Some household emergencies cannot wait the next day to be repaired.
Among the most common problems of this sort would certainly be electricity and plumbing-related issues, because they can lead to fires, loss of heating (if you’re using electricity to heat your house), as well as Biblical floods that are not only inconvenient, but that can also cause permanent damage to your walls, doors, and not to mention floors. (Especially if you have floors made of wood.)
So, when disasters such as this strike, you can either attempt to patch it up yourself, and nine times out of ten make it even worse, or call in the professionals as quickly as possible to fix the problem.
In this article, we’re going to talk about plumbing emergencies, in particular, and what the course of action would be to fix these.
Since calling in the professionals in this situation goes without saying, we are going to concentrate on giving you tips on how to tell a good plumber from a bad one based on their credentials, negotiate the fees, as well as ensure the optimal response times from them to ensure the best possible damage control for your emergency.
Here’s the deal.
Licensing
While you won’t have much time to work in case your living room is already half-flooded, it is still important you don’t panic and pose some important questions to your plumber, so you can prevent problems down the road.
The thing with many cities and countries worldwide is that the authorities make the plumbing fixtures, sewage systems, and pipelines a certain way, so when something goes wrong, only trained professionals can tackle the problem.
If a rookie tries to fix the issue, they will not only likely fail, but you may also have some problems with the local authorities for mismanaging the problem. Of course, not all cities have specific plumbing regulations, so you have to learn first if the place where you live does have some limits to how you can approach plumbing problems or not.
In case there is a ‘code of conduct’ in terms of fixing plumbing issues in your area, make sure that the plumber you call in during an emergency is licensed to fix it. By the way, what you want to look into is the license for fixing the plumbing issues, not just the license to have a plumbing-related business – these are two different things, and the latter one is irrelevant for your situation.
How Fast They Can Respond
Another important aspect of speed-hiring a plumber, so to speak, would be determining how fast they can get there. In case their response time is too long, it doesn’t pay off to hire them, even if they are certified and have tons of experience.
The more time a plumbing issue goes unaddressed, the more damage to your property you will have to deal with later on, so a speedy response should be at the top of your checklist for hiring plumbers in these circumstances.
Spare Parts
Although normally you may not feel compelled to get involved too much in the plumber’s trade to learn about the details of how they’re going to fix your plumbing issue, in emergencies, you might want to probe further into what assets they have that are ready to go.
For example, an important thing to ask for would be if they have the necessary equipment or the spare parts to fix the problem as soon as they get to your place. If they don’t, this means that they will have to make a stop at the hardware store, which means a longer response time.
This will also likely increase the costs of the entire fixing procedure, so you need to inquire after that, too.
Depending on what part of your house plumbing goes awry, the plumber will need different parts and tools to fix it. Fixes where a wall needs to be taken down or certain complex hot water repairs may require specialized equipment to tackle, for example.
Last but not least, if your emergency happens during the night and the plumber doesn’t have the necessary tools to fix the thing right away, there’s no use in striking a deal with them at all, and you may need to get in contact with a different plumber. Overall, as long as you act fast and ask the right questions over the phone, you will be more likely to fix the problem successfully.
