Know how to convert an electric stovetop to natural gas?

[Larry Douglas]

I know this isn't fishing related but thought someone might want to pick up a couple extra $s.

A Sears sub contractor quoted me a price of $700 for what I believe might be a 4 hour job. I told him to pound sand.

I'm willing to pay $350 or so for the job.

If you're qualified and want to discuss this, call me at 209-239-8600. I'm in Manteca.

Larry Douglas

[crawdaddy]

Larry,

My fishing partner did his by himself. He made it sound fairly simple. You may look into it.

[Larry Douglas]

I worked in the construction business for over 40 years as a welder and heavy duty repairman, but have a difficult time changing a light bulb at home!

After once trying to fix a running toilet by changing the float....I eventually had to spend well over $500 to have a plumber replace the entire damned thing! It's a long story, but I now know my limitations and accept them.

NO HOME REPAIRS OR CONVERSIONS DONE BY ME!!!

I'm too old for the frustrations.

If I can't find someone to do the conversion for a reasonable price, I'll just stick with the electric.

Larry Douglas

[Vince E]

I'm an electrician and not a plumber but I do know that a qualified professional shouldn't be cheap. The "qualified" part means he has had extensive training for many years all at a rate of pay that most certainly would not allow for a bass boat or much tackle in his budget.
If your plumber screws up your gas line it could blow up you and your family and catch your neighbors house on fire as well. Even your highly paid doctor would only take you out if he blew it. What do you think a person taking on that kind of liability is worth?
Sorry for the rant but I get tired of showing up at houses twice the size of mine with toys in the garage that I can only dream of and have the owners look at me like I'm ripping them off.
All of that is before you even consider the logistics of trying to add a gas line to the location where you need it and not having it look like crap or otherwise tearing up your house when it's done.
Also, in hiring a qualified professional you get the benifit of that person having a look for potential dangers you might not recognize yourself. This is very common in old electrical installations that have been hacked and re-hacked by doityourselfers over the years.
Now I will say that if your house was pre-plumbed for gas to that location then the price you mentioned is way high even for your area and Sears might not be the best place to hire a plumber. Get another estimate or two from known reputable companies.

[Slippy]

I know this isn't fishing related but thought someone might want to pick up a couple extra $s.

A Sears sub contractor quoted me a price of $700 for what I believe might be a 4 hour job. I told him to pound sand.

I'm willing to pay $350 or so for the job.

If you're qualified and want to discuss this, call me at 209-239-8600. I'm in Manteca.

Larry Douglas

$700.00 could buy you a new stove.

[plungers]

Well since I am a plumbing contractor, I'll tell you that without looking at the job it sounds about right. If the gas is already stubed out thats a diffrent story. I would only hire a licensed plumber to do a job like this. There are alot of things that are important here, such as BTU count, gas size, locatiion of existing gas, and accessability. Not to mention you must have a good hood vent. If you don't know of any plumbers I would call one of your local plumbing supply house and ask for references. good luck! jim

[Larry Douglas]

The $350 I mentioned is for installation ONLY. The stovetop and hood are additional expenses of approx. $525.

Larry Douglas

[Larry Douglas]

I noted that your reply was directed to "crawdaddy", but let me respond.

A few threads ago there were several postings about how tough it was to maintain your fishing at the same level as before. This was due primarily to high fuel costs. I thought an offer of a 1/2 day job paying $350 might be of some help to a "qualified" individual. If there is no interest at that price...so be it. I can live with the electric.

I also worked for a number of years as a welding inspector. There was an immense amount of possible liability involved, particularly where school and hospital repair or construction were concerned. However, this possible liability did not give my laboratory carte blanche to charge fees nearing $200 per hour.

With your passion for fishing, I can understand a little envy when you see what other guys have in the way of "toys". I have felt the same way at times, but if you can justify charging $200 an hour for your knowledge and labor, why don't you have the "toys" you're so envious of?

Sorry about the rant! I was just trying to get an electric/gas conversion, and felt like I was being hammered a bit.

It's all good.

Larry Douglas

[Vince E]

When I do service work I offer to do it on a time and material basis. My hourly rate is anywhere from 10% - 30% less that any other contractor in town because I don't like to gouge.
I then give a realistic estimate of what it would take to get it done if all goes smoothly and a warning that sometimes a 1 hour task can run into eating up most of the day and possibly the need for some drywall repair behind me as well. This is using information that I gathered by crawling around in their attic for free mind you.
Even with this approach I still get people who want a firm bid. What else can I do then but include in that number at least some of the time that the worst case scenario might use. If all goes well that is the only time I make anywhere near $200 dollars an hour and it was only because the customer wanted it that way. But it doesn't always go well and then I'm making less than I was before I took on all of the responsibility and overhead of being in business for my self. This is the gamble of contracting and it is largely responsible for pricing being what it is. Hopefully it all balances out at the end of the year for the contractor so he can make his boat payments.

I wasn't saying the number you were quoted might not be too high or that your job might not be a cut and dry task with no risk of going bad for the contractor. You have not described what is involved that leads you to estimate 4 hours. That is why I suggested getting other estimates from known companies. Some things to consider. Did he charge you for the time he spent coming out and looking at your job? Does their number include permits and is the contractor handling the scheduling of inspections? That all takes both time and money out of pocket for the contractor. Gas to get to your job, insurance, comp insurance if the contractor is using employees, vehicle and tool costs and a lot of other hidden costs of doing business. It all adds up.

I'm sorry if I was hammering on you. I apologize for setting that tone. I was only trying to bring to light to anyone reading this some of the reasons why a well done, code compliant job costs money and how frustrating it can be to run into people who can clearly afford to pay a man what he is worth but don't see a problem trying to convince him to sacrifice his livelihood for a little bit of their own. Oddly enough it is the owners of modest houses that seem the most appreciative of my work. That is when I get the most satisfaction out of having a lower rate than the other guy or throwing something in for free. The wealthier people often treat you like an inferior servant and I see no reason why they shouldn't be paying full price from one of my competitors because I don't want to work for them.

I doubt you would find a plumber who would try to tell you how to inspect welds or how much it should cost. I don't know how it worked in your trade but I do know that by the time the end consumer has finished paying the city or county fees involved in trying to do anything to his house other than paint it he has paid more than $200 an hour for the time the inspectors were there.

Good luck with your project.

[Lance]

700 bucks sounds about right. I ran gas for my house and I did the drywall repair, it came out to be around 700 bucks. The problem you run into is gas lines need to be permitted. If you dont, it could be real bad news down the line. If your house burns down because if a un-permitted gas line, your screwed. Do it right, dont skimp on something so important.

L

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

I am a licensed General contractor, and as such I am also licensed to perform all other general construction work as long as I am performing two or more trades on a project and not just a single specialty trade.
If ther is a gasline stubbed into the area behind your existing stove you can be reasonably sure that the gas supply to that area is adequate for the aveage residential stove. If you have to run a gas line from the meter it could be that $700.00 is not enough money to simply do that portion of the work.
If you do this work without a permit and inspections you are taking a great risk. If you hire an unlicensed contractor you are taking a great risk. A faulty installation of gas lines and equipment can kill you and your family. An unlicensed installation can cancell your fire insurance if it causes a fire.
My opinion is that someone who offered to do this job for $350. is someone that I would consider unqualified. At any rate dont just hire a handyman. He does not qualify to have the liability insurance that you need for your own protection
Its sort of like if I told you I could drive from LA to SF in two hours you would know that I didnt know what I was talking about.

My advice is, check to see if the gas is already stubbed in. If it is go out and find yourself a stove that you like hook it up to your stove with enough flex gas line to still be able to get at the connections. turn on the gas at the back of the stove and squirt the connections with soapy water to see if you are blowing bubbles. Or better yet get a licensed contractor to do that for you. If all he has to do is hook uphe stove and test it, you should be able to get that done for about $100.00