We’re happy to help after the inspection!
In this busy life that most of us lead, it can be very hard when something breaks in your house. It never happens on a day off M-F. Inevitably it is going to be at night, on the weekend or worse yet, on a holiday. Trust me. I have experienced the 2’ water fountain erupting from my toilet on Christmas Eve. I’ve been there! (And no. Sadly, that is not an exaggeration!)
You are immediately faced with questions. Who is going to take time off to deal with it if it truly can’t wait? Is this something I can fix myself? Who do I call? How many estimates should I get? There are times when you don’t have a lot of time to decide. As a trusted, reputable, local home inspection company, we are familiar with many local professionals in many fields and are always willing to provide recommendations of companies that we have received good feedback on. Don’t hesitate to call if you need some direction.
I was recently lucky enough to rely on one of our trusted HVAC companies Total Climate Control to replace my furnace with fast, efficient, courteous service that went beyond my expectations. Unfortunately, that same morning the faucet in my shower was only delivering fiery hot water. No cold water whatsoever. TCC tried making an adjustment to reduce the temperature on my hot water heater in hopes that we would be able to troubleshoot if the problem was the faucet and the hot water heater or just the faucet. Thankfully, it was just the faucet!
Now I say thankfully it was just the faucet because it would have been $616 to fix the water heater plus what I anticipated as $700 to fix the faucet. $700 to fix a faucet!? Well, the questions about who to call and how many estimates you should get would fit well here. The last time this happened was about 10 years ago and without knowing a plumber or having any good referrals I made phone calls until I could find someone who could basically come right away. I will say that shockingly, it was during the day M-F so there were no additional fees. Just $700 to replace the faucet. (No. It was not solid gold! Just a basic, everyday bathtub faucet.)
Without exception everyone I spoke with after the fact said that was an absurd cost. This time through with some words of advice from a reputable plumber, YouTube, several trips back and forth to the hardware store for the right parts and tool ($50.74), a few swears and some comical tugging I had a faucet as good as new! Phew! I NEVER have this luck!
Moral of the story, when there is time (Probably not when you have a fountain coming out of your toilet!), do your research and don’t be afraid to DIY if it’s a manageable job you can tackle. If it’s beyond your capability, get a few quotes and use a reputable professional.
Again, don’t hesitate to check out Premier Home Inspection Services resources page or give us a call if you need some help with suggestions. Our home inspectors get a lot of feedback on who does (and who does not!) provide good service and are a great source to take advantage of for recommendations.
