How to find a good plumber?

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Blue456
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How to find a good plumber?

Post by Blue456 »

My garage looks like it has a water leak. It's right above my bathroom and at the location where previous owner had a water leak, the ceiling got wet a big chunk of it fell on my car. How do I find a good plumber? It's my first house and besides google I am pretty much clueless.
jarjarM
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by jarjarM »

Try ask around the neighborhood, someone probably can recommend a good plumber they have experience with (like via the next door app).
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windaar
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by windaar »

If you have other trade workers (electrician, carpenter, etc) that you trust just ask them for recommendations. That has always worked for me.
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Sandtrap
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Sandtrap »

Reputable licensed plumber or plumbing contractor.
Not a handyman or helpful Harry or Roto Rooter or franchise.

Look inline
Read reviews
Call your yellow pages and get an idea how much they charge and if they even can get to it right away.
In this case get a pro.

If it had leaked and been repaired
Do it right and forever this time.
j🌺
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Marylander1
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Marylander1 »

Sandtrap wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:39 pm Call your yellow pages and get an idea how much they charge and if they even can get to it right away.
Yellow pages? Do these exist anywhere in the US? We haven't gotten one delivered for 10 years, and they were full of errors and a sad excuse for their former usefulness.

Marylander1
Shallowpockets
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Shallowpockets »

I’d be looking at those value park coupons that come in the mail. Usually the local plumbers have a coupon in there. Here all the bigger firms have one. Sometimes they will advertise a service call for a set amount. Then you have a fixed price for at least an inspection of your problem. Once you have that they will give you a price and you can decide if it is fair. They may take off the amount of the inspection from the total repair price also. Everything else is word of mouth and you know how that can go.
If you have had a ceiling fall down from the water leak and thus have access to the pipes, you might want to have a look yourself. That is, if you are a DIY.
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JPH
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by JPH »

Shallowpockets wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:43 pm If you have had a ceiling fall down from the water leak and thus have access to the pipes, you might want to have a look yourself. That is, if you are a DIY.
If this were me the next thing to fall would be a toilet!
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Sandtrap
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Sandtrap »

Marylander1 wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:43 pm
Sandtrap wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:39 pm Call your yellow pages and get an idea how much they charge and if they even can get to it right away.
Yellow pages? Do these exist anywhere in the US? We haven't gotten one delivered for 10 years, and they were full of errors and a sad excuse for their former usefulness.

Marylander1
You are right and correct.
Great catch!


Yellow pages are thick and in the kitchen next to the black dial telephone on the wall with the tangled coil cord. The only phone in the house. . . . . . . . . :D :D

j :D
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Doom&Gloom
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Doom&Gloom »

Sounds like what you really need is an available plumber. And hope it's a good one!

I would certainly try to follow the previous suggestions as much as possible, but I wouldn't waste time trying to parse the differences too finely at the moment.
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BolderBoy
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by BolderBoy »

Blue456 wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:10 pmMy garage looks like it has a water leak. It's right above my bathroom and at the location where previous owner had a water leak, the ceiling got wet a big chunk of it fell on my car. How do I find a good plumber? It's my first house and besides google I am pretty much clueless.
Where do you live?
"Never underestimate one's capacity to overestimate one's abilities" - The Dunning-Kruger Effect
carolinaman
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by carolinaman »

Doom&Gloom wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:13 pm Sounds like what you really need is an available plumber. And hope it's a good one!

I would certainly try to follow the previous suggestions as much as possible, but I wouldn't waste time trying to parse the differences too finely at the moment.
Agree. All trades are super busy right now. Finding an available plumber is tough right now and potluck as to how good he may be.
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C4NT
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by C4NT »

Recommendations from friends have always been the best for me. Start texting people you know.

You might try the Nextdoor app too. I found a great appliance repair guy that way after no one I knew one had any recommendations. I didn't post to it, just used the search feature to look at other threads.
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Blue456
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Blue456 »

I ended up calling two guys on NextApp. One went straight to voicemail the other one had phone answering service saying that someone will call me back. Unfortunately I just moved to this area so I really don't know anybody around here.
Buford T Justice
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Buford T Justice »

I've had good luck visiting my local non branded / family owned hardware store and asking for recommendations.
Topic Author
Blue456
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Blue456 »

Buford T Justice wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:17 pm I've had good luck visiting my local non branded / family owned hardware store and asking for recommendations.
Thanks.
Californiastate
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Californiastate »

I'd start with asking the realtor who sold you the property. He might have some suggestions. I'd avoid an unlicensed handyman type. You can expose the area yourself if you have a ladder, PPE, tools and minimal skills. It might be as simple as some caulking. Regardless you will be paying the plumber to find the potential leak.
I've seen a leak that ruined a high end dining room ceiling that turned out to be a flooded bathroom floor. The owner had a son who would splash around in the tub. The water splashed on the floor and found a path where the tub meets the floor. It found the tub shoe blockout and ruined the ceiling below. The owners wouldn't accept that as the problem. The ceiling was removed and everything was tested. The piping and drain was dry. The tub/shower tile drained properly. Finally the plumber put water on the floor next to the tub. Voila! It leaked like a sieve. It was recaulked and that was it. Except for the extensive ceiling replacemnt and dining room table resurfacing it was a cheap fix.
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quantAndHold
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by quantAndHold »

Realtors, property managers, and general contractors usually know who the good tradespeople are. Start asking around.
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tennisplyr
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by tennisplyr »

The following website might be useful in your area. Sign up and search for plumbers.

www.nextdoor.com
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Mr. Rumples
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Mr. Rumples »

HVAC contractors where I live are moving into having licensed plumbers and electricians on staff. There is a premium of course, but they stand by their work.

They are also moving to not charging extra for Saturday calls, rather treating it as another work day and thus staffing for it so they don't have to pay overtime.

There is a shortage of plumbers so they can command a good chunk of change.
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tibbitts
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by tibbitts »

Buford T Justice wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:17 pm I've had good luck visiting my local non branded / family owned hardware store and asking for recommendations.
You are possibly the only person who still has a local non-branded / family-owned hardware store.
Marylander1
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Marylander1 »

Sandtrap wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:01 pm
Marylander1 wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:43 pm
Sandtrap wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:39 pm Call your yellow pages and get an idea how much they charge and if they even can get to it right away.
Yellow pages? Do these exist anywhere in the US? We haven't gotten one delivered for 10 years, and they were full of errors and a sad excuse for their former usefulness.

Marylander1
You are right and correct.
Great catch!


Yellow pages are thick and in the kitchen next to the black dial telephone on the wall with the tangled coil cord. The only phone in the house. . . . . . . . . :D :D

j :D
This post reminded me of an hourly temp job in my youth where they rented a whole unoccupied floor in an office building and had two opposing walls with each with dozens of file cabinets. One wall had all the yellow pages ads sorted by client name, and on the other wall they were sorted by category in which they would be printed. Our job was to pick up a bundle from the first group and sort them into the second group.

I lasted half a day before my brain melted. When I resigned at lunchtime, the Bell Atlantic supervisor said "Yeah you were the fastest one this morning. Anyone who's the fast one on their first day never lasts. Thanks for sticking it out as long as you did "

The temp agency had another job for me the next day in aerospace.

Marylander1
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Sandtrap
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Sandtrap »

Blue456 wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:10 pm My garage looks like it has a water leak. It's right above my bathroom and at the location where previous owner had a water leak, the ceiling got wet a big chunk of it fell on my car. How do I find a good plumber? It's my first house and besides google I am pretty much clueless.
Also:
Call the local plumbing supply houses for referrals.
j :D
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Sandtrap
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Sandtrap »

Blue456 wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:10 pm My garage looks like it has a water leak. It's right above my bathroom and at the location where previous owner had a water leak, the ceiling got wet a big chunk of it fell on my car. How do I find a good plumber? It's my first house and besides google I am pretty much clueless.
If all else fails. . . take some pictures and post them in a new thread: "how to fix this?".
There are plumbers and experts and exspurts on the forum that can talk you through fixing it at least enough so it will stop leaking. Or diagnose the problem.

Boglehead fixerers are persistent as evidenced by the length of the "noise in the attic" thread. (7 pages!)
j :D
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Topic Author
Blue456
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Blue456 »

Sandtrap wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:58 pm
Blue456 wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:10 pm My garage looks like it has a water leak. It's right above my bathroom and at the location where previous owner had a water leak, the ceiling got wet a big chunk of it fell on my car. How do I find a good plumber? It's my first house and besides google I am pretty much clueless.
If all else fails. . . take some pictures and post them in a new thread: "how to fix this?".
There are plumbers and experts and exspurts on the forum that can talk you through fixing it at least enough so it will stop leaking. Or diagnose the problem.

Boglehead fixerers are persistent as evidenced by the length of the "noise in the attic" thread. (7 pages!)
j :D
It's not leaking right now. I believe it only leaks when the water is draining, so we stopped using the bathroom above the garage. This issue was there before (previous owner), as the area was obviously plastered. This weekend I will stop by some plumbing supply stores and see if they have any references. I definitely want this fixed once and for all and properly.
jmw
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by jmw »

I've had poor success at finding a good plumber. I know all the tricks looking for one (eg. nextdoor, yelp, other tradesmen, etc). I've been dissatisfied with their work and their prices. The closest thing I have found is a good sprinkler guy with great prices, but he is extremely busy.
roamingzebra
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by roamingzebra »

I've given up trying to find a good, reasonably priced plumber. I've used everyone in the area and the quality even within a single company varies wildly.

We recently had a leak under the house. This time around, instead of price-shopping, I simply called one plumber that I had used before knowing it was a gamble whether I'd get a good guy or not. He fixed the leak quickly then recommended another business to dry out the house underneath. Everything worked like clockwork. No delays. Speed really was of the essence here. If there had been too many delays, there would have been a huge mold problem under the house; as it was, it was a manageable problem.

Also, fixing a leak quickly helps prevent an astronomical water bill. A smaller water bill can offset the costs of the plumbing bill.
Dave55
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Dave55 »

Marylander1 wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:43 pm
Sandtrap wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 1:39 pm Call your yellow pages and get an idea how much they charge and if they even can get to it right away.
Yellow pages? Do these exist anywhere in the US? We haven't gotten one delivered for 10 years, and they were full of errors and a sad excuse for their former usefulness.

Marylander1
Jim (Sandtrap) is old school.

Dave
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anoop
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by anoop »

I have been using Yelp. If you have a Yelp account, you can also send request for quotes (and Yelp will automatically send them to multiple businesses that match the one that you are sending the quote request to). Read the reviews (don't just go by stars), especially if there are any by Elite members because those tend to be real people. I tend to avoid the ones that look like big companies because they have high overhead costs and therefore charge too much.

The other option would be to ask neighbors, but I trust Yelp more than neighbors when it comes to these things. People tend to have different standards.
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zincTwo
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by zincTwo »

When our water heater needed replacement, we bought through Home Depot, and used their associated company for the WH install.
I was so impressed by the installation service, I asked if they handled "direct" plumbing service calls (outside of their relationship with HD). They said yes !
While I haven't had a need to call them...I know who to call, and their contact number is on my water heater.
Lynette
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Re: How to find a good plumber?

Post by Lynette »

Do you know your neighbors? Maybe speak to a neighbor when they are in their yard - picking up leaves or putting out trash. I got good recommendations for referrals from my next door neighbor to whom I spoke in person. For years I have been asking the guy at my plumber for referrals. He recommended a good contractor to install my driveway.
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