When we turn on a faucet or flush a toilet at our home or business, we take for granted that these things will work as they should. When they don’t, we turn to plumbers to fix them. There are so many plumbers around today but that does not necessarily mean they are all qualified. A licensed, qualified plumber must have years of experience and pass rigorous tests to become approved for a license.
As a homeowner or business owner, hiring a plumber can be daunting (and potentially haunting!). You contract them to do specialized work, pay them good money and then wonder what went so wrong when you are left with damages that your insurance won’t cover and a plumber that has disappeared. Shady credentials and shoddy work are a part of hiring an unlicensed and unqualified plumber. To find the right plumber, you need to do some work. If you don’t, you might be in for some ghostly tales of plumbing nightmares! Here are some of the risks you take:
1) Short Cuts
Any plumber that takes short cuts can cost you a lot of money. Take, Amy, for example. She hired a handyman contractor recently in St. Charles, Missouri to retrieve her wedding ring that had fallen down the kitchen sink. The handyman wasn’t licensed and didn’t have experience with her type of pipes. He successfully retrieved the ring after taking apart the kitchen pipes. The problem: He didn’t put the pipes back together correctly and they leaked all over Amy’s beautiful new kitchen floor. *Cue the blood curdling scream*. The flooding caused extensive damage and costly repairs, and the handyman wasn’t accountable for his bad work because he wasn’t licensed.
2) Inferior Materials
Using the correct plumbing materials sometimes comes at a cost but they are well worth it. For large scale plumbing jobs, qualified plumbers need to be using industrial quality equipment and materials. If inferior materials are used, you are likely to have to pay someone again to do the same job all over again and have a frightful time fixing their mistakes.
3) Lack of Knowledge
No matter what type of job needs to be done, when you use an unqualified plumber, you are taking a risk that you can not afford. If the plumber who is installing your hot water heater is not knowledgeable and neglects to use the appropriate relief valves, your family could be in serious danger if the heater explodes. This is possible if the thermostat malfunctions. Or say you pay someone who doesn’t really know what they are doing to waterproof the foundation of your home? The next time it rains, you could likely have a flood on your hands.
4) Not Having The Correct Insurance
Plumbers who are not qualified do not have access to the same type of liability insurance that a qualified plumber does. If they inflict damage on your home, you will not be covered. For instance, if a contractor or handy person comes out to fix the old copper piping inside your wall that is leaking and lights a torch without having the right amount of air inside the wall, the dust will catch fire and your home could burn down. If the “plumber” you used does not carry adequate liability coverage and your homeowner’s insurance quickly finds out the contractor was not qualified, your claim will be denied.
5) Price Quotes
When getting price quotes, remember that the least expensive one does not always cost you the least amount. If a job is done wrong, a leaky floor can ruin floors and ceilings, polluted water can cause illness and destruction and harm can come to your loved ones from explosions caused by improper gas connections. People who are unlicensed can charge less because they probably do not have the proper insurances and haven’t filed the necessary paperwork. If something goes wrong with the job, you will be the one left with the problem. The next time you need a plumber, be sure to ask for their license.
If you own a home or business, it is worth it to examine the credentials of the plumbing company you want to use. Also be sure to check their insurance. It simply is not worth hiring an unqualified company or contractor! Bad plumbing done wrong can come at a high price to you and your loved ones.
Don’t take any chances! Halloween should be scary and frightful, your plumber should not!
