas dryer (old one broke)

Hi,

My wife had a plumber come out to hook up a new gas dryer. We have an old one that broke, so all the lines are in place, it is just a matter of disconnecting the old one and connnecting the new. No extras, like hauling away the old dryer. The cost blew me away:

Disconnect dryer: $164.24 Install gas dryer: $282.25 Total: $446.49

This seems absoutely insane to me. I would've done it myself, but unlike water or electricity, gas scares me. Is this anywhere close to reasonable, or should I make a stink?

We live in suburban Washington DC, Bethesda MD to be exact, if locality matters for this sort of thing.

Thanks,

Mike.

Reply to
mikeclancy
Loading thread data ...

Hi,

My wife had a plumber come out to hook up a new gas dryer. We have an old one that broke, so all the lines are in place, it is just a matter of disconnecting the old one and connnecting the new. No extras, like hauling away the old dryer. The cost blew me away:

Disconnect dryer: $164.24 Install gas dryer: $282.25 Total: $446.49

This seems absoutely insane to me. I would've done it myself, but unlike water or electricity, gas scares me. Is this anywhere close to reasonable, or should I make a stink?

We live in suburban Washington DC, Bethesda MD to be exact, if locality matters for this sort of thing.

Thanks,

Mike.

Reply to
mikeclancy

Around here you now need a special license to install gas appliances, so the price has shot up. But >$400 still sounds high to me.

Reply to
CJT

You could have easily installed the dryer yourself. An employee in the plumbing department at Home Depot could have set you up with the tools and supplies that you needed. There is no reason that gas should scare you. You do the work, turn on the gas, and if you smell an leakage, you deal with it and move on. What can a plumber do that you can't? Gas has to have a narrow ration to air to be flammable. You would have to have quite a bit to be dangerous, and by then you would get sick of the smell.

Really old gas appliances used to be hard-piped to the gas supply. This might have inflated your cost if it meant modifying this. But if there was an existing flexible connector, you could have just transferred it to the new appliance, or maybe replaced the connector with an updated one. The secret to a good seal is using gas-rated teflon tape or a sealing paste. Again, someone at a hardware store could have helped you, and watched you practice on a spare piece of pipe if they had one lying around. One key to loosening or tightening the connections is to hold one side stable with a pipe wrench or another tool, while turning the other side with another tool; that way you don't turn both side and loosen something else down the line.

Reply to
nospamtodd

That's interesting; around here you need a license for water, but anyone can do gas. Anyhow, it can't take more than 15 minutes to take the old one out, and 45 minutes to put one in. Even allowing an hour for transportation, that is $220 an hour. Shop around; if you can't find a better price, do it yourself.

Funny think about gas; it is actually easier than water since the pressure is so low. Leaks are easy to spot with soapy water. And if you screw it up, the odor is noticable at much lower levels than are dangerous. You would have to almost try to do it dangerously.

Now... this all assumes you have a shut off at the dryer. If you don't, it is rather more difficult.

Reply to
Toller

Get some other quotes. Maybe check out the supplier from whom you purchased the new dryer.

Unless forbidden by local codes, you might as well do it yourself. It's not hard. Get a new flexible connector line (don't try and reuse the old one) with the right fittings, some jointing compound (for gas) and a couple of wrenches.

Check for leaks using your nose and by painting each joint with some soapy water and looking for bubbles.

Than take the wife out for a night on the town with the $400 you just saved. I'm sure she'll find a way to thank you ;-)

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

Did you at least have a good orgasm? I'd have thought $150 would be on the high side. He may have had to change a fitting or two, but the time for labor about 1 hour. Disconnecting should be just a few minutes to turn of a valve and break open the union.

Total should be maybe $15 or parts, 1/2 hour travel time, 1 hour labor. My plumber charges $65 an hour in a small town. Maybe yours was a congressman or something because a regular, no matter how shady, could not screw you as much as a politician.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I had the gas company hook mine up. $115. I had removed the old one but they would have done that at the same price. The old one was sitting in the garage and they took it away. Sears delivered the dryer. After rebate delivery was free. Near Raleigh NC.

Reply to
Art

Removal of my 10 year old dryer was very difficult. The sealant they used was like glue.

Reply to
Art

I would think about $150 is about right as there is not much to the installation and it should take less than an hour. I can't expect a service call to be less than $100, then labor $50 an hour. I use pipe dope, channel locks, soapy water. There should be a cut-off valve near each gas appliance. At those prices maybe I should have been a plumber!

Reply to
Phisherman

As I recall, Sears charged me about $150 to install and haul away old. I live in an upscale area of Phila, and I have seen enormous inflation in all services. Plumbers who want $900 to replace 4 feet of waste pipe, painters who want $1400 to paint one bedroom 16'x16', an electrician who tried to charge $900 to replace one of my mom's curcuit breaker switches (not the box, the one switch!). They aren't stupid: they see the money flowing to the top echelon of society, and death of the Do-it-yourselfers (ore even people who cut their own grass!), and they charge what they can get away with. Did you ever wonder why they ask you for your zip code first, before any estimate? It ain't to mail you a Christmas card . . . it's to see what rate structure to impose based on the wealth of your area. So if you are elderly, or happen to be poor in a good area, you are screwed!

At least Sears tells you up front what the charge will be (and they usually have a sale on some installation service component. It's a good starting point for then negotiating with a private installer if you wish to do so.

Alex

Phisherman wrote:

Reply to
NeedleNose

Reply to
buffalobill

Let me see if I understand you correctly. You were too lazy to do it yourself and you didn't shop around, and now you are complaining about the price. Sounds like you should have done your homework.

Even if you are afraid to install it yourself, there is no reason why you could not have remioved the old one yourself if there was a working cutoff valve at the dryer. If not then the charge to remove old dryer and install a valve and do some repiping there would have been justified.

And without details of what the install consisted if it's hard to say, but adding a piece of flex hose and dryer vent stuff could have potentially been complicated, but unilkely.

Reply to
scott21230

Lets see, you didn't ask for a price upfront. The work is done now.

I'd make a stink, but don't expect much sympathy. I've got a couple friends who live in that area. For four bills, I coulda drove down from NY State and stayed overnight with friends. Done your dryer, and then had time to go to the temple and attend a session, and come home.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

And why didn't we know how much it was going to cost BEFORE authorizing the work?

Cost to install one where I live, about $20. I like to put a new flex hose any time I change a dryer, a thing of mine. I could use the old one, and then it would be free.

You said two things. Gas scares you, and you live in Bethesda MD. Those locals know girlie men are afraid of gas, and take every advantage.

Learn how to do it, or at least how to shop around, or quit kvetching.

Sheesh.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

On the other hand, he didn't break anything, didn't track tar on your new white carpet, and didn't abuse your wife or your dog. And you've got to remember that, no matter how it's broken down on the bill, the first $100 is just to show up in the first place. And the plumber is trying to pay for a house and shop in Bethesda, too, so you can't really expect Dixville Notch type prices.

Reply to
Goedjn

I did my own with no experience and had no l problems. I even had to extend the gas pipe a little...simply solved with a tee and a new legth of pipe. Checked for leaks with dish soap on the pipe. This was about two years ago...no problems.

Reply to
jtees4

No real reason to be scared of gas, it's not difficult and you would smell it if there were a leak. When we moved into our house and took our old dryer with us, it would never have occurred to me to call anyone to hook it up. It probably took thirty minutes to connect the gas line, vent line, and power.

You got taken, but it's too late now.

Reply to
SMS

CJT wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@prodigy.net:

Lived in one area where final gas connection to anything had to be done by the gas company only.

Reply to
Al Bundy

CJT wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@prodigy.net:

Probably can get a cert course for $446.49

Reply to
Al Bundy

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.