On 11 Oct 2006 16:52:16 -0700, wrote:

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.

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!