Leave Plumbing To The Professionals
Call A Plumber If You’re Unsure
When you need plumbing work done, two things come to mind immediately. Can you do it yourself, or should you call in a pro?
If gas is involved, it’s a better idea to call a heating professional. Gas fitters licensed to work on gas appliances know the procedures, and if an inspector is called in chances are good it will pass. If you do it yourself though would you call the inspector, or would that get left to chance?
Finding Local Plumbing Contractors
Most plumbers like to work close to home and will advertise in local community papers or your daily paper sometimes. There is the usual media of course and Yellow Pages still have lots of plumbers listed. Another way to find these guys is to look online and include the city you live in with in the search term “plumbing” or “plumber”. EG: “vancouver plumber”
A well designed website will make a plumbing company look more professional, so building a quality look online will pay for itself by attracting more visitors.
Know The Fees Before You Call
Most plumbers will give you a quote over the phone for a simple job. If they give an estimate in person for plumbing work expect a “call-out fee” if you decide against hiring the guy. Plumbers don’t like doing that and would rather do the work than charge you a call out fee, but manpower is involved in a house call, so a call out fee is common practice.
Most plumbing and heating is built to last and doesn’t need attention that often, so when you do need to hire a heating professional check to see if someone specializes in that area. A heating specialist should be geared up for efficient installations. You’ll probably get into a discussion on the choices you have like tank type vs tankless water heaters, so check your budget ahead of time.
Simple Maintenance
While the plumber is there, ask what you can do to extend the life of your furnace or the water tank. There are a few simple ones like how often to replace the filter on your furnace, or if you would benefit from a better air filter system. If you have radiant heat that has its own schedule for upkeep. In any case, you’ll benefit from knowing a good schedule for maintenance on those major appliances.
Every two years is the recommended maintenance schedule on forced air furnaces, and you might as well have the guy look at your water tank at the same time. Keeping those both clean and efficient extends the life and saves money on water and gas bills.
