Short answer: TIG welding in Texas commonly runs about $75 to $150 per hour in a shop and about $100 to $200 per hour for mobile work, often with a trip charge and a one to two hour minimum. These are general market ranges, not our price list. The final cost depends more on the metal, thickness, purge, code and inspection requirements, finish, access and travel than on the hourly rate.
People usually ask for an hourly rate, and that is a reasonable place to start. But two shops charging the same rate can quote the same part hundreds of dollars apart, because one of them read the drawing and saw a purge requirement, a polished finish or a code inspection the other one missed. The rate matters less than the hours, and the hours come from the job.
This article gives general Texas market ranges for TIG welding as of late 2026, then walks through what actually moves the number. The ranges are broad on purpose. They are not our price list, and any real quote comes from the specific drawings, photos and site conditions.
Typical TIG welding rates in Texas
Across Texas metros, TIG welding pricing tends to fall into the ranges below. Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth sit toward the middle to upper end, and specialty work such as sanitary tube, aerospace or high-purity systems can run above the top of these ranges anywhere in the state.
| Charge type | General Texas market range | What it usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| Shop TIG welding, per hour | About $75 to $150 | Welder time, machine, argon and standard consumables |
| Mobile TIG welding, per hour | About $100 to $200 | Welder, truck-mounted rig, on-site time |
| Trip or mobilization charge | Often about $75 to $250 locally, more by distance | Drive time, loading and setting up on site |
| Minimum charge | Commonly 1 to 2 hours | Small repairs and walk-in jobs |
| After-hours, weekend or holiday work | Often about 1.5 times the standard rate | Shutdowns, emergency repairs, night shifts |
| Materials | Billed at cost plus handling, or quoted per part | Sheet, plate, pipe, tube, fittings, filler |
Per-part and per-joint pricing is common too. Production runs, sanitary tube welds and pipe spools are often quoted that way, because the buyer cares about the total, not the clock.
Why TIG costs more than MIG or stick
TIG is the slowest of the common arc processes. By hand it deposits roughly 1 to 2 pounds of filler an hour, where MIG on plate can run several times that. It also needs cleaner parts and tighter fit-up, so more of the hours go into prep before the arc is ever struck.
That extra time is why buyers sometimes ask whether a cheaper process would do. On heavy carbon steel that gets painted, it often would. On thin stainless, aluminum, sanitary tube or visible work, the cheaper process can cost more once the grinding, polishing and rework are counted. Our TIG vs MIG comparison goes through that tradeoff in detail.
What drives the price of a TIG welding job
When we build a quote, these are the things that move the hours up or down. Most of them show up on the drawing or in a couple of photos, which is why we always ask for both.
Material and thickness
Mild steel is the cheapest to weld. 304 stainless costs more to buy and takes more care, and 316L costs more again. Stainless pricing also moves with nickel and molybdenum surcharges, so material quotes on big stainless jobs may only hold for a short window. Aluminum is fast to cut and form but slower to prep and weld well. Thin gauge in any metal takes longer per inch than people expect, because heat control and distortion become the job.
How much welding there is
Inches of weld, number of joints and number of parts. Ten short welds can take longer than one long one, because every start and stop takes time and every joint has to be fit and tacked. A small bracket with eight fillet welds can easily take more time in fit-up than in welding.
Purge and shielding
Stainless pipe and tube that need a back purge add dam installation, purge time and gas. A sanitary tube weld can spend more time getting purged and set up than being welded. Our guide to back purging stainless steel shows why that setup is not optional.
Position and access
A part on a bench, welded flat, is the cheapest weld there is. The same joint overhead, in a tight space, or 20 feet up on a lift takes longer and may need scaffolding, rigging or a second person for fire watch.
Finish
Left as welded, brushed, ground flush, blended, polished to a #4 or a sanitary finish, or passivated. Each step adds labor. A polished stainless railing can spend more hours in finishing than in welding.
Distortion and straightness
Long thin parts, frames that must stay square, and flat panels that cannot oil-can all need fixturing, careful weld sequencing and sometimes straightening. That time is real even though nobody sees it on the finished part.
Common job types and where the hours go
Every job is different, but a few patterns hold across most TIG work. Looking at where the time goes is a better guide to cost than any single rate.
Small repairs
A cracked aluminum bracket, a broken stainless handle, a boat cleat base that pulled loose. The welding itself might take fifteen minutes. Tracing the crack with dye penetrant, drilling the ends, grinding a groove to clean metal, prepping, welding, and blending the finish take the rest of the hour. That is why small repairs usually land on the shop minimum.
One-off fabrication
A stainless enclosure, an aluminum fuel cell, a set of custom brackets. Layout, cutting, forming, fit-up and tacking often take more hours than the welding. The first unit carries all of that. The second and third cost noticeably less, because the layout is done and the fixtures already exist.
Pipe and tube
Pipe work is often priced per weld, and the price per weld depends on diameter, schedule, material, purge and position. A 2 inch sanitary tube weld on a bench in the shop and the same weld 15 feet up on a pipe rack in a running plant are two very different jobs, even with identical specs.
Shutdown and outage work
During a plant shutdown, the cost of downtime usually dwarfs the cost of welding. The welding bill climbs with premium hours and standby time, but the bigger lever is how much can be built ahead. Spools and assemblies fabricated in the shop before the outage shrink the field work to closure welds, which shortens the window.
Codes, procedures and inspection
Code work changes the math. When a job calls for AWS D1.1, D1.2 or D1.6, ASME Section IX with B31.3 or B31.1 piping, or 3-A and ASME BPE sanitary work, the welding has to follow a qualified welding procedure specification (WPS), the welder has to be qualified for that procedure, and the welds get inspected.
The cost items buyers sometimes miss:
- Procedure qualification. If no existing WPS covers the job, a new procedure qualification record (PQR) means welding test coupons and sending them to a lab for bend and tensile tests. On a small job, that can cost more than the welding itself.
- Welder qualification. Some owners require welders to test on their site or under their witness before work starts.
- Nondestructive examination. Visual inspection is always part of it. Dye penetrant, radiography, ultrasonic testing and borescope inspection on tube are often done by a third-party inspection company and billed separately. Magnetic particle testing only works on ferromagnetic steel, so it is not used on austenitic stainless or aluminum.
- Documentation. Weld maps, weld logs, material test reports and heat number traceability take office time, especially on sanitary and process piping turnover packages.
- Repairs. Most code jobs assume some reject rate on radiographed or borescoped welds. Cutting out and rewelding a joint costs more than the original weld.
Tell us the code your project specifies up front. It is far cheaper to plan the procedure, inspection and paperwork into the quote than to find out on the second day.
Travel and site requirements across Texas
Texas is big, and travel is a real line item for on-site work. Houston to Dallas is roughly 240 miles. Houston to San Antonio is about 200, and Houston to Corpus Christi a little over 200. Dallas to Austin is close to 200. El Paso is more than 600 miles from Dallas and over 700 from Houston. For mobile work outside a metro, travel time and mileage are usually quoted by distance, and multi-day jobs add lodging and per diem. Our mobile TIG welding page explains how we quote travel.
Plant sites add their own costs. Refineries, chemical plants and terminals often require site-specific safety orientation, hot work permits, gas testing, fire watch, flame-resistant clothing and sometimes a TWIC card for facilities regulated under maritime security rules. Some sites only allow work during a shutdown window, which can mean nights or weekends. None of that is unusual. It just needs to be on the table when the job is priced.
How to get an accurate welding quote
The more of this you send, the tighter the quote. A photo with a tape measure in frame is worth a lot.
- Drawings or sketches with dimensions, or the damaged part itself for repairs
- Material and alloy, such as 304, 316L, 6061 or 5052, and thickness or pipe schedule
- Quantity, and whether this is a one-off or a recurring run
- The code or specification, if there is one, and the inspection it calls for
- Required finish: as welded, brushed, polished, passivated
- Where the work happens: our shop, your shop, or a plant site, with the city
- Timing, including any shutdown window or hard deadline
- Site requirements such as safety training, permits or badging
Ways to lower your welding cost
Some of the easiest savings are on the buyer’s side of the job.
- Batch the work. One trip to fix five things costs less than five trips. One setup for 50 parts costs less per part than five setups for 10.
- Send clean parts. Oil-soaked castings and greasy equipment need cleaning before anyone can weld them. Doing it before the parts ship saves shop time.
- Bring the part in if you can. Shop welding is usually cheaper per hour than mobile work and has better access. Our article on mobile welding vs shop fabrication covers when that makes sense.
- Specify only the finish you need. A hidden weld does not need a polish.
- Use an existing procedure. If your plant or engineer already has a qualified WPS for the joint, share it.
- Tell us everything up front. Surprises on site, like a hidden purge requirement or an extra inspection, are where costs grow.
When you are ready, send the drawings or photos and the details above through our quote request page, or call (346) 561-0862. We price each job from what it actually needs.
Frequently asked questions
As a general market range, shop TIG welding in Texas commonly runs about $75 to $150 per hour, and mobile TIG welding about $100 to $200 per hour plus a trip charge. MIG and stick work on carbon steel is often less. Code, sanitary and high-purity work can run higher. Rates vary by city, shop and job, so get a quote from the actual drawings or photos.
TIG is slower than MIG or stick. A welder deposits roughly 1 to 2 pounds of filler per hour by hand, and the process needs clean parts, tight fit-up and often a back purge on stainless. Most of the cost is labor, not gas or filler. On thin, stainless, aluminum or visible work, that slower process often saves money on cleanup and rework.
Most do. A trip or mobilization charge covers drive time, loading the rig and setting up on site, and in Texas it commonly falls somewhere around $75 to $250 for local calls as a general range. Work outside the metro is usually quoted by distance, and multi-day jobs can add lodging and per diem. Ask how travel is billed before the job is scheduled.
Small aluminum repairs, such as a cracked bracket or boat fitting, are often covered by a shop minimum of one to two hours. Cost climbs with oil-soaked castings that need baking, cracks that need to be traced and ground out, parts that must stay straight, and finish work. A clear photo of the crack with a tape measure in frame is usually enough for a first estimate.
Send drawings or photos with dimensions, the material and thickness, quantity, any code or specification the job must meet, the finish you need, and where the work will be done. Include deadlines, shutdown windows and site requirements such as safety training or permits. The more of that a shop has up front, the closer the quote will be to the final bill.