Plumbing costs

Plumbing prices are local. Labor rates, permit fees, and how hard your house is to work in — slab foundation, finished basement, tight crawlspace — move the number more than the parts do. Treat every range on this page as a sanity check, not a quote. If a bid lands far outside the range, that isn't proof of a ripoff; it's a prompt to ask why.

Here are the ranges we could source for 2026. Drain cleaning: $100–$275 for a sink, tub, or shower clog; $175–$600 to snake a main line. Sewer camera inspection: $125–$750, higher if there's no cleanout and the plumber has to pull a toilet for access. Hydro jetting: roughly $350–$1,600. Water heater replacement: $900–$5,500 all in, with most standard installs at $1,200–$2,500. Whole-home repipe: $4,000–$15,000, with PEX materially cheaper than copper.

Watch the gap between the diagnosis and the recommendation. The single most common way homeowners overspend on plumbing is agreeing to a large job on the strength of a free inspection. A camera inspection that finds a "failing" sewer line should come with recorded footage you can keep and show to a second contractor. If the company won't hand over the video, that's your answer.

Financed prices are not the same as cash prices. When a quote is presented as a monthly payment, ask for the total cash price in writing. Dealer-arranged financing often carries a markup buried in the job price, and you can only see it by comparing the two numbers side by side.

How to choose

Get three written bids on anything over about $2,000

For repipes, sewer work, and whole-house equipment, three bids is the cheapest insurance available. For a $200 clog at 9pm, it isn't worth it.

Ask what's excluded, not what's included

Included lists are marketing. Exclusion lists are where the change orders come from: drywall repair, permit fees, code upgrades, hauling, restoration.

Demand the camera footage

If a sewer or drain recommendation rests on a camera inspection, you should leave with a copy of the video. This is standard and reasonable to require.

Price the repair against the replacement

A $600 repair on a 13-year-old water heater is usually a bad trade. A $600 repair on a 4-year-old one usually isn't. Age of the equipment should drive the decision more than the repair price.

Never sign a large job during an emergency visit

Emergency pressure is the most reliable predictor of overpaying. Pay for the stabilization. Sleep on the project.