Leaking steel pipe - how to fix

Plumber is right, but the price is outrageous. Getting a welder out to the house is a couple of hundred bucks though. I'd replace the entire pipe. If one small section is leaking, the rest of the ipe is probably in bad shape also. Find a better plumber.

Call another plumber. See if the new guy's estimate agrees with the first guy's estimate. If it does, ask why it is so expensive. They may have a reason for asking for so much.

Mike

My Dad told me to always get three quotes on major items. That's enough to see the spread and few enough to avoid wasting time.

I called another plumber which has worked for couple of my neighbors. After seeing the leak he quoted $350 which I promptly accepted!

The three estimate thing isalways the best way to go..though some of us (including me) get lazy about it sometimes. It's also a good thing to let each of them know that you are pricing out the job...it often gets them to actually give you their best price.

Steel clamps with rubber work fine to stop leaks on high pressure

Are you talking about regular iron pipe, with threaded ends and fittings? and 2 inches "thick" do you mean diameter? Pipe is measured by ID, so "about 2 inches thick" would likel be 1 1/2" pipe. That size implies steam to me rather than hot water, but it could be either.

Could you describe the leak? Is it s crack, leaking at a fitting, damaged, corroded or ??? It would make a difference as to best method of repair.

It's hot water for radiators in the house. The 2 inches thick mean diameter.

Dave wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Once the job is done for $350 and you are convinced it's repaired, call the BBB and turn the thief in. If someone else had done this in the past he might not have tried to pull this on you. He's put the screws to others in the past and got away with it. If unchecked, his practice will continue.

If it were a no pressure system like a sewer, I'd suggest take the bad section out and use Fernco couplers.

Related I suppose ... I had a leak in the 1/2 copper water pipe. A temporary fix was to put a wrap or two of electrical tape around the leak, and then apply a hose clamp ... the kind that tightens using a screw. And about that temporary ... I put it on about a year ago, it's still there. When I get around to redoing the bathroom (which may be this winter, maybe next), I'll do the permanent fix.