To Plumb or not To Plumb

When ever I get involved with any home improvement project it always becomes a question as to whether I should do the work myself or hire in a professional.  Typically I try to do the behind the scenes work myself and leave the visible finishing work to the professionals.  At least that's the theory.  So we asked a plumber to do an estimate on how much it would be to move the drains and waterlines over about 2 feet and add in a new bar sink in in the other cabinet.  The answer was $700 for all the drain work and water line work plus an additional $400 to actually hook up the sinks to the plumbing with traps etc.  I also think that was not including materials.   I had a recent discussion with a contractor and he indicated that most executive types prefer to work their jobs and pay him 2/3 of what they make in the equal time.  My answer to that is simple.  While my time is indeed valuable, I work for a salary.  So even if I spend 4 times as long under a sink as the professionals, it is doubtful that I would have made more money during the time I would be working on the sinks on some other job.  The other factor is that the money I save doing it myself is tax free.  If I pick up another job to work to pay for the plumber  and pay him 2/3 per hour of what I make, I have to figure in taxes on what I make plus what ever impact additional income may have on my overall tax rate.  With the advent of PEX (flexible plastic pipe for the waterlines) and push fittings to connect PEX and existing copper, do it yourself plumbing is well within the average persons grasp.  That said I spent the weekend either in the crawlspace or under the sink.

Of course the other thing I consider (if left with a choice) is that by taking on a new project I am forgoing the hike or trip to see family and friends, or what ever else people who don't do home renovations themselves do with their time.  In this respect our grey play Sunday mornings have been real gifts.  The wind was so strong that it took most of our pretty leaves away, but it was still a very nice day.

New foster Hope was working her charms and stealing all our hearts.

Foster Alex is quite a cool boy as well.  I think he will go quickly.

All the dogs had a lot of fun.  Especially when we pulled out the bubble solution. Here they are somewhat bewildered at the bubbles floating down the field.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.