subject: Choose A Plumber Before You Encounter A Plumbing Crisis [print this page] Choose A Plumber Before You Encounter A Plumbing Crisis
All property owners, at some point or another, struggle with a leaky faucet, blocked drain and a burst geyser. Picking a skilled plumbing engineer to aid with mending your faucets, piping or other water systems is actually a vitally important task. However, since the only time when we normally require services of a local plumber is in case of an emergency, there is usually not a lot of time to investigate the plumber's background, reputation and level of skill.
The ideal would therefore be to look around for a plumbing company before your next disaster! Many of these individuals are very experienced professionals and can be trusted with your piping needs, but unfortunately there are also several fly-by-night plumbers who is lacking in the desired (and most basic!) skills.
Consider the following tips and suggestions when searching around for a good plumbing technician. Once you have discovered such an individual, make sure to keep his/her phone number where you can quickly find it in case of a plumbing emergency.
If you know that a good friend or relative recently used a plumbing technician, that might be the first step on your research-a-plumber quest. Speak to this friend or family member and question the level of service received from the plumber in question. Word of mouth marketing is always the best form of advertising and a referral from someone you have confidence in is generally a safe bet.
If you have any contacts or relationships with someone in the constructing or the contracting industry, you should definitely make contact with this individual. Builders and other construction workers deal with local plumbers on a daily basis and will generally insist on only dealing with one or two selected plumbers. The only drawback to locating a plumbing engineer this way is that plumbing engineers in the building or construction industry are quite often so occupied with significant projects and new developments that your leaking lavatory or burst piping will not rank high on their priority lists.
In many countries a plumbing engineer needs a license to work. Don't hesitate to ask proof of a plumber's license before allowing him onto your property. If you feel that this might possibly be insulting the plumbing engineer, you can always use the excuse that you have to claim for his services from your house insurance coverage and that your insurance firm stipulates that all claims must contain the service provider's license details.
It's also advisable to enquire if the plumber offers some kind of guarantee or warrantee on his work. If you own an extremely old home with a disastrous piping and water system, any plumbing technician might be a bit careful to guarantee their work, as they may not know how substantial the issue actually is. With that being said however, any plumbing technician worth his salt wouldn't hesitate to return should the water pipe they replaced or the faucet they fixed start leaking a couple of days after there were on site.
The above mentioned tips are very simple and perhaps even obvious, but rather do some research in advance so that you don't have to be satisfied with the first available plumber in case of a crisis.