Follow These 8 Tips to Find the Right Plumber

When your home experiences a plumbing disaster, the first step is to get help from professional plumbing services in Scarborough. However, with so many plumbing services in your area, which one should you choose?

At Brothers Plumbing, we know that plumbing problems can escalate quickly in your home, and our team of experienced plumbers in Toronto and the GTA have the expertise to troubleshoot and repair any plumbing issues you may have.

After years of plumbing systems being used on a regular basis in your home, you might be undertaking the task of trying to locate the right plumber for you. Where do you start? Right here! Just follow these eight tips to find the right plumber to fix your plumbing issues at your home or business.

1. Ask your family and friends

Professional plumbing services in Scarborough are abundant, so if you feel overwhelmed, the first step to finding the right plumber is to ask for referrals from friends and family. Word-of-mouth referrals work best, and you can start by posting a question on your social media feed such as, “Can anyone recommend a reputable plumber in the area?”

Once family members and friends start chiming in, you’ll have a list of reputable plumbers you can look up online. If you want to do more digging, send a direct message to the friends and relatives who replied to your post and ask them why they recommend this particular plumber.

2. Check verified reviews

Once you’ve received referrals from your family and friends, look up each plumbing company’s verified reviews. Google reviews, Trustpilot, and Yelp reviews are great starting points, as these are real people who have used the company’s services or products. Also, you can check each plumbing company’s Facebook page where, under “Reviews”, you’ll be able to see some verified reviews.

3. Ask for free quotes

After checking the verified reviews, contact each plumbing company and ask for free quotes. Under the contact page of each plumbing company’s website, you can fill out their general inquiry box and give them a breakdown of the plumbing issues you need help with, and kindly ask for a general quote.

You can even call them and tell them the issue and ask for a quote. A general rule of thumb: A professional plumber can’t give you a quote over email or phone until they have personally assessed the plumbing issue in your home. Once they troubleshoot the problem, they will give you a written quote that includes parts and labour costs.

4. Compare quotes

It doesn’t hurt to get two to three quotes from different professional plumbing services in Scarborough, so you can compare the prices of labour and parts costs. Comparing quotes is especially helpful when you’re on a tight budget and your plumbing issue is not an emergency.

Comparing quotes also gives you a chance to do more research on the plumbing company you want to contract for the job. You can ask your family and friends who recommended them to you and see if they paid a similar price. Based on the price range they give you, you can decide which plumbing company you’re going to hire.

5. Ask about background checks

Typically, plumbing companies have a team of professional plumbers as their employees. Local companies might employ only two to four plumbers, while franchised plumbing companies could have 10 plumbers or more.

Once you’ve decided on the company you wish to hire, ask them if their employees have undergone background checks. It’s important to know if they’ve passed a background check because plumbers work on your property and inside your home. Factor in that they’ll be working around your family and your most prized possessions. Thus, you want to make sure that the plumbers you hire are safe to be around.

6. Verify they have a physical location

Similar to other companies with headquarters, plumbing companies should have physical locations. You can log on to the plumbing company’s website and, under the “Contact Us” page, there should be a physical address where their business is located. If there is no physical address listed and it lists a P.O. box or home address, this might be a scam company.

7. Ask for a warranty

Once you’ve chosen the plumbing company you want to hire, ask them if their services come with a warranty. If they do offer a warranty, be sure to get it in writing when you agree to work with them.

A warranty is important to have in writing because if something breaks in your home while the plumber is on your property, or even after the job is done and something wasn’t fixed right, they’ll have to compensate you for the damage or come back to your home and make the adjustments without pay.

8. Verify if it’s an hourly or fixed rate job

When reviewing your quotes, be sure to ask the plumber if the estimated price is an hourly or fixed rate. With plumbing work, a quote is just an estimate.

Once the plumber starts working on your problem, they may find that it’s more complicated than it originally appeared and they might require more time, assistance from other plumbers, or more parts. If you find yourself in this situation, ask the plumber if they are going to charge you by the hour or a fixed rate.

It’s also a good time to ask your plumber how much they want upfront and when the rest of the payment is due. Nowadays, some professional plumbing services in Scarborough have a pay-as-you-go system, where a specific amount is due after they complete one task and, once you pay, they’ll start the next phase of the project.

Contact Brothers Plumbing

If you would like a free quote on our professional plumbing services in Scarborough, our team at Brothers Plumbing is here to help with your plumbing problems at home or on a commercial property. You can call us at 800-741-8471 or contact us here.