Use our detailed guide to find the best plumbing company and home inspectors in your area.
Professional plumbing services are an essential aspect of property maintenance. Issues can arise without any prior warning, leading to serious plumbing problems in your home or business. Without professional assistance, these issues can cause long-term damages that cost thousands of dollars to fix. In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about hiring the best plumbing company for the job.
Before we dive into the tips and words of advice, it’s important to know why you should hire professional plumbers.
What Are the Benefits Of Hiring A Plumbing Company?
How much do you know about plumbing?
The average person won’t be a plumbing expert, so you likely lack the skills or knowledge to deal with large plumbing problems. More to the point, you also lack the necessary equipment or tools. If you have issues with your sewers or drains, do you own a pipe inspection camera or sewer camera to tackle the problem? Likewise, do you know how to correctly fix a leaking pipe or unclog a drain, so the issues don’t keep coming back?
For major plumbing jobs or emergencies, you are always better to call a plumbing company. They will ensure that:
● The job is completed safely and promptly.
● You aren’t given a quick fix; things are given long-term solutions
● You don’t run the risk of causing more damage to your property
● You can deal with the problem before it gets worse
● You don’t have to spend a fortune buying plumbing equipment.
Okay, but what about the smaller plumbing jobs? What if you have a leaky faucet or a running toilet? These types of plumbing concerns can usually be handled with a bit of DIY. It shouldn’t take much to search for advice and watch videos on how to fix minor plumbing concerns.
Nevertheless, not everyone is capable of this. You may have no DIY experience – or you may lack the time to tackle the issues. In addition, you may not have the tools that a professional plumber may have like a sewer camera or snake camera. In this case, a plumbing company can be highly beneficial. They’ll tackle the small problems as well as any big ones.
Overall, hiring professional plumbers gives you peace of mind. You know the problem is in safe hands, so there are fewer risks involved. It will also be a better investment when you consider how much money you save by not letting the plumbing problems get worse.
How To Find Plumbing Companies Near You
Let’s say you have a plumbing emergency, or perhaps you just need some basic work done. How do you go about finding the best plumbing company in your area?
We’re about to show you some tips that’ll make this task much easier. Before that, we have one major thing you shouldn’t do: never phone the first plumbing company you find.
Why? Because you run the risk of hiring a company that isn’t very reliable or trustworthy. Sure, they could be the best in the area, but you won’t know this until you’ve looked at all other options.
Ultimately, there’s a two-step process:
● Find reputable plumbing companies near you
● Evaluate each company to see which one is the best
In this section, we’re tackling the first step in the process. So, here’s how to find plumbing companies near where you live:
Use Google Business Profiles
Google is the best place to start when searching for plumbers in your area. A quick search will throw up some local results. You see, Google has something called Google Business Profiles, which companies can (and should) create. This enables plumbing companies to register themselves online and be shown on Google Maps. There’s a whole ranking algorithm in place to try and show the best plumbers in order.
After conducting your search for plumbing companies, you should see a map with different results on it. Below this, there will be three companies that Google deems are the best ones based on different factors. Already, you have three plumbers to add to your shortlist.
Another benefit of using Google and looking at these local results is that Google Business Profiles come with reviews. You can instantly see how many stars a company has been rated by previous customers. Right away, you can rule out the companies without many stars – anything lower than 4 should be a serious concern. We recommend reading the reviews carefully and with an open mind. Any sewer camera company with 2 stars or less should be avoided.
Look at online directories
Online directories exist to help people find a whole range of services. Here, you have a collection of plumbing companies that are located near you. All you have to do is find a directory – like Yelp – and look at the results in your area. You can click on that link and type “plumbers” into the search, dictating the geographical location if it isn’t automatically set to where you live.
Now, you’ll see a list of all the plumbers registered on Yelp. To start, being on Yelp is a good sign – it shows the company is professional and has nothing to hide. Moreover, Yelp shows additional reviews. It can be handy to compare these reviews to the ones on Google – when companies have five-star reviews across multiple directories it shows they’re good at what they do.
Online directories should also give you clear contact details, so you can get in touch with the plumbers or visit their websites for more information.
Utilize the BBB
The Better Business Bureau is in place to help consumers find trustworthy and reliable service providers. It’s not technically an online directory as companies need to be evaluated by the BBB to be listed there. All companies will get a rating (A+ is the highest, and F is the lowest). This gives you a wonderful scale to use that clearly shows which plumbing companies are the best in your area.
You can use the BBB search tool to specifically find plumbers in your location. After typing in your city, state, or zip code, you’ll be presented with all the relevant results. Here, you can choose to filter your results to BBB Accredited Businesses Only. This is important as it will only show companies that have contacted the BBB and undergone evaluation.
Look for companies with as high a rating as possible – ideally, they should be A+. It’s a clear demonstration that the plumbing company can be trusted as it’s been vetted and cleared by the Better Business Bureau.
Ask around for some referrals
Word of mouth is always a good way to find plumbing companies in your local area. Do you have friends or family that have recently had some plumbing work done? If you trust their opinions, you could ask them if they know of any plumbers you could call.
As a result, you may get the name of plumbers that your friends trust. It’s helpful to try and ask as many people as possible – if the same names keep coming up, you know these local plumbing companies are worth contacting.
Likewise, your friends/family may warn you of unreliable companies. Perhaps they had work done before and it was a terrible experience. Now, you’ll know of some plumbers to maybe avoid in the future.
Check the plumbing company’s website
A plumbing company’s website can tell you a lot about the company itself. A sewer camera website will display the various products that are necessary to perform plumbing inspections. Plumbing pipes sound like a simple and straightforward thing, but when you look at the various size and lengths of pipes on both the supply and waste side of things, you start to see how complicated things can get.
To begin, the design and layout of the site tell a story. Does it look very professional and modern? If so, this is a good sign. It shows the company cares about its online image, which starts to build more trust between you and them.
Secondly, a plumbing company’s website explains more about them as a business. You gain more information, which can be used to help you make an educated decision when choosing a plumber.
For example, you see the plumbing services on offer. Until you visit a few plumbing company websites, you don’t realize the scope of this industry. People assume that plumbing services only involve fixing faucets or dealing with leaks. In reality, it can encompass everything from gas installations to home inspections with a sewer snake.
Visiting the websites lets you know the services on offer. Thus, you can figure out which companies are capable of dealing with your specific needs. It stops you from contacting a plumber that can’t do what you need them to.
One other thing to note; this is crucial if you need commercial plumbing services. Most of the plumbers you find will offer residential plumbing for homes, flats, etc. If you run a business, you’ll need a plumber that can handle commercial plumbing concerns to avoid any issues.
Talk to your home insurance provider
Talking to your home insurance provider is another top way to find recommendations for reliable and trustworthy plumbers. This is a good idea even if you aren’t using your insurance to cover the costs of any repairs.
Contact your insurer and ask if they have any suggestions. They should have contacts that they call upon whenever clients take out home insurance claims. As such, you can trust that these plumbers will be reputable as the insurance agencies must’ve vetted them before choosing to partner with them.
As a bonus, there’s a chance you could get a discount because of the insurance company’s relationship with the plumber. This might not happen, but it’s worth giving it a go. At the very least, you could end up with the name of a plumber that you’ve already heard good things about.
How To Figure Out Which Plumbing Company Is The Best
After following the previous tips, you’ll be in a position where you’ve found a handful of plumbing companies. The question is, which one do you end up calling?
Based on your research, you should have a shortlist of around 5-10 plumbers. From here, you can start evaluating them and separating the best from the rest.
Here’s what you need to do:
Take a more detailed look at the reviews
Reviews are everything when looking for a plumbing company. They tell you what other customers think of the company. There are two key things to look for when reviewing the reviews:
● The average rating from each customer
● The number of reviews each plumbing company has
In an ideal world, the best plumbing company in your area will have lots of positive reviews. Go through their Google reviews, look at Yelp and other online directories, etc. Try to read as many reviews as possible to see what the consensus of customers like you is. If you come across negative reviews, look to see why the customer left them. Often, negative reviews don’t paint the full picture as it could’ve been the customer’s fault that their experience was bad. See if the plumbing companies respond to negative reviews by giving more context.
The number of reviews a plumber has will be important. It shows how many customers/clients they’ve worked with – well, it shows the ones who left reviews. A plumbing company with over 1,000 reviews and a 4-star rating is certainly better than one with 5 reviews and a 5-star rating. They’ve dealt with way more clients yet still manage to maintain a brilliant rating. Keep things like this in mind when you look at reviews.
Check the website for more information
You’ve already gone on the plumbing companies’ websites to see what services they offer. This lets you rule out any plumbers that can’t provide the exact service you’re looking for. Now, you need to look for further information on the website.
Primarily, you’re interested in the following:
● Awards
● Licenses
● Accreditations
● Testimonials
● Visual proof
Look to see if any of the companies on your list have won awards for their services. Perhaps they have been voted the best plumber in the area, or maybe they’ve won all sorts of other local awards. This is as good an indication as any that they’re excellent at their jobs and could be worth contacting.
Licenses and accreditations are also very valuable. You need to see evidence of a proper license on the website. If you can, Google it to be sure it’s the right license a plumber needs to operate in your area. Accreditations refer to things like a BBB rating or anything else that shows the company has signed up with an organization and been assessed, evaluated, and vetted. You can search the Better Business Bureau for sewer camera companies that are in good standing.
Testimonials are reviews but in more detail. If a site is full of testimonials, it’s a good sign. Mainly, you want to be wary of plumbing companies without any testimonials on their website. What do they have to hide? Why aren’t there any testimonials from previous customers? These sewer camera plumbers may be too new to establish a reputation or they are now operating under a new business name because their old business failed. That is why we strongly recommend researching plumbing professionals before you have a serious problem.
Lastly, visual proof refers to evidence of their work. Maybe they have a section on their site that shows before and after photos of jobs they completed. It’s a brilliant way of seeing what a plumbing company is capable of – it’s also really helpful at setting the best apart from the rest.
Find information on insurance & warranties
Again, this is something you can find on a website. However, it’s not always openly available, in which case you’ll need to contact the plumber directly.
Every reputable plumber should have plumbing insurance. At the bare minimum, this insurance should cover general liability, meaning the plumber is covered if someone gets injured while they work. It can also cover the plumber if something breaks while they’re trying to repair it. Additional coverage can be added – the more coverage a plumber’s insurance provides, the better it is for you.
Why? Because it means you’re protected in case things go wrong. You won’t have to pay for any damages out of your pocket, and the plumber’s insurance can cover the cost of medical bills if you get injured. Generally, it’s unwise to trust a plumber that doesn’t have insurance.
While you’re checking that the plumber is insured, see if they have any warranties. A warranty protects you when the work is completed. A one-year warranty would mean the plumber would have to come back and redo their work if it doesn’t hold up. Ideally, you want long warranties so you know that if things go wrong, they’ll come back and fix the same issue free of charge.
A plumbing company that doesn’t provide a warranty should be avoided. It could result in a relatively affordable repair being extremely costly over time.
Look at how experienced the plumber is
Who would you trust to work on a plumbing issue on your property:
● A plumber with only 6 months of experience
● A plumber with over 6 years of experience
The second option will always fill you with more trust as you know the plumber has worked for many years. Experience means a great deal in this line of work; the more a plumber works, the more they learn. They may be capable of handling things more efficiently or knowing little inside tips or tricks that novice plumbers don’t know yet.
Look to see how experienced the plumber is before you call them. It should be visible on their website on the “About Us” page. If not, get in touch with them and ask for more information on their background. How many years have they been working? What qualifications do they have?
Ask for a price estimate
One of the leading factors in deciding which plumbing company to hire will be the cost of the service.
How much does each company charge for the service you’re after?
Some may display guide prices on their sites, but most won’t. Why? Because no two jobs are the same, meaning the same service could cost more/less depending on the customer. The only way to figure out how much it will cost YOU is by asking for an estimate.
Any reputable plumbing company will be happy to listen to your problem and provide an estimate for the service. If they don’t, it’s a bit of a red flag. Some will even come to your property and look at the issue before proving a quote.
Ensure the estimate/quote has no obligations attached. This allows you to get as many quotes as possible from all the plumbers on your shortlist. As a result, you can compare them all and pick the company that offers the best value for money.
Extra Advice When Hiring The Best Plumbing Company
The two-step process above will help you find the best plumbing company around. You can get in touch with a reliable plumber that has numerous positive reviews, loads of experience, the right licenses, insurance, a good warranty, an excellent track record, and fantastic rates.
Still, we have some extra advice to help you with the entire process:
Begin your research before you have a plumbing emergency
It’s always better to have a plumber lined up in case an emergency happens. Think about all the research you must conduct to find a great plumber. This takes time – which is not something you have a lot of when there’s a plumbing emergency.
Begin your research right now and find a plumber you trust. When the time comes, you’ll know exactly who to call.
Build a rapport with your chosen plumber
You’ve picked the plumbing company you want to help with any issues you ever get. Ideally, you don’t want the first interaction to be a plumbing emergency. It helps if you build a rapport with the plumber ahead of time.
Building rapport helps you quickly establish great relationships, regardless of your position at your company. Rapport is the foundation of great workplace relationships because it facilitates collaboration, unlocks mutual trust, and enhances communications. Why is building rapport important in business?
Building rapport is critical in business. It’s your tool for nurturing strong relationships while sharpening your capacity to influence others. When you establish a strong rapport, you’re able to engage your team and customers on a human level where loyalty and connection occur
Hire them to do some odd plumbing jobs around the house. Remember that leaky faucet in your bathroom? Call them up and pay them to fix it. Get them to bleed your radiators or conduct a sewer survey. All of these little jobs establish a working relationship between you and the plumber. You go from being a new customer to being a valued returning one.
Consequently, when you have an emergency (and you most certainly will experience one at some point) they are more likely to prioritize you as they know who you are and have been to your house before.
Summary
You have now reached the end of our guide to hiring the best plumber in your area. To sum everything up, you need to search for a plumber by:
● Checking Google business listings
● Looking at online directories
● Searching via the BBB
● Asking friends for referrals
● Talking to your insurance provider
You should then evaluate each one by:
● Looking at reviews
● Checking the websites for more information
● Finding out about insurance & warranties
● Seeing how experienced the plumber is
● Asking for quotes/estimates
When all of this is done, you’ll have the contact details of the best plumber you can find. Give them a call and build a working relationship so they’re ready to help out if an emergency strikes.
If you decide to go out and do things on your own or if your plumber is looking for an inspection camera, please reach out to our camera professionals at 931-362-3304 or email us at Sales@USABorescopes.com
