Don’t Pay Too Much for Your Cast Iron Sewer Pipe Replacement

Hello We are inhouse plumbing company where serving you is our business. We service the following areas of Texas Plano, Richardson, Garland, Dallas & Surrounding Cities. Don’t pay too much for someone to replace your cast iron sewer pipes. The truth is that every house is different, so when it comes to replacing the cast iron sewer pipes, the cost will be different for each house. One common misconception is that what my friend, coworker, family member or neighbor paid is what I will pay, that is a myth, 2 houses right next to each other could be significantly different in cost based on the layout of the plumbing in each house, the only way to know what your cost would be is to get an estimate, we will talk more about estimates below. With that said we are hearing and seeing a lot of information that shows people are overpaying for cast iron pipe replacement and we don’t want that to happen to you. Here are a few things to keep in mind to keep this from happening to you.

Square footage of the house has absolutely nothing to do with the price of replacing your cast iron pipes.

Where the plumbing fixtures (such as – Kitchen sink, Bar Sink, Washer, Bathroom Sinks, Toilets, Showers and Tubs) are located and what has to be done to get to and replace the pipe for those fixtures is the only thing that matters. So for example how much (tunnel, trench, excavation, plumbing labor and materials, backfill and cleanup) has to be done.

Rerouting the plumbing pipe is almost always the best and least expensive option if possible, however remember not all houses can be rerouted. One major reason rerouting is usually the best option is because it can eliminate significant amounts of tunneling and trade that tunneling for trenching in the yard. Tunneling is typically the most expensive part of cast iron pipe replacement.

Get multiple estimates. No one should pay for an estimate from a company for this type of work, so we recommend getting as many estimates as possible, it can only help you learn and likely save money in the end. Keep in mind that the cheapest estimate may not be the right estimate to go with, the old saying that you get what you pay for has a lot of truth to it and be careful of the tricks that could be played by giving a low estimate to get in the door and coming back for more money once the work is started. Also keep in mind that the most expensive estimate does not mean that company is the most experienced or going to do the best job. There are so many things to consider with pricing, that we cannot possibly list them all here, just be very careful and listen to your gut. You just want to be careful to understand each estimate, check out each company thoroughly to make sure they are going to do what they say there are going to do. The worst thing you can do is hire the wrong company, pay them and have to redo part or all of what they did which will end up costing you double or triple what you could have gotten it done for by a reputable and quality company.

Lets talk a little about average or possible cost of replacing your cast iron sewer pipes. The overwhelming majority of our estimates range from 15,000 to 25,000. Sometimes but not often we see estimates ranging from 25,000 to 35,000 and although it happens it is extremely rare to see an estimate over 35,000. In our 22 year history as a company we have only given 2 estimates at a cost over 45,000. It is our experience that many companies are charging 1 and a half to three times what a good reputable company who does this all the time will charge you to do the work, so make sure you get multiple estimates from a variety of companies and look for the companies that specialize in and do this type of work all the time.

Although using an excavation company to do the excavation work and separate plumbing company to do this work is an option we highly recommend against it as neither company is going to be able to provide you a warranty for their work, meaning you could have to redo what was done immediately after the work is finished at your cost. Obviously, it would likely be rare there would be a problem, but just make sure you factor this risk possibility into your overall decision. It is also important to note that many times two different companies charging full price for each of their work separately (remember you have a certain amount of overhead cost built into every estimate and company) can cost more than one company giving you their best cost for the whole job. Another thing to consider here is that most of the companies doing this type of work in DFW these days use a subcontracted excavation crew to do the excavation work, but the plumbing company subcontracting to the excavation company is going to pay that excavation company less money than a homeowner would because of the volume of work they give to that contractor. This means you will pay maximum price for the excavation company and the plumbing company hiring them separately. This is another reason getting multiple estimates is a good idea.

Another thing I would like to address is replacing your cast iron pipes in multiple stages. What I mean by this is doing one part of the work now and other part(s) later. We highly recommend against this if you can at all avoid it. Keep in mind that it will always cost you more money and sometimes significantly more money to do the work in stages then it would to do it all at one time. There are many reasons for this so what I will say is if you are considering this as an option call us and lets us come and look at your situation and give you an estimate and we can show you how much it would cost for all of it now, as well as part now and part later at today’s prices so you can make a good long-term decision. We understand that many people cannot afford to do all of it at once, we just want to make sure you understand it will cost you more doing it separately than all at once. Many people believe we don’t recommend this as an option because it is good for us to do it all now, the truth is we would make more money if you did the work separately, we recommend against this because we have your long-term best interest in mind not ours.

We hope this information will help you make the right long-term decision when it comes to replacing your cast iron sewer pipes. Feel free to contact us today at 972-366-6597 for a free no obligation evaluation and estimate as we will always give you our honest opinion and best price. Also please consider sharing this information with your family, friends and neighbors to make sure they don’t pay too much either. Thank you and have a great day.