I don't know how long other companies do it, but I found one that repaired all the equipment in my house in one day, but when I mean everything, I'm not kidding at all. When I moved into the new apartment, I came across some guys who changed my technique from one apartment to another, damaging them for me. I was disappointed and confused, but I was lucky with the new neighbors who advised me to resort to emergency plumbing dallas because they are considered the best experts. Being already unwell, I called them without thinking, and that was the best choice I made.

How much of the wall to open and patch is another question. Only someone on site can tell for sure. A photo would help. Perhaps it will only be possible to replace the valves by cutting open the "drywall" or whatever your 1938 house has as wall surface. It may be possible to have a set of dual shut off valves; there are ways, that experienced plumbers know. E.g. installing an "offset" or moving the pipe by an inch without stressing it. Besides, how much distance is deemed by you to be just slightly too far apart might not be too far apart. Copper was the material for your pipes in 1938 but what material gets installed today is up to you or your plumber. Which fittings or adaptor to use is another question. If the new valves are to be soldered, this opens another batch of "things to know". There are still many little things to know, katsmah, but if you read a lot you might be able to get a whole lot more comfortable with the work involved. A single device can be purchased that one can probably install all by oneself no matter how many left thumbs one has: a combination sharkbite / hammer arrestor / shutoff valve . After web searching, call the Sharkbite company for guidance to figure out what product. A "master" plumber can work with pipes that still have water trickling down. The drier the better. The whole house water has to be turned off and the water in them has to be drained from all the pipes before cutting into them to replace a non-operating valve. It can happen that this takes a fair amount of time. If you and a handyman do this valve replacement, it will help your handyman helper if you drain the pipes before she or he arrives on the scene. Nothing written in this post is intended to contradict manhattan42's statement. The job will cost what it will cost. To be more certain of success, hire a plumber who charges a high hourly wage. On average when you compare a low-price and a high price plumber, the latter will be faster, more efficient, making wiser choices, being smarter-for-you, installing everything in a better quality way with better workmanship. Hth

If I work, I get paid. I don't work for free. If you call me to your house to discuss a kitchen and bath addition, I'll bring over a portfolio of previous work. We talk about your ideas, we compare them to my previous work, and I can give you an "estimate" or a ballpark figure of what your job might cost, compared to my previous work, adjusted for the level of finish that you're asking for. If you tell me to get lost, or I tell you to get lost, it ends there. If we decide to go further? Now I need to work up proper plans and a proper dollar amount for the work to be performed. Permitting, material costs, subs costs, etc, etc. That might take me 2 or 8 or 40 hours, depending on what the job entails. I get paid for that. When I'm done I have a set of plans, a materials take-off list, and a firm price. You accept my bid by signing the set-price contract. If you choose to not sign, then the plans and other paperwork are yours to keep. Build it yourself, shop the paper around to other builders, toss them in the trash. Your decision. You paid for them. I simply choose to get paid for my time instead of doing paperwork for free. It keeps me from wasting my time, and it keeps you from wasting my time. It works for me, as I'm booked through the fall of 2010. And this is residential, not commercial or municipal. And I wouldn't pay for an estimate either. Why should I pay you to tell me how much you think the job is going to cost? A "binding bid" is the dollar number on the contract. It's the amount of money you agree to pay for the scope of work specified in the contract when you sign the contract.

We were initally told 5-6 weeks from start to completion. Knew from reading here to double it. Old house from the 1870s, last kitchen put in/expanded 1968. My husband did at least 75% of the demo himself (ended up good for our timeline that he did); while doing this, took a peek into the dropped ceiling and saw no real reason for the drop. Luckily, we decided at the last minute to have the GC rip down this part of the ceiling on Day 1 to see if it could be raised...good news was yes, but the bad news was that whoever expanded the kitchen 40 years ago neglected to support the ceiling over the addition, and the second floor had sagged almost 2" (this is where my oldest son sleeps). So this was something major, not in the budget (though we did have padding for extras) or timeline, that needed to be fixed. Our floor was uneven (we knew this) but they could only even it so much without jacking up the house, which would cause more damage to the walls and floors throughout the house, so we didn't do that. The still uneven floors led to the tile job that was estimated to take 2 days taking 4, and also led to our cabinet maker needing to completely rework/remake the bottoms of our base cabinets for installation on this wonky floor. We also picked floor tile 3 times in about a one week time span--the first two times we were informed it was either out of stock or no longer made; this led to a mad dash and 1 day decision on completely different new tile. Oh, and our copper backsplash has twice been destroyed by a delivery company, and is now being remade for the third time (and delivered by a different company!). I have changed my cabinet delivery date from 9/20, to 9/23, to 9/30. My appliances moved from September 23rd to the 29th; my templating date switched from 9/23 to 9/29 and is now scheduled for 10/7, with install on 10/14. Hopefully these are the dates that will stick, but who knows? I just counted--if these dates DO stick, then I will actually be in a finished kitchen in 6-7 calendar weeks--so not too bad after all! But there is still alot to do--they are just finishing putting up drywall today, then there is taping and sanding and putting up trim and painting and the like; my newly exposed brick chimney still needs to be cleaned and sealed; my new windows need to be installed and trimmed; moving the phone jack and instaling a little bit of plugmold; lights have to be hung; new trim around two doors; the cabinet install is expected to take at least 3 days if not more because of all the shimming/trimming to be done; appliances must be installed, etc. I still think, based on other's experiences, that you should take what the contractor tells you and double it; you'll only end up happy and impressed if they finish within that time frame. And definitely make sure your budget contains overrun/unexpected padding, you are sure to need it. Sorry so long, but just wanted to show it's a lot of little things piling up that can end up causing bigger delays. Good luck!