Many people who face this kind of price tag wonder if they can get away with patching their pipes. But if the sewer line is old there are almost certainly drain repipe other bad spots that will give you problems now or in the near future. A series of patch jobs isn't cheap. In the long run, it just makes more sense to replace the entire line.
The wax ring is used to seal the drain outlet on the bottom of the toilet to the drain opening in the floor. When a toilet is installed, the ring is placed onto the drain... the toilet is dropped onto the ring... and the toilet bolts (also known as closet bolts) are tightened enough to lock the toilet in place. If that wax gasket ring starts to fail or isn't seated properly? Sewer gasses can sneak out from under your toilet causing your bathroom to have that suspicious smell. It can also cause water line repair to escape, sometimes invisibly, with each flush potentially damaging the floor hidden under the toilet.
One other common design that is considered "washerless" was made famous by Delta and copied by several other makers. It uses little "cup" seals that fit over springs recessed in the back of the valve body. The springs press these "seals" against the cartridge and regulate the flow through little tapered openings in the cartridge. If you have one of these and it's dripping, changing these springs and seals will usually correct it. Here's a tip. Once you have the cartridge out of the way, insert a phillips screwdriver into the seal and pop both the seal and spring out. Stick the new ones on the end of the screwdriver to help guide them into place. This is especially helpful if you don't have long slender fingers.
A plumber becomes a journeyman once they complete their apprenticeship program and they can apply to be licensed. Most of the plumbers today are in the field of journeyman. To get a license to be a journeyman, you need to pass an exam and pay a licensing fee.
The first step in the replacement project is to turn off the water line repair to the toilet and flush any water that may be in the tank. If you forget this step, you will have a giant mess to clean up! You should now disconnect that water line.
To avoid this, make sure your toilets screws are always tight and repair any leaks right away. A new wax ring should also be installed any time the toilet is removed such as if you happen to be replacing an old toilet with a newer model that you liked such as a more modern KOHLER brand. Replacing your toilets wax ring is pretty simple to do and can pretty much be done in less than an hour by the average person.
In short, the emergency plumber you hire should be from a reputable company. If you think that you can rely on him then you should look for another one. An emergency plumber should be skilled and should be able to deliver quality services to everyone.