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No matter what time of year it is, there’s always a possibility for something to go wrong with your plumbing, sometimes from completely out of nowhere. That’s why when you move into a home in Mansfield, TX, one of the first things you should do is find yourself a reliable plumbing service so that when the worst does occur, you’ll know that someone you can count on is ready to help you fix it.

But in order to find that quality plumber, you need to know what to look for and what things you need to check in order to make sure that you choose the right person for the job. Plumbing is one of the most important parts of making sure your home functions appropriately, so this isn’t something that you can trust to work that’s anything less than stellar. When you bring in a plumbing service to your home, you’ve got to make sure that you’re getting the best for the job.

Following these tips can help you make sure that you’ve got the right person for the job when there’s a plumbing issue in your house. Here’s what you need to be sure to check!

Their Insurance

Without question, this is one of the most important things that you need to check, because hiring a plumbing service that doesn’t have proper insurance can cause a sea of problems at your home. Unfortunately, when plumbing problems do occur, they’re usually not a straightforward fix between point A and point B. There are likely to be a few snags along the way as the plumber gets to the heart of the problem, and sometimes, things have to get worse before they get better when it comes to plumbing concerns.

Plumbers know this from experience, which is why they carry insurance before they ever get inside a person’s home for a job. Plumbing insurance covers plumbers in case they need to cause damage to your home as part of repairing the real issue with your pipes. For example, if you have a burst pipe that’s sitting behind a wall in your home, your plumbing service might inform you that they need to break into your wall in order to get to the pipe and replace it. Obviously, you didn’t sign up to have a contractor repair a new hole in your wall, so why should you have to pay for that in addition to having your plumbing repaired?

The good news is that with an insured plumber, you don’t have to pay for the damage to your wall. Your plumber’s insurance will cover any damage your plumber causes to your home in order to repair the original plumbing problem, and all you’ll have to do is sit back and wait for the necessary professional to get to your home and fix the damage. At the same time, you’ll be able to rest easy, knowing that your home’s plumbing is in good hands.

Without insurance, you’d have to both weigh the cost of the potential damage to your home and decide if you can afford to pay for the repairs to your home. Because you’ll never know just what will be required to fix your plumbing until an expert gets in there, it’s always a good idea to make sure that your plumber is insured before you let them begin work on your home.

Their License

Did you know that cities have strict plumbing codes for the work that’s performed? When you work with a plumbing service, it’s important to choose one that’s licensed with the city of Mansfield, TX because that means that you’re working with someone who knows the rules and regulations of any buildings and their plumbing systems. That’s important because if the work that’s performed isn’t up to the city’s standards, the cost to bring it up to code can become a major expense when the work is actually discovered.

Why might it be discovered that something’s wrong with unlicensed work? Imagine that you’re looking at selling your house someday and your buyer wants to have an expert take a look at the plumbing work to make sure that everything is up to code and there aren’t any potential problems on the horizon. That’s when you’ll have a plumbing service expert come in and take a look at the issues left behind by a second-rate job, which can lead to the buyer either lowering their offer on the house or choosing to walk away entirely.

Obviously, neither of those are good outcomes, which is why it’s important to make sure the job is done right the first time with a licensed plumber. When you work with a plumber who is properly licensed in Mansfield, TX, you know that every bit of work they do will be done in accordance with the city’s minimum expectations and likely go above and beyond that. Making sure that the job is done right the first time is one of the best things you can do for your plumbing, because not only will you prevent problems with someone examining the work down the road, but you’ll also know that the work isn’t likely to cause problems with your plumbing system itself.

Their Knowledge

One of the best things about hiring a reputable plumber is the fact that there isn’t much that they haven’t seen before. When a plumbing service provides assistance for multiple houses, they’re bound to use their knowledge of past problems to quickly figure out what the issue might be and eliminate whatever isn’t likely to be the solution until they get to the right one.

As such, not only can reputable plumbers spot real issues with your plumbing quickly once they’ve located the source, but they can explain exactly why they’re going to need to do something to fix the issue and what the problem is in a way that anyone can understand. That’s why you should always ask questions and take advantage of their wealth of knowledge when you’re hiring a plumbing service for a job. A reputable plumbing expert will be happy to explain exactly why you need a recommended fix and what can happen if you don’t act on their recommendations and correct the problem.

If you’re working with a plumbing service person who is evasive on the answers and won’t give you a straight answer to your questions, don’t work with them. When you work with a plumbing expert, they should give you all the information you need and present it well enough that you know exactly what was done to your plumbing system and why. If you don’t feel like you could explain to the average person exactly what the plumbing service you hired is doing at your home, that means you might not have the right person working on the job. The best way to find that out is to ask questions and count on your plumbing expert’s vital knowledge to make the right decision for you and your family.

Their Reviews

Speaking of your family, your family and friends are an excellent way to tell if a plumber can really be trusted because a plumbing service in Mansfield, TX that genuinely has happy customers will have people who are excited to trumpet those reviews to family, friends, and neighbors so they can get their own issues solved. Most people are genuinely grateful for the work that professionals do in their homes, and when someone does a really good job with a professional task, like a plumbing repair job, they’re happy to write a review and let others know about the service they received.

When a plumbing service can’t point to positive reviews from other customers, that’s usually a sign of a problem. There’s one of two possibilities at work: either the plumber in question doesn’t have that much experience in the community and isn’t yet established in the area, or they haven’t really been providing quality service in their work. If it’s the former, you might be willing to give them a chance to prove they can do the job if they’re up-front and honest about their lack of testimonials from Mansfield, TX customers, but if it’s the latter, you don’t want to waste your time working with someone who won’t do the job properly.

Before you commit to a particular plumbing service for any non-emergency task, you should always double-check with friends and neighbors to see if they’ve ever used that plumber or know anyone who has. If you can’t find a reliable review from someone you trust, be sure to scope out a couple of different sites to find out as much information as you can. Remember, there is always a place to find the information that you need in this day and age, so it’s always a good idea to get to know your potential plumber and what others are saying about their work.

Their Work Estimates

You might not want to hire a plumbing service without getting all the information about them, but the good news is that you usually don’t have to as long as it’s a non-emergency situation. That’s because any reliable plumber will be happy to provide a free estimate of the work they’d have to perform so that you know everything they’re likely to do before they get to work.

While you’re having a plumbing service perform a work estimate, this is your time to really get to know your potential plumber. Do they give a thorough, detailed explanation of what the issue is and why they need to take care of things in the manner that they’re describing? Do you feel comfortable with their manner as they move through the house and figure out what might need to be done to solve the issue? Do they treat you like they genuinely value you as a client and care about winning your business? The answers that you get for these questions are the start of you figuring out whether you’re really working with the right plumber for your needs.

When they complete the work estimate and provide you with the paperwork, your work begins again. Is their estimate easy for you to understand, and if something doesn’t make sense to you, do they clear it up right away? Is there a clear explanation of everything they’ve documented during their overview of the house’s plumbing system, as well as what they think they might need to do in order to fix any potential problems? Do they understand that you need to take a look at their information and determine whether they’re the best plumbing service in Mansfield, TX for your task, or are they pushing you to make a decision that day?

Remember, unless you’ve got water pouring out of your pipes and causing serious damage to your home, you don’t have to make a decision right away when choosing a plumbing service. A plumber worth using understands that you might not want to commit right away for a non-urgent task and will be happy to let you take the time you need to decide if you trust their work enough to have them get started at your house.

At Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth, we’re happy to provide our Mansfield, TX neighbors with the plumbing service they need to keep water flowing the way it should and prevent disasters in the home. Whether you’re looking to upgrade older pipes in the bathroom or you’ve got a leaky faucet that just won’t stop itself, we’re happy to take a look at the issue and provide a genuine repair that’s meant to last. If you’re in need of a plumbing service that is open and honest about its work in the Metroplex, give one of our team members a call. We’ll be glad to give an estimate and take care of the problem the right way the first time!