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Hiring a local plumber in Orange County, CA: The Most Important Things to Consider When Researching, Interviewing and Hiring a Local Plumber To Solve The Plumbing Problems At Your Home

These Are The Most Important Things to Consider When Researching, Interviewing and Hiring a Local Plumber in Orange County, CA to Solve The Plumbing Problems at Your Home

How to find a reliable plumber in Orange County, CA

Finding a reliable plumber in your area can be challenging, and even a little tricky, especially here in Orange County, CA where there are hundreds of plumbing companies looking for work.

The internet is full of companies claiming to offer the best plumbing services and the best prices, but you don’t know which plumbing company to trust, and more importantly, which plumbing companies that you shouldn’t trust.

Below we’ll share some tips of the trade and industry wisdom, but before we do, please allow us to share a little something about our plumbing company, Elder & Young Plumbing.

We are a newer company, but we aren’t new plumbers. In fact, we’ve quickly built a rock solid team of plumbers and technicians and our employees have decades of plumbing and problem solving experience.

From drain cleaning, to toilet installation. From fixing leaky faucets to changing out water heaters. From slab leak detection to slab leak repair or even repiping, and hydro-jetting, we have the equipment, background and know how to do it all.

We serve the Orange County area and are in good standing with the BBB. We offer free estimates for all jobs in orange county, CA and all any service. We are members of PHCC. Most importantly though, we’ve been steadily and quickly growing our team of quality plumbers and our list of happy clients.

We provide 24/7 emergency plumbing services throughout Orange County so if you have any problems at all, just give us a call at (714) 464-7889!

And if you aren’t ready, and you want to know more about the things you should consider when selecting a plumber, keep reading. If you do these things, you’ll surely avoid many problems and pitfalls later on.

Doing your research

If you have never hired a plumber before, you should do your research to understand what are the important factors that one should keep in mind when choosing a local plumber. Here’s a list of people and websites to go to for help, and the things you can do to make sure that you are working with legitimate experts.

  1. Ask family, friends and neighbors for referrals and recommendations. If you are new to the area, ask your Realtor or property management company. They usually have a network of folks they know and have vetted who are available to help their past clients.
  2. Search Google, Angi, Home Advisor, Yelp and other sites and make a list of possible companies.
  3. Once you’ve narrowed down your list, check their website. Make sure that their contractors license number is listed on their site. Also look for comments reviews and comments.

    Just know, on a property they control, they will likely only feature their best reviews. If they do not display a contractors license number, be careful.

  4. Check their Facebook page for examples of their work, and reviews and comments from past clients.
  5. Check the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to make sure they are in good standing. They do not need to be members, but they should not have any active complaints.
  6. Check the local state licensing board to make sure the license number listed is their actual license number and that it is active and current. We have seen some companies list inactive, suspended and even made up licenses.
  7. Only work with plumbing companies who are licensed, bonded, insured.

  8. Check the secretary of state website to make sure that their company is active. You are best off working with companies who are incorporated in some form. Just working under a DBA is not enough.
  9. Check the online review sites. If you derived your list of companies from these sites, do a deeper dive to understand the authenticity of their reviews. Look to see if the same people are reviewing them on multiple sites or if they have different people on different sites. Understand that reviews can be gamed.

    Also understand that many online review sites do not always fairly display reviews and filter reviews, both positive and negative, that should be displayed. When checking these sites, make sure to look at the filtered reviews as well. Some sites that we recommend are Google’s Business Listings, Angi, Home Advisor, and Yelp.

  10. Avoid lead generation websites at all costs. These sites sometimes appear to be plumbing companies but they are not. You can tell that they are not an actual plumbing company because their contractors license numbers and other important information are not listed.

    These sites that will gather your information and sell it to as many as 10 different plumbing companies and your phone will ring off the hook with plumbers looking for business.

  11. Look for plumbing companies that offer emergency service available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Smaller companies often don’t work after hours. You want to make sure that you are working with a company that can handle your needs at any time, day or night.

You’ve Done Your Research. Now It’s Time To Interview

Now that you’ve done your research, it’s time to start interviewing potential plumbing contractors.

You want to have a clear understanding about what you feel needs to be done. Of course, when the plumber inspects your property, he or she may find other issues both related and unrelated to what you are calling about. A good plumber will look for other active and potential problems and help you understand what’s going on and what may be coming.

Just make sure you care clear about what type of work that needs to be done so that there is no confusion when talking with potential service providers (i.e., clean-out drain pipes vs replace toilet). Share this information with them on the call when you are setting up your appointment.

Here’s a list of things to consider before and during your interview when the plumber is out to your home.

  1. Have a clear understanding of what you feel needs to be done.
  2. If you’re looking for help with a big project, consider hiring a professional general contractor instead of calling multiple contractors yourself.
  3. Make a list of questions before the plumber arrives.
  4. Add to the list as you think of new questions.
  5. Have your spouse or others who might be able to help you review the list. Get input as to what other questions they think may be important.
  6. Find out whether any of their technicians are certified by local, state or national organizations
  7. Ask follow-on questions that come to mind as the plumber provides you with answers.
  8. Ask the plumber what questions you haven’t asked that you should.
  9. Is the plumber wearing a uniform? Is he or she presenting him or herself in a professional manner?
  10. Inspect the plumbers van or truck and equipment. Is it clean? Are the tools organized? Chances are that your plumber will treat your home like they treat their equipment.

Are you comfortable with the plumber? If so, it’s time for them to take a look around.

Once you are comfortable that the plumber you are talking about knows what he or she is doing and you feel that they can help, then they’ll need to inspect the issues you’ve called them out for, and they’ll hopefully be even more thorough and check for other issues as well.

Once they’ve done this, they should be able to provide you with their understanding of the costs to repair or cure the immediate issue or issues, and also provide you with a list of other considerations.

Here are some things to consider during this part of the process. Of course, keep in mind that the lowest price isn’t always the best choice.

  1. Don’t be afraid to continue to ask question… How much will the job cost, what is included in that price, how long will it take, etc.?
  2. Make sure you get a binding quote or estimate that explains exactly what will be done and for how much before agreeing to any work. Make sure the quote or estimate includes time, labor, materials and any applicable taxes and fees.
  3. Make sure the plumbing company does work with a contract that protects both parties, you and them. Everything should be in writing, if possible, to help avoid any misunderstandings that may arise later on down the road due to miscommunication between parties involved.
  4. Ask about warranties and satisfaction guarantees.
  5. Make sure to read the fine print before you sign the contract.

Now it’s time to hire the plumber of your choice.

Now that you’ve interviewed the plumber or plumbers that you’re interested in, it’s time to make a hiring decision.

If you aren’t comfortable, consider getting quotes from more than one company before making your final decision and signing an agreement.

We hope that this article has been helpful to you and gives you a solid foundation about the things you should consider and the process you should go through when selecting a reputable and professional plumber in your area.

With that said, we hope that you’ll consider Elder & Young Plumbing as your local plumbing company of choice. We treat our clients like family and we hope to add you to the list of happy clients.

Give us a call at any time at (714) 464-7889. Request a service or fee estimate. Ask us equation’s. No matter the job type, we are here for you and we would love to talk with you and help you with all of your plumbing needs.

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