How To Find A Good Local Plumber
Inevitably when you own a house the time will come when the homeowner has to perform routine maintenance and repairs to keep the house functioning properly. Plumbing in particular is one area of the home that is prone to break downs and leaks. So what happens when your faucet springs a leak or your toilet starts running water and won’t stop? Well if you don’t know how to fix your own plumbing chances are you’re either going to be calling the first plumber you find in the phone book and that’s the worst thing you can do…
Before you hire a plumber you want to at least check a few things out but things get a little harder when you have an emergency on your hands and you have to hire a plumber in an instant. You know like when you have water pooling around your ankles… Unfortunately you don’t have a lot of time to hire a plumber when you’re facing an emergency. The first thing you should do is ask your friends, acquaintances and family members for recommendations of plumbers they’ve worked with in the past. If you have enough time, you can also check out the local home improvement stores and materials suppliers in the area for referrals. If you happen to know one a general contractor could help here as well. What you want to do is put together a quick list of about 3-5 plumbers that you can pre-qualify in a short amount of time.
Once you put together a list of about 3-5 plumbers you can start to seek out feedback and reviews from past customers. The internet makes finding this kind of information quite easily actually. You can begin by placing the name of a plumber into a Google search. You’re not actually looking for the plumber’s website; you’re actually looking for reviews and feedback from past users. You can search for reviews on feedback on websites like , and .
Another thing you definitely want to check is whether or not the plumbers have a license. A license from the state isn’t a guarantee that you’re going to get a good plumber but it is proof that the plumber has been finger-printed, had his background checked and passed a competency test. It’s easy to check for a license online but I recommend you actually call your local state licensing board so you can also ask about any complaints that have come in. If you’re really short on time you should at least check online to make sure the plumber you hire has a license.
The state licensing board is one of the first places a homeowner will call to complain about a bad experience with a plumber so it’s an excellent place to check. Another great place to check is with the Better Business Bureau and online you can check at . The point is if there are “bad apples” in the bunch of plumbers you put together you’ll want to weed them out and exclude them from your list of finalists.
Prior to hiring a plumber and if you have time you may want to ask if they have any references they could provide you with. This may not be necessary depending on how big your job is but it’s always a good idea to speak with past clients who can vouch for the plumber.
