Plumbing Company Guide: How To Hire Professionals

When hiring a plumbing company, there's no reason to settle for anything less than the best. No, that doesn't mean going out of your way to hire the most expensive guys in town. In fact, they probably won't be the best in any case. It does mean sitting down and doing a bit of legwork before you blindly call someone over. Whether you need some simple repairs or you're planning to make some major installations, you want quality professionals you can count on. Going with anything less can result in problems you don't want. Here is a guide that will help you make the right decision.

Referrals

Rather than depending on the phone book to give you a good lead, try asking around. Most homeowners will have dealt with a plumbing company at least once. They will be able to give that company a thumbs up or a negative review. See what kinds of names pop up as you ask your co-workers and neighbors. If you notice the same name show up several times in a positive light, you may be one step closer to making a good hire.

Licensing

In every town, there will be at least one plumbing company working without the proper licensing. Often, this "company" is really just some guy with a work truck. Yes, you can probably save some money (seemingly) by hiring this fellow. You may even get a great deal, in terms of both cost and quality. But you are taking a fairly big risk. Unless you know someone personally, stick with the professionals who are properly licensed and have all their paperwork in order. Don't try to sneak beneath the system just to save a few bucks.

Shop Around

While hiring a plumbing company isn't something that should be done on price alone, there's nothing wrong with getting a few quotes. When possible, ask for detailed outlines of the quote. This will allow you to make more pertinent comparisons between the various companies. One professional's bid may not encompass the same things as another's. Therefore, without detailed quotes, you could be comparing apples and oranges. If you want to make things easy, you can throw out the highest and lowest bid and treat them as anomalies.

Get It In Writing

Any agreements you make with a plumbing company should be put in writing. Don't sign anything you haven't read and agreed with. If there is trouble down the line, you want something you can point to and refer back to. This protects both you and the plumbers in question.