Choosing a Plumber
Posted on 20. Dec, 2009 by DavidRicks
in Introduce Yourself or Your Problem
I am doing the general contracting myself on a basement remodeling project that will create a new bathroom with shower and redo another full bathroom. I have three bids from plumbers. One bid is very high, one in the middle and another is quite low.
A neighbor suggested that I look at Washington Consumers Checkbook. None of the plumbers except the one with the highest bid is in Checkbook. That plumber was rated very high for quality. Would appreciate any thoughts on this.
Have you seen work and talked to clients?
If you have not you could be making an expensive mistake. Costs aside for a minute. You are going to have someone lliterally break up your basement and run plumbing in it that will last for years. Refocus on the quality of the work because you can't afford to buy cheap here. If the plumbing fails, you will have to dig up your basement to fix the problem.
Washington Checkbook's ratings are based on subscriber's comments so that is probably your most reliable data. Ask each plumber for some references and go talk to them. Even better, go see current work and ask the high bid plumber how come he is high.
Next ask the plumber who's doing the work. Is it a master plumber, a journeyman or someone who is moonlighting or even worst a plumber's helper. Sorry if I seem overly distraught here, but I have been burned before and have seen bad plumbing.
If you think that the plumbing inspection will save the day, don't rely on it. You can have terrible plumbing and it will still pass.
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