Hello again!  In my last plumbing info article, I talked about the two different types of plumbers and the pluses and minuses of using each.  I also revealed my opinion on the best kind to go for to deal with most plumbing issues.  In this article, I am . . . → Read More:]]> Hello again!  In my last plumbing info article, I talked about the two different types of plumbers and the pluses and minuses of using each.  I also revealed my opinion on the best kind to go for to deal with most plumbing issues.  In this article, I am going to tell you how to make sure you are getting the best value for your plumbing dollar.

This article is going to focus almost entirely on up-sellers.  These are complete plumbers, and the true plumbing professionals will be in this group.  There are a LOT of impostors though, so I want you to know how to tell the difference.  You want a professional working on your plumbing.

How to tell a plumbing professional from an impostor.

Plumbing Professional

The first look when you open the door should tell a lot.  His pants may be a little dirty from working all day, but his uniform shirt should be clean.  His hands and face should be clean.  If you seen his truck, is it fairly clean and look well maintained?  A true plumbing professional will always do his best to show himself as a professional.  You cannot trust someone who cannot take care of himself to take care of your home.

Listen to him talk about how to solve your problems.  Give him a small problem to discuss, and you will know if he sounds knowledgeable and capable.  Give him a small plumbing problem to fix and observe how he approaches it, how he works, etc.  Does he keep his area clean? Is his work clean?  Does he respect your home?  Is he comfortable with you watching him work?  These areas are all very important.  If he cannot pass these tests, he is not the one that you want doing other work.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of plumbers out there that will pass all of these tests.  Unfortunately, the majority of plumbers will fail it.  The fact of the matter is that you want a true pro.  Regardless of what you may think, a true pro will not charge any more money than an impostor! An impostor actually thinks he is a pro, so he will charge accordingly.

How to find a true professional plumber.

Finding a true pro is actually easier than you think.  Do some research online.  Look at company reviews.  Stay away from “he fixed my problem in 15 minutes for only $50”, unless you want an in and out tech (see previous article).  Look for: “he was able to find…”, “he found…”, “he thoroughly…” and so on.  These are the companies that teach their plumbers to be thorough and look for long term solutions.

When you find those companies, you call them to schedule a service call.  Do NOT ask them for their rates!! That is the worst thing you can do.  If they advertise free estimates, that is all you need to know until you talk to them in person.  Most companies that advertise free estimates will not quote you over the phone anyway.  You want to get the best plumbers from these companies to meet with you, so that you can match the dollars vs the value that they are offering.  Here is how you do it:

When you call a plumbing company to schedule service, you want to let them know about your problem and whether or not it is urgent.  Give them your best understanding of it.  Let them know that you are looking for more than a quick fix (if you are).  If you have had problems with other plumbers in the past, it is okay to share that.  Don’t talk bad about the other plumber, but make sure you let them know that you want a good job done. These companies will see you as a great opportunity and they will likely send one of their best guys.  That is what you want.

How do you deal with the plumber once he shows up?

The first step is to follow the guidelines above to tell if he is a pro or an impostor.  You won’t always be able to get him started on something small, however.  What do you do then?  Simple – you collect estimates.

I always recommend that you start with small jobs and build a relationship with a plumber that you will use forever.  If you have not been able to do that yet, you do not let a plumber do any major work without collecting at least another estimate or two.  Not only do you want to make sure you are not being overcharged, but you want to pick a pro.  Trust me when I say that getting a job done cheaply when you know it can be done better will cost you a LOT more in the long run.

If you do have a small job that you can let the plumber start right away, that’s fine.  Just be ready for him to come to you for the “bump”.  The bump is the bigger scope of work that will give you additional benefits.  There is nothing wrong with him doing this.  It is actually what you want, as long as he is being straight forward about it.  Here are some tips for you to use when dealing with the “bump”.

• If your gut tells you to think it over for a day or so, listen to your gut.  It is probably telling you the truth.
• Ask if it NEEDS to be done today.  This will give you an idea of how honest he is (very few things NEED to be done today).
• Make sure you understand EXACTLY what is being proposed and the benefits of it being done.
• Weight the benefits vs. the expense.  Is this repair going to be worth the money it costs to get it done?
• Make sure you are getting the right plumber for the job.  If you feel someone else can do a better job, hire them.

When it comes right down to it, money always seems to be a major contributor to the process of making decisions about your plumbing.  There is nothing wrong with that as long as you factor in the long term costs as well.  Never ever choose a plumber because they are the cheapest.  You may get lucky once or twice, but it will cost you more in the long run.

So you have a plumbing issue that you need taken care of, or maybe you just want to get some plumbing remodeling done.  What do you do first?  You look for a plumber, right?  Wrong!  The first thing you do is read this article and the . . . → Read More:]]>  

So you have a plumbing issue that you need taken care of, or maybe you just want to get some plumbing remodeling done.  What do you do first?  You look for a plumber, right?  Wrong!  The first thing you do is read this article and the articles that it points to.

You need to be prepared, before you ever even think of picking up the phone and calling a plumber.  Believe me when I say that it can prevent all kinds of bad things from happening.  I know this first hand.

In this article, I am going to outline some of the things that you should do to be prepared for your visit from the plumber.  Many of these points will link out to additional articles, as I write them.  Just look for the underlined phrases.  Clicking them will take you to the relevant article.

Whether or not you are sure you need plumbing work done, these are the steps that everyone should take, prior to calling a plumber, to be sure that the experience is as productive and stress-free as possible.  They are as follows:

Understand your plumbing problem. This can be a problem for many who do not consider themselves to be mechanically inclined.  It is extremely important, however, that you do your best to get some kind of understanding about what is going on.  If you can tell the plumber that you have a “supply side” leak, and your tests seemed to indicate that it was between the meter and the house, you will immediately gain that plumber’s attention and respect (as long as your logic is sound).  This will save you time and money.

You knowing what’s going on will also keep your plumber honest.  Believe it or not, there are plumbers out there that will cheat you if they can.  If you know what is wrong, it makes it much harder for them to take advantage of you, and most will not even try. There are also times when you will be able to diagnose and repair problems yourself, without ever having to call a plumber.

Know what you want. This sounds kind of silly, but hear me out.  There are always options to fix any problem.  Good plumbers will let you know your options and give you a choice.  Most plumbers will not.  They will offer to fix your problem they way they want to.  That is not always what is best for you!  You need to know if you are looking for a quick fix to get you by (which I rarely recommend, but sometimes that’s what you need), a fix that will last you for longer than a quick fix, or a permanent solution.

Plumbing is rather unusual because it is all tied together in a system.  Parts of the system depend on other parts of the system.  Sometimes you need to replace most or all of the system in order to affect a sustainable result.  You need to know beforehand if that is a route you are willing to take.  This leads us to the next point:

Know your budget limit. Very simply put, you need to know how much you are prepared to spend on your plumbing today.  You need to be willing to spend at least $500 if you are looking for anything other than a quick fix.  Permanent solutions could cost you in the thousands (depending, of course on what you actually need done).

Know your outs. You need to know how to say no.  Sometimes it will be because you just don’t like the plumber, or you don’t feel like they will do a good job.  Maybe you feel like they want to charge too much, or want to do more work than you are ready for.  For any of these reasons or a litany of others, you need to be able to say no.

To put it bluntly, if you are prepared, you will be able to just tell the plumber the truth about why you are saying no, and that should end it.  Good plumbers can see through excuses.  For instance, if you were to tell me, “Well, that’s more expensive than I thought it would be.  I need to discuss it with my husband/wife.” I would respond with, “That’s fine, let’s give him/her a call and I can help to explain why we need to…” or “No problem, when would you like me to drop back by so we can discuss it together?”  If you told me that you are fine with the amount of work that was done to this point and need to budget for the additional work, I would understand and respect that.  I may ask if it is okay if I call in a month or 2 to follow up, but that’s about it.

Know what to expect. This actually covers a few different areas, but I will sum it up here as best I can.

• Know what you want out of your plumber – Do you just need someone “quick and dirty” who can clear your drain from outside and be gone in 30 minutes or do you want a clean, professional who you can trust to not destroy the inside of your home?  There are times for each, and they each charge different rates.  Actually, you can get a dirty plumber that charges a lot (but has no business doing so), but you will never get a clean professional that works cheaply.

• Know what they are going to charge you – This can be tough as more and more companies do not want to give prices over the phone.  There’s no problem with that, as most give free estimates.  You do need to know how much they SHOULD charge you though, so you know when someone is asking too much.

• Know the company.  Before calling a plumbing company, do a little research on them.  Check their license status, look for online complaints, etc.  Keep in mind that people will leave bad reviews far more often than good ones.  Don’t choose not to hire, because of a bad review or two (some people complain about everything), but keep the complaints in mind when dealing with them.

One of my readers, who happens to be a plumber made a very good point that I do need to stress here.  It is very important that you thoroughly check the license status of the companies that you call to make sure they are in good standing and have all of the necessary forms of insurance.  Make sure that either the plumber that they are sending out is an employee and is working under the company’s contractors license, or that the plumber himself is licensed.  Ask the company about the qualifications of the plumber they will send out.  If they are not willing to spend some time with you on the phone to ease your mind, call someone else.  Thanks, Jim!

I apologize that this article was so long, but there was a lot of ground to cover.  I am not sure that I covered it all here, but I’m sure that future articles will pick up the slack.  See you next time for more plumbing tips!