Choosing a plumber is not a task to be taken lightly. Plumbing problems in your home are frustrating but unfortunately inevitable, and the proper diagnosis and repair of these plumbing problems helps keep your home plumbing system in great condition for as long as possible.
If you hire a subpar plumber who does not perform the services you need correctly, your home plumbing system might actually suffer additional damage that requires more expensive repairs—on top of the cost of fixing the original problem in the first place.
If you are in need of plumbing services or just want to be prepared when you do need a plumber in your home, keep reading to learn 5 questions you should always ask before choosing a plumber.
1. Are You Licensed, Bonded, and Insured?
You should never hire a plumber who is not licensed. Unlicensed plumbers generally do not have the skills and experience necessary to perform plumbing services in your home—especially more complex services—and are actually not even officially authorized to perform plumbing services in your home.
Most plumbers that operate without a license are unprofessional, inexperienced, and under-skilled for the work they attempt to perform and will more than likely leave you with subpar results. If you hire an unlicensed plumber, you will end up regretting it in the likely case that the plumber does not perform the necessary job correctly.
It is also just as important—if not more important—to ensure that any plumber you hire is fully bonded and insured. Hiring any plumber who is not bonded and insured puts you at risk for taking on liability for the plumber and the work they perform. You could end up responsible for paying to repair any damage an uninsured plumber causes in your home as well as responsible for paying any potential medical bills the plumber incurs as a result of an injury they sustained on your property.
2. Do You Work With Insurance Companies?
If you are hoping that the plumbing services you need to be performed in your home will be covered by your home insurance, ask plumbers you are considering hiring if they work with insurance companies.
Choosing a Plumber
Some high-quality plumbers work directly with popular home insurance companies to submit your insurance claim for you and ensure that you get the coverage you deserve. This process eliminates the need for you to go out of your way to communicate directly with your home insurance company and can save you a significant amount of time and effort.
3. Can You Provide Details on Your Rates?
Even some of the most reputable plumbing companies sneak hidden fees into their rates. It is important to ask any plumber you are considering hiring for details about their rates. Some plumbers charge hourly rates, while others charge flat rates for specific services.
If a plumber you are considering hiring charges an hourly rate, ask them for a ballpark figure of how long they expect your job to take. If they charge flat rates, ask them if you will be responsible for paying any additional fees that they have not yet mentioned. The answers to these questions can help you weed out any plumbers who seem to care more about their profits than providing quality service to their customers.
4. Do You Specialize in Certain Services?
It is not imperative that you hire a plumber who specializes in the services you need to be performed in your home. Plenty of unspecialized plumbers perform great work. However, hiring a plumber that specializes in the services they would be providing for you is more likely to yield higher-quality results than hiring a plumber who does not have any particular specialty or specializes outside of the realm of the services you need in your home.
5. What is Your Warranty Policy?
It is important to ask about a plumbing company’s warranty policy before hiring a plumber. Any high-quality plumbing company should offer some type of warranty on their work.
If a plumber is unwilling to guarantee the parts they use and services they perform by offering a generous warranty on the work they do in your home, you should look elsewhere for a plumber who is more confident in and willing to stand behind the services they provide.
If you are looking for a plumber in Southern California in or around Riverside County, consider hiring Accurate Leak Locators and Plumbing. This fully licensed, bonded, and insured professional plumbing company brings more than 30 years of plumbing and leak location experience to the table.
Accurate Leak Locators and Plumbing performs a very broad range of top-quality plumbing services at affordable rates. Plus, they offer 24/7 emergency services and work directly with insurance companies to make the entire process easier and more streamlined for homeowners.
Give Accurate Leak Locators and Plumbing a call today or visit their website for more information on the services this professional plumbing company offers to residents in and around Riverside County, California.
