Whether you are building a new home and
having new plumbing installed, replacing old faulty plumbing in an existing
home, or needing a common plumbing repair, you will face the task of finding a
plumber you can trust to do the job competently, on time, and for a reasonable
fee. There are countless plumbers out
there, claiming to be the best and begging for your business. How do you find the right fit for you? Here are some tips for how to find a
reputable plumber:
Compile
a list of candidates. In order to find the best plumber for your
needs, you will need to do some comparison shopping. The best place to start is to ask people you
know if they can recommend a good plumber.
Then search online for plumbers in your area. It is also a good idea to ask local real
estate agents, plumbing supply stores, and builders who they use and/or refer
their customers to.
Check
licenses. You
can easily check a plumber’s licensing by conducting an online search with your
state’s licensing board. All you need is
the plumber’s business name or license number.
Plumbers must undergo a number of requisites before obtaining a license,
including a background check and a plumbing competency test, so checking for
proper licensing is a great place to start.
Interview
candidates.
Once you’ve verified appropriate licensing, you should interview the
remaining candidates to weed out the yays from the nays. Ask about years of experience,
specializations (installation versus repair, for example), and amount of
expertise in handling jobs similar to yours.
Call
on references.
When you interview candidates, you should ask for references. Call on each of the references you are given
and ask about things like customer service, timeliness, and work quality.
Get
bids. Once
you have narrowed down your list of candidates to a manageable size, it is time
to get bids. Have each of the plumbers
give you a detailed bid, including work hours, materials to be used, and
estimates for completion time. At this
point, you will know from all of your research that you are comparing apples to
apples, so the winning bid will determine which plumber you ultimately choose.