If this is from your home inspection, run like hell, if this is your house and those plumbers where just there get an attorney the fix is on them and will be expensive, if this is a flip then it seems about right.
Head of a commercial construction estimating department here; we selectively do some residential work for commercial clients' personal homes. I have a residential design-build renovation im finalizing this week for $800k, adding a second floor to a home and full reno on the first floor. Home was bought 14 months ago for $925k, home was originally built in the 1920's and is in a very posh area in the center of a relatively HCOL city. See some stupid shit in commercial, but not as much as I do in residential. Homeowners typically want the cheapest option, and that means hiring the likely unlicensed guy who gets his labor pool from the home depot parking lot. Vet your general contractor and ask him to provide a list of his subcontractors
Homeowners typically want the cheapest option, and that means hiring the likely unlicensed guy who gets his labor pool from the home depot parking lot.
Homeowners often don't know that the plumber didn't have to do what they did. I have witnessed plumbers taking out way more than they need or not spending a little more time doing it right or missing the bid and cutting their losses. From my observation, homeowners typically hire licensed plumbers and expect them to do the needful and learn the hard way they need more than a plumber.
I should add that this particular mess doesn't look like a plumber was involved. They usually at least get the pipes done right.
You are correct as well. Homeowners do tend to be more ignorant than commercial customers and can easily fall victim to crews willing to cut corners.
That's why you vet your contractor and get references. Also, read your proposal and think about what level of customer service you want to receive. For my $800k residential, I've got around $85k in there just as the project super. It'll be an at least 11 month job and the customers lender requires full time, on site supervision throughout the duration of the project as a condition of the loan.
A general contractor to tell the plumber not to fuck shit up. Getting the person that is going to do the non plumbing work evolved earlier so they can do the prep for the plumber.
As someone recently doing some home plumbing when you say "taking out way more than they needed to" it entirely depends on what they took out. Cast iron is fucking prehistoric and pretty much everybody suggests removing as much of it as possible. Galvanized is sort of antique, but does connect to PVC so it's more hit and miss about who will say to take out as much as possible. PVC is what is used these days, and if they're cutting out way more PVC than necessary then I'd put more merit in "taking out too much". If they're getting rid of cast iron or galvanized I think it's actually what you want to do for longevity and convenience.
Yeah my Dad isn't licensed or bonded, and I can vouch that my Mother never should have hired him to do all the plumbing repair because I'm now having to fix it for him and I just don't understand why he decided to remove some galvanized pipe and replace it with cast iron when I've been dealing with plumbing shit and literally every time I bring up cast iron the immediate response is "yeah you should go back up the line as far as you can and cut that shit out".
Do you have any idea how hard it was to source a 2.5" x 1.5" flexible rubber coupler to join some 1.5" PVC starting from a catch basin that ends in a 1.5" to 1.25" reducer because the fucking cast iron pipes threads rusted off? Did I mention that the entire run was about 18 inches long and used two elbows? I honestly thought the "cut it out" people were being ridiculous, but this is literally only a short run of a threeway sanitary joint, elbow, and u joint that's acting as a pea trap in which the sanitary joint is what I'd have to cut out and it's only like 4 inches worth...like I wouldn't even have to cut cast iron I'd have to cut the galvanized in the wall to remove the cast iron.
I told him he should just invest in a Sawzall and I'd cut it out for him as it's not that difficult other than I've never operated a Sawzall so it's a bit of a wild card. Son of a bitch insists I be his plumber, but also that I don't know what I'm doing enough to cut that shit out....I could have fixed it so much faster just by cutting it out and it would be a better fix.
If this really is the same person, they go by AlphaStructural over on Imgur and post weekly digests about stuff they have seen during their inspections and it is usually pretty horrifying.
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u/mjh2901 5d ago
If this is from your home inspection, run like hell, if this is your house and those plumbers where just there get an attorney the fix is on them and will be expensive, if this is a flip then it seems about right.