Top Tips to Save Money on Plumbers

Here are a few thoughts as to how you might be able to save yourself some money on Manassas plumbers’ bills.

Old jokes

There are a number of old jokes along the lines of "the only cheap plumber is the one you decided not to use". OK, they’re good for a chuckle but they have a slightly serious side to them. Basically, tradesmen typically aren’t cheap to use. In Virginia, qualifications and licensing requirements are strict and that means your local Manassas plumbers will have spent a lot of time, effort and money in setting up their business. Their overheads are also likely to be high. So, it’s only fair that they charge a reasonable living rate in order to keep their businesses profitable.

The conclusion, therefore, is that there’s unlikely to be an outbreak of ‘free plumbing services’ in Northern Virginia – at least for the foreseeable future. Of course, you’re welcome to live in hope.

Keeping your costs down However, nothing said above should be taken to indicate that you have no real control over your bills in this department if and when you need to incur them. Here are a few ways you might be able to keep them down:

• DIY. You can learn to do some simple jobs yourself – though be cautious about the realities of your own abilities.
• Clear everything ready for the tradesman's arrival – they may charge on a time and materials basis and you won’t want to be paying them for things like emptying a cupboard or moving pieces of furniture when you could do all that yourself (unless you’re aged or infirm).
• Put things back yourself – this is really the reverse of the above point. If you want to pay your expert to ‘tidy up’ after they’ve done a job then fine, but if you can do so yourself then you’ll save money.
• Don’t treat every job as ‘urgent’. Some tradesmen offer emergency services, which will prioritize such calls - but that may come at extra cost. If you have a major or hugely inconvenient problem then don’t hesitate, but if it’s something minor, avoid asking for immediate attendance. That’s particularly true out of hours or over weekends/holidays. It if can wait a bit then be patient and save yourself a few dollars.
• Only use the Manassas plumbers for appropriate jobs. Just about every one will tell you that they’re sometimes called to attend to problems that have little to do with pipes and boilers, or in some cases nothing at all. Don’t try and use an expensive professional for jobs that a neighbor or odd-job person can do more cost-effectively for you.
• Get into a service and maintenance mindset. It’s usually a lot more cost-effective to prevent a problem happening, through the service and maintenance of things like boilers, rather than pay for them to be fixed once they’ve conked out. So, get your specialists to periodically give your installation a thorough preventative service.
• Shop around. It’s great to have an established relationship with a local expert but remember it’s a market like any other. Some might just be more economic than others - though remember that you also need to try and assess their reputation and service quality. Ask around and don’t be afraid to ask for a quote.

Some of the above ideas just might help you to keep control of your expenditure on Manassas plumbers.

Sarah Saadoun works for HMS Plumbing, a family-owned business in Manassas, Northern Virginia. If you need Manassas plumbers, Herve and his dedicated employees at HMS are proud to be serving the plumbing needs of Northern Virginia residents and businesses. For reliable Fairfax plumbers HMS Plumbing is your first choice.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.