Is plumber ripping me off?

dilby

Hi all - I've had a plumber over who I needed to move a gas pipe for me due to a relocated gas meter. The gas pipe needs to be run outside alone the perimeter of the house for about 7 meters very low and then i'll eventually tile up and over it. Due to potential corrosion he said he'd need to get special coated copper pipe and has come back saying a min of 20m is available and it's £250 just for the pipe. Does that sound right - it sounds a hell of a lot - and can you not just wrap it? I see many places sell wrapping tape so I was just hoping someone could help! Thanks

Carrot007

Not familier but I have seen many standard and very green copper piping outside for gas, so assume he is talking nonsense. (It would not be water outside as that would freeze and burst).

ARAFK the only points needing more though for corrosion is the parts that go though the wall. But that justs need adequate sleeving. (Just the external walls, plaster does not corroide, anything with cement will).

Min 20m sounds like crap also! But with proof and a recipty from supplier and keeping the excess I would accept.

So in all find someone else who is competent. (If he wants to set a minimum job price for logical reasons he should do that and not attempt confusion to do it).

tacpot12

He should be able to get 10m of pipe here: https://www.jtmplumbing.co.uk/pipe-fittings-c433/tracpipe-complete-containment-coils-c968/tracpipe-omegaflex-complete-containment-pipe-p27962/s43618
Cost is £145 delivered So I expect his price to 20m is correct, but he should be trying harder to find a supplier of 10m lengths. 

ElephantBoy57

10mm = £76  ?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/wednesbury-pvc-coated-copper-pipe-white-10mm-x-25m/34388

dilby

ElephantBoy57 said:

10mm = £76  ?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/wednesbury-pvc-coated-copper-pipe-white-10mm-x-25m/34388

Thanks, yeah that's not a gas pipe unfortunately

nofoollikeold

1. You don't need Tracpipe to run externally.
2. Ordinary copper is fine.  22, 28 and 35 mm diameters all come in 3 metre lengths - 6 metre lengths if you know where to go.
3. 15 Metres of 28 mm is around £90 to £100, so around £20 per 3M length.
4. Uncoated copper is perfectly fine for external use.

williamgriffin

Carrot007 said:

Not familier but I have seen many standard and very green copper piping outside for gas, so assume he is talking nonsense. (It would not be water outside as that would freeze and burst).

ARAFK the only points needing more though for corrosion is the parts that go though the wall. But that justs need adequate sleeving. (Just the external walls, plaster does not corroide, anything with cement will).

Min 20m sounds like crap also! But with proof and a recipty from supplier and keeping the excess I would accept.

So in all find someone else who is competent. (If he wants to set a minimum job price for logical reasons he should do that and not attempt confusion to do it).

Given the OP has stated they intend to tile over the pipe, do you not consider as cement based adhesive being an issue?

Carrot007

williamgriffin said:

Given the OP has stated they intend to tile over the pipe, do you not consider as cement based adhesive being an issue?

To be fair I missed that part! Though the entire tiling over outside thing sounds a little strange, I'm not sure a tile adhesive would contain any cement. I would also expect some wood frame for such an action as tiles don't really stick onto pipe shapes. I'll file that part as need more information!

When I has copper pipes (both gas and water) running under my kitchen floor though a cement/sand based dry mix so that the tiled floor would sit well I used larger plastic pipes to contain the copper pipes (which worked fine). Of course Outside I would not expect cement, beyond the bits in the wall and was just saying wrap as the holes would probably be "sealed" with mortar.

southcoastrgi

Doesn't need to be trac pipe 
Doesn't need to be plastic coated
Boxing will need to be vented 

dilby

Carrot007 said:

williamgriffin said:

Given the OP has stated they intend to tile over the pipe, do you not consider as cement based adhesive being an issue?

To be fair I missed that part! Though the entire tiling over outside thing sounds a little strange, I'm not sure a tile adhesive would contain any cement. I would also expect some wood frame for such an action as tiles don't really stick onto pipe shapes. I'll file that part as need more information!

When I has copper pipes (both gas and water) running under my kitchen floor though a cement/sand based dry mix so that the tiled floor would sit well I used larger plastic pipes to contain the copper pipes (which worked fine). Of course Outside I would not expect cement, beyond the bits in the wall and was just saying wrap as the holes would probably be "sealed" with mortar.

Thanks for the reply. Essentially outside is going to be a patio with external tiles (essentially what are slowly replacing pavers). They get laid on a bed of cement similar to indoor tiles (just a deeper bed) but as the pipe is right agaisnt the exterior wall i can either leave a gap for the pipe and have chippings in there, or just have that tile only 2-3rds bedded and have the pipe in sand as there won't be any foot traffic on this area as it's right against the house and the tiles are 600mm large, so plenty of room to leave a gap at the edge without concrete to prevent any corrosion.