Ok so maybe you’ve decided that being your own plumber is not for you and you would just like to call a pro and get it taken care of. Great!

So you open up your local yellow pages or do an Internet search of your local area and are overwhelmed with the choices you have. “How do I know which one to choose, are they expensive, do they know what they’re doing, will they come back if there is a problem?”

These are key questions that need to be addressed, but unfortunately you won’t really know unless you pull the trigger and call one right? Maybe if you like to gamble!

In my 30 plus years experience, it is my opinion that the worst sources for finding qualified trade people are the yellow pages or the Internet.
Unfortunately, anyone can produce a print ad or have a website and truthfully, you as a consumer have no way of knowing whether what is printed or published is fact or fiction.
Unfortunately, most yellow page publications and or web developers do very little to verify ad content and just go with whatever they’re told.

Back before the Internet became huge, the yellow pages was the primary source for plumbers and drain cleaners to get their message out there. Even though they were supposed to verify trade licenses from the local buildings department before printing their books, they rarely followed through and the proof was seen when the books were published.

There were pages of unlicensed contractors and the public really had no way of knowing who they were hiring.

Your best bet when looking for qualified trade people is to always to ask friends, family or neighbors for referrals. Ask how they were treated, did the job go as planned, did they stand behind their work, did they quote you a firm flat rate before proceeding with the work? If you like the answers you get, then the next step is to interview the company and ask for referrals of satisfied customers they have recently serviced.

A well qualified company will gladly give you referrals and if they don’t, then it’s time to move on and find one who will. Keep in mind that all plumbers are required by law to be licensed by your local buildings department. They are required to carry mandatory liability insurance and if they have employees, workers compensation and disability insurance as well. I’m in the New York City area and because I perform minor renovations in addition to my plumbing services, I’m also required to carry and to hold a current Home Improvement Contractors license issued by the department of consumer affairs.

If you do decide it’s time to hire a plumber, make sure they are LICENSED. It’s your only recourse if things go wrong! Trust me the last thing I want is to get a call from my local buildings department regarding a consumer complaint!

If you still have questions about hiring a plumber, please drop me a line at www.bobsplumbingvideos.com, I’ll be glad to steer you in the right direction!

Happy Plumbing!