Important Considerations Before You Have A Plumbing Emergency

Are you in the process of moving to a new place? Are you hoping to avoid any plumbing issues once you're moved in? While not every plumbing issue can be avoided, the response can dictate how severe it winds up being. Here are some important things to know before you're faced with a flooding basement, or worse:

Choose a plumber now: Some people set aside choosing a plumber until "later," only to have "later" never come. A pipe can burst unexpectedly or a sewer line will clog, turning later into now. While plumbers that are licensed, bonded and insured should be trustworthy, not everyone who offers to do plumbing repairs is actually a licensed plumber. Some may present themselves as licensed plumbers, but their credentials won't check out, while others don't pretend to be licensed and insured but will offer deceptively low quotes for their services. By choosing a plumber or plumbing service now, you can weed out fake or suspicious plumbing services while it's still not urgent that you do so. 

Ask for a full estimate in writing: Even when you're dealing with a completely trustworthy service, there can be communication issues when it comes to plumbing repairs. Exactly how much of the plumbing did the plumbers promise to replace? Are you paying extra for the materials or is that included in the estimate? By getting a full written estimate, you can help to avoid any surprises or arguments once you get the final bill. While an estimate is just that, a guess at the final cost, a good plumber should be able to get very close to the final total cost of any repairs. If any surprises come up during the work, they should give you any revised estimates also in writing.

Lowest bid isn't always better: If you're like many people, you take care of the immediate problem and then get estimates from multiple plumbers for additional plumbing repairs. A lot of people would simply choose the plumber who gives them the lowest price, but this isn't always a good idea. If the estimate is significantly lower than the other estimates, chances are good that the plumber may have accidentally left something out of the estimate. He or she may also be planning on using materials that are lower in quality than the ones that you'd prefer. This is another reason why you should get all estimates in writing, so you can compare them all before choosing which company to go with.