Plumbing you can trust

How can you determine whose plumbing you can trust ?

After 24 years in the game. I've seen it all. I've had calls from people nearly in tears after spending a fortune on their dream, only for it to have turned into a nightmare.

The cowboys will take your money, give you a botched job and then run for the hills.

I used to wonder how they ever made a living off their poor standard of workmanship. To me it was so obvious that all these rough cowboys had common traits and I could pick them with a few careful observations.

Today I'll share them with you in the hope you'll be well equiped to select a great tradesman.

Knowledge

The difference between you, a poor cowboy and a great plumber is knowledge. A great tradesman knows his stuff.

So ask questions, heaps of them (don't worry if they may not make sense) A great plumber will help organise your thoughts.

A poor cowboy will be vague or talk in terms that leave you completely in the dark.

A great craftsman will step you through the job, giving reccomendations, backed with solid reasons supporting them.

He'll be open to your ideas and won't try and bully you into his way. You'll get the feeling you're working as a team.

Master Plumber?

The next tell tale factor is...

Does he belong to a group of master plumbers or some similar organisation?

Cowboys hate these organisations as they hold their members accountable for the work they do.

Too many unresolved complaints get the cowboys thrown out. (Generally the cowboys wont ever even apply to belong to a group like this, the accountability scares them.)

It might cost you a couple of dollars more per hour to get a registered master tradesman but that's peanuts in comparison to a shoddy job.

Guarantee

A great tradesman will proudly tell you about his personal guarantee of workmanship. He will also be able to tell you about his products guarantee time frame.

Another sign of a good tradesman, is they will refuse to work with cheap nasty tapware and fixtures.

They know, they are better to lose that sort of work than have their name linked with products that do not live up to their guarantee.

Copper v plastic: Which to trust?

This question is becoming more common as plastic systems develop a more durable guaranteed product and copper sky rockets priceing wise.

A few years ago I wouldn't touch plastic as the failure rates were always much higher.

Now there are several systems that I would gladly be associated with.

I use Fusiotherm and Rehau products (both German, surprise surprise)

To a degree, great work is a combination of the skills of the installer and the product itself.

My final take on this is ....

Copper, well installed, has stood the test of time (it is the reigning champ)

The rest are in line trying to prove themselves.

If you have the dough, go with copper.If not, go with a high quality plastic system like the two mentioned above.

Look at the tradesman and van

To me a tell tale sign of a great tradesman is the way he keeps his van. If you see a work van parked in the street, walk on by and look into the back.

If everything is tidy, well set out and easily accessible then that is generally how his work will be.If however the van looks like a pig sty, keep on walking (Just smile and wave boys)

The out side of the van should be clean but don't put too much emphasis on the age or a few slight dings (plumbers van have a tough life)

The worker should be dressed tidily and well groomed, again this usually (not always)reflects their quality of work.Check the footware and be wary of the cruiser in jandles/flipflops/thongs.

All the pieces should add up to a tradesman whose plumbing you can trust.

If your unsure, ask for references.

Ask neighbours who they use and if they were happy.

Finally, do not pay until you are satisfied that the system operates as you want and is leak free.

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