I can get a little overconfident when I have a plumbing issue at home. After all I have been doing this for 35 years. How hard can it be? From personal experience I would say you can get in over your head swiftly.
My last plumbing emergency happened on Thanksgiving Day. We had a huge stack of dishes in both bowls of our sink and then the water stopped draining. My wife was stressing because she is extremely organized. A sink full of dishes definitely did not meet the criteria for organization of any sort.
What to do? I retrieved my tools and set to work, disassembling drainage pipes under the sink. I found the clog and eliminated it. I was the Thanksgiving hero.
However, I had created a slight problem in my plumbing adventure. Where two pieces of pipe joined, I put my wrench on it too hard and created a hairline crack in the pipe threads. It resulted in a minor drip, but it was going to have to be repaired. I called it a victory because I cleared the clog. My wife strongly encouraged me to expeditiously fix the crack.
People are often less conservative about doing repairs themselves on holidays and weekends when calling a professional means potentially waiting several days or paying higher rates. However, calling a professional can save you money in the long run by ensuring the repair is done correctly.
A few important guidelines:
- Call a professional. If you are not sure who to call, check Google reviews or quiz a friend on who they use as a plumber.
- Do not seek out the cheapest professional. That is rarely the way to get quality work. For my wife and I, our plumber, HVAC technician, electrician, and car mechanic are at least above average in the pricing. We trust them and they have integrity and reliability.
- Do not do any repairs you are unfamiliar with. A YouTube video can give you a ton of false confidence. Trying to repair supply lines, toilet fill valves, or bath and kitchen faucets can be disastrous.
- Once you have found a good plumber (or other tradesman) have your plumbing inspected annually by them. Keep up a good relationship with them.
One final story. A customer had a malfunctioning flush lever on his toilet. Instead of calling a plumber, he thought he could handle it. This is a repair where it is easy to say, “I got this.” What he did not realize is that a flush lever has a reverse thread. He kept applying greater pressure to try and turn it the way he thought it should go. He broke the flush lever nut and the body of the flusher as well.
He ended up calling a plumber because he did not know what to do. If you call that professional on the front end, you can avoid all of that stress and the cost of trying to do it yourself. It is one of the most important lessons I have ever learned.
One other resource you can use when searching for a plumber is a local Falk Supply branch. The branch team can recommend a local plumber so that you do not have to start out blind. Remember, when in doubt, call a pro.
Written by: Alan Donahue, Showroom Manager