Nothing can be more disturbing for a homeowner than a pipe bursting and pouring or leaking water all over their building. Nothing says "emergency" like water pooling around your ankles and you don't know how to get it to stop! To top it off, you're worried about the long-term harm that all of the water might do, as well as the mounting. What does a homeowner do?
Of course, learn how to employ a plumber in an emergency! If you don't want to be overcharged for plumbing services, your only choice is to educate yourself and discover what your best choices are in the event of a plumbing emergency.
Unfortunately, in the majority of plumbing emergencies, the average homeowner would reach for the phonebook in the middle of the night on a holiday weekend and call the first plumber who answers their urgent call for assistance. This, my friends, is a tragedy waiting to happen, and I'm not referring to the plumbing disaster!
Fraser's plumbing has a few tips that you need to heed before you start looking for a good plumber and we've got you covered there as well!
1. The first thing you can do in a plumbing emergency is switch off the water supply to your leak, which is relatively simple for the average homeowner. And turning off the water yourself has the added advantage of buying you time; time to look at a few plumbers and make a reasonable decision about who to recruit rather than just hiring the first guy who answers his phone and paying whatever he charges.
2. Shutting off the main water source to the house is your best option if you have a burst pipe or water spewing from the floor somewhere. A shut off valve installed by the local water department can be used to turn off the water supply to your home in the typical home. The valve is normally hidden under a rectangular lid, which also houses your water metre. The water metre is now found in most modern homes in front of the building, somewhere on the sidewalk or pavement leading to the driveway. To shut off the water valve, you'll need a wrench, and in most situations, even a crescent wrench would suffice.
3. If you want to hire a good plumber at a good price, the best way to do that is to review and evaluate several bids from several well-qualified plumbers. We recommend you start with a list of about 3-5 plumbers. You want to start off with more plumbers then you'll need because you'll inevitably have to get rid of a few along the way.
Knowing how to employ a plumber in an emergency can mean the difference between having the job done correctly for a fair price and being ripped off for a repair job that won't last by a plumber you can't reach. If you follow the steps mentioned above, you'll have a much better chance of finding a reliable plumber in an emergency at Fraser's plumbing.
