EL CAJON, Calif (KGTV) - Copper is a staple for plumbers like Nate Coronel.
"It's used for the main lines, it's used for the shower valves, it's used for hose bibs, it's used for the angle stop stub outs, there's copper there, everything that is exposed outside, we use copper on," said Coronel, describing what copper is used for in the plumbing industry.
On Friday, Coronel and his team were piping a home in El Cajon after it flooded. ABC 10News caught up with them as they were excavating the bathroom, and replacing the underground piping of the house.
"They had a lot of water damage," said Coronel. "They had three leaks already. So after the three leaks, they got tired of calling plumber after plumber, and now they have insurance involved."
Right now, excluding labor costs, material costs will be about $6,000 to $7,000 for copper. That's the cost for now.
Earlier this month, President Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper imports beginning August 1st. The announcement sent prices skyrocketing and they could go up even more, meaning a major impact for small businesses.
"It's slowing down because people are not wanting to spend money, people are scared of it," said Coronel. "But we have no control. At the end of the day, we still have to keep moving, we have to survive, so hopefully, it has affected a lot of plumbing companies because it's expensive."
Coronel isn't sure what that'll do to his business just yet. All he knows is that his team need to keep pushing forward.
"We have to get the job done no matter what," said Coronel. "So if it's going up or down, I hope I'm making sense of what I'm trying to say, it's just at the end of the day, we still have to finish our jobs, and hopefully to God, that we can have more work even though the prices are going up."
He's hoping the expense doesn't cost him too much.
