Most local plumbers are great. They do a great job and usually for a good price. Some local plumbers might try to overcharge you though. Plumbers who work for national chains like rotorooter will also do a good job and will almost never try to mislead you. A local Plumbing contractor sold me a tankless water heater, rated it a 15-year investment and charged about $1500 to remove the old water heater and intall the new. Three and a half years later, this unit failed to ignite and I called them to check it out. They told me hard water destroyed the inner workings and got the manufacturer to replace the parts under warranty but I would have to pay the labor. I was charged $621 for that job, about four hours work, averaging $149 an hour. My invoice had my name and address, the tech's name, why I hired him and the price, but not one detail to justify the price. I still wonder why these "pros" didn't tell me a water softener could have extended the life of this heater beyond the 3.5 years I got without one. Th