My plumber is 75.00 to come out but we use him often. He is so good, he tells us how to do it the cheapest. Sometimes that way he gets more return calls. FOr instance, we bought the new water heater and emptied the old one. He just came and reatatched it and made sure it was working. My house is 1908. We completely refurbished (?) it . This is our money pit too. Took 12 years, but the money is staying out of the pit now. Finally. Hope you find a dependable plumber and hang on to him.