So I was quoted $1150 today to install an electrical outlet...

[romulus90]

What is going on with cost of home services?

Wife and I just bought a house without a garbage disposal.. She took the kids out of town for a few days so I installed a disposal and was going to run electrics (kitchen wasn't built with an outlet under the sink, so need an outlet + switch), but got lazy and figured I'd have an electrician do it.

After some research on yelp, I emailed the top rated local companies and only 1 responded. So the guy comes out and after poking around, says he needs to run a dedicated circuit b/c of the high amp disposal and it was going to cost $1,150... but it'd be done today and I wouldn't have to worry about it. I almost fell over. I had ~$300 in my head as a *high* figure, but was willing to do it at that cost. To be clear, we're talking running 50ft of line from the box, through crawl space, up in wall to switch behind the sink, then down to outlet 4' away. Not cosmic...



Ironically, I was talking to my dad recently about how technicians (plumbing, heating/air, electricians, etc) seem to just charge insane prices and enough people bite that it's worth the easy work over doing every job for a reasonable fee. For example, a heating/air tech quoted my parents $2,500 to replace ONE vent line from the air handler because the insulation was damaged. My dad bought supplies from lowes and spent 2 hours doing it himself.. Ridiculous.

[J!m]

Damn. Sounds like I did about 1.5m in electrical in my house so far!

I'm glad my dad was licensed and showed me a thing or two!

[RichM]

That's insane.

[roaddog359]

Thats a bargain! You must have a nice place. and they see you have money, and are over charging you. Happens to my rich friends a lot. Never happened to me though, wonder why?

[Abdullah71601]

Tradecraft has become quite pricey the last 10 years or so.

A carpenter wanted $400 bucks to install a steel entry door on an existing hardened jam for me. Not including the door. I did it myself in less than an hour. It took longer to go buy the door and drag it home than to hang it. Crazy quote, but seems to be the trend these days.

[seand442]

A little handyman ability goes a hell of a long way these days.

[Conant]

Haha. If you hadn't mentioned the crawl space I could have argued maybe it was an accessibility of location. That's just highway robbery.

[scott k]

Sounds like you were shocked

[TheVTCGuy]

I'll do it for $1149

[bdex75]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

I'll do it for $1149

That's what friends are for right there.

$1150 is highway robbery.


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[Kingair]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

I'll do it for $1149

How ?

You are in Mexico!

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[GradyPhilpott]

I was just wondering if this happened today and if the electrician arrived at your home in the afternoon.

Maybe he wasn't in much of a mood to do the job on a Friday afternoon, but thought what the heck, "I'll do it if I can get this guy to pay for my weekend trip."

Just a guess.

[Rock]

Yeah, tradesman prices are crazy everywhere.
I had an otherwise good electrician wire up my Mains/fuse box to take a direct connection from a generator (cost $500.) only to have him tell me afterwards "I don't think this is going to work because your generator will trip out the mains as soon as it starts."
Thanks for telling me that before rather than after.

[Danny83]

Keep checking I thats a $200 job max

[bayerische]

It's the same here. It really is a hit and miss.

Luckily I can do some stuff myself, have a friend who is an electrician, have a couple of friends in construction. But yeah, Pricing is outrageous sometimes.

But sometimes you can get lucky. Had an electric meltdown at the restaurant a month back. Noticed at 2 am a bad electrical smell, noticed a junction box smoking and melting away. I have a quick switch for all heat-machinery so that off and fast! I think another 30 seconds and there had been an electrical fire.

Anyway, I knew that if this isn't fixed before 10 the following morning we're not opening the kitchen! (Sure I do have insurance for that, but hey rather have it open, than going trough that insurance crappola) Well by 10, or just slightly after all was fixed. The guy brought a helper, since he didn't know the severity of the damage. Well, got the bill a week later and it was a whopping 92 euros! I mean it took them over an hour from them walking in. And it included the junction box and connectors.

[romulus90]

Originally Posted by roaddog359

Thats a bargain! You must have a nice place. and they see you have money, and are over charging you. Happens to my rich friends a lot. Never happened to me though, wonder why?

We do live in a nicer 'hood, but this whole part of MD is pricey IMO. This had crossed my mind, but I figured a mainstream company would be above that..

Originally Posted by scott k

Sounds like you were shocked

Well, I was not amped up about wiring the guy so much money, to put it lightly.

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

I was just wondering if this happened today and if the electrician arrived at your home in the afternoon.

Maybe he wasn't in much of a mood to do the job on a Friday afternoon, but thought what the heck, "I'll do it if I can get this guy to pay for my weekend trip."

Just a guess.

I had an appt friday morning, but yea I just assumed he either didn't feel like doing it (not sure why, super easy job in a clean house) or wanted to pay for weekend fun.


If tradesmen really are getting this much money from people, I spent way too long in school.. I could have apprenticed in high school and within a few years started my own company.

[GoingPlaces]

I would absolutely get a couple more estimates. That's way high, even for beyond expensive.

[romulus90]

Oh, it's offensively expensive. I just looked at the cost breakdown and he wants $950 to run the cable and $200 to expand an existing single switch on my wall into a double switch box. It's so absurd it's funny.. I can't wait to do this myself for $100, including a 6 pack.

[Sperry]

I had a root canal; the tanned, gold-bracleted dental guy talked non-stop about his sailboat with his assistant. While watching a live x-ray feed of the drill going into the root of my tooth. Blew it out with some water and air, pumped in epoxy and inserted some mono-filiment (the same stuff on your weed whacker). Waited a minute, trimmed the top, covered the hole with bondo, and gave me a bill for $1150. For 45 minutes work.

[Dyim]

He must have spotted the Rolex on your wrist

[GerardoG]

Originally Posted by Kingair

How ?

You are in Mexico!

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He will hire an electrician here, make the full job for $75 and have enough left for dinner with her 'special' lady....

[teqp]

Originally Posted by romulus90

Oh, it's offensively expensive. I just looked at the cost breakdown and he wants $950 to run the cable and $200 to expand an existing single switch on my wall into a double switch box. It's so absurd it's funny.. I can't wait to do this myself for $100, including a 6 pack.

Sometimes it's best to do it yourself. Sounds like a pretty easy job. Enjoy your beer after a job well done!

As someone mentioned about your Rolex, I never wear one when I have a trade coming over for a quote.

[Skidrowe]

If you are going to diy it, please make sure to remove your watch when playing in the panel! Ive seen more than a few get melted right off the wrist. Leaves a pretty nice burn imprint behind!

Good luck...

[Brenngun]

Sadly a result of shrinking skilled tradesmen with more work than they have time to complete. Result becomes a price that's take it or leave it from a lot of contractors.

[sparky]

I Came out of retirement this spring for 2-1/2 months and made $42k on an overtime job so I could get a new Cayman (just a base model). After the crash of 2009, lots of guys got out and didn't come back, and kids aren't interested in sweaty, dirty, seasonal work, so there you are. Make sure if you do it you self to have someone at least look it over- you homeowners might not cover a loss related to the installation.

[Duey]

I know people are going to freak here but that's the going rate for a dedicated line to the box and a plug.

Dedicated Line = $1000
Plug = $150

[BNA/LION]

Seems like an excessive price for the job to me...

[romulus90]

Originally Posted by Duey

I know people are going to freak here but that's the going rate for a dedicated line to the box and a plug.

Dedicated Line = $1000
Plug = $150

Mind explaining why? Genuinely curious. I looked at the routing a little closer today and it's even easier than I thought. Even if it took 5 hours (I'm guessing it will take 2 if I go slowly), that's $200/hr. An experienced electrician? Phhsssst. They'd have it done in an hour. That is a serious hourly wage and I just can't see why.

[superstarmar]

Originally Posted by Danny83

Keep checking , thats about a $200 job max

Call some friends around and get a referral ..:
You might find some one reasonable and dependable
to do it for you ... Referral is always the best way
from my experience ...

[roaddog359]

Originally Posted by romulus90

We do live in a nicer 'hood, but this whole part of MD is pricey IMO. This had crossed my mind, but I figured a mainstream company would be above that..



Well, I was not amped up about wiring the guy so much money, to put it lightly.



I had an appt friday morning, but yea I just assumed he either didn't feel like doing it (not sure why, super easy job in a clean house) or wanted to pay for weekend fun.


If tradesmen really are getting this much money from people, I spent way too long in school.. I could have apprenticed in high school and within a few years started my own company.

Well, dont put too much faith in a good company, its the tech. thats quoting you and tryng to get your hard earned money.