Keeping us toasty in the depths of winter and restoring the all-important warmth to our heating system, plumbers have an almost god-like status amongst mere mortals when the temperatures are freezing outside.
The idea of being without hot water or heating when the Arctic weather arrives is unthinkable so these men and women can be considered absolute heroes…albeit in a boiler suit.
But when choosing a plumber it’s important to make the right choice. Here are the seven deadly sins you must always try to avoid when hiring a plumber for your home.
Lust
When you hire a plumber you need to make sure they are properly qualified and equipped to handle complex heating systems. Messing with gas and electrical devices if you aren’t properly trained can be very dangerous.
So make sure you appoint a plumber who has all the right credentials, even if they aren’t young, hot and sexy. Hiring a plumber just because they look good in their boiler suit isn’t any guarantee that you’ll get a quality service. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to find a plumber who is both fully qualified and that you can lust after too, then you’re onto a surefire winner…
Greed
No-one likes to have to pay out more than they have to but knowing your limits can help you to save money in the long term.
Delaying causing a plumber in a bid to save money means the problem will just get worse, costing you more than if you have telephoned straight away. Unless you have plumbing experience yourself, if you can’t identify and fix the problem immediately, you’re going to need a plumber. Just ring them.
Sloth
That dripping tap will fix itself, there’s no rush, right? When things start to fall apart, if you can’t be bothered to pick up the phone you only have yourself to blame when the problems in your plumbing system start to escalate.
Even a dripping tap can point to a more serious potential cause so leaving it to fester until it quite literally can’t be ignored is one of the biggest plumbing sins there is.
Gluttony
Although most often associated with food, the Deadly Sin of Gluttony is often interpreted to mean selfishness.
And when that comes to hiring a plumber that means having a bit of consideration. If you realise at 1pm that there’s something wrong with your heating, don’t wait until 10pm at night to call up a plumber and demand a home visit.
It may be surprising but they like to spend some time at their home too, and whilst a good plumber will always come out if you have an emergency, it’s extremely selfish to wait until late at night or the weekend to call for help when you could have done it sooner.
Wrath
When you call a plumber out and they can fix a fault within five minutes, it’s understandable to feel somewhat silly, especially when they show you how to fix the problem for yourself next time.
However, when it happens again – as it inevitably will – the chances are you won’t be able to quite remember what they did. As your temper rises more quickly than the pressure on your boiler, try to keep a lid on your wrath and remember that expert help is just at the end of the phone…
Pride
…and wrath leads quite neatly into pride, with the two deadly sins bound up together.
Admitting that you haven’t got a clue how to fix your heating means swallowing your pride but the longer you leave it the worse it will get. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, poking around could cause further damage.
Don’t get caught up by pride; your plumber will be more than happy to help you even with the simplest problems such as bleeding a radiator.
Envy
If you’re waiting for your beloved plumber to visit, and are shivering without your heating while you wait, you may well feel envious about the other customers who get to sample their services first.
Ring as soon as you know you might have a problem and don’t wait until it becomes an emergency and hopefully you will avoid this issue. However, if you are forced to wait whilst your plumber shares himself with other deserving customers, don’t be tempted to look elsewhere.
You may well find another plumber who can come out immediately but if they don’t have any customers to see before you, ask yourself – are they really as good as they claim? It might be better to wait your turn and your plumber will get to you as quickly as they can – and then it will be the turn of others to feel envious of your quality time together…
