Better Off With a Plumber or Can You DIY?

Are you Better Off With a Plumber? ... photo by CC user Tomwsulcer on wikimedia commons

When it comes to fixing plumbing issues, one may think that it is better to do it by oneself. There are of course a range of reasons why one would want to fix plumbing issues personally, but by hiring a professional plumber, you get a more advantageous deal than you ever could give yourself in DIY plumbing. However, I will break them both down for you so that you may decide for yourself.

Yes, DIY plumbing will save you a whole lot of money that would have been used to pay the plumber to fix the problem. Plumbing does not come cheap. For basic everyday plumbing services, you’ll pay $45 to $65 for every hour of work done. For a night or weekend call, it will cost you $100 to make the call and $75 for every hour after that. So from the financial perspective, DIY plumbing is the best option for the pocket.

Secondly, with DIY plumbing, you are able to acquire a new skill. This will be mostly through trial and error and even though you may cause a bigger problem than there already is, eventually, you will become quite adept at plumbing despite having no professional training. This skill will be very beneficial in fixing of small scale plumbing issues around the house. Plus, it can be passed on to another person, for example, your children, so that they too can do it when you are not around. This takes us back to money saving, which will be made possible through this acquired skill. However, for large scale plumbing issues, this acquired skill may not come in very handy, as you may create an even bigger mess.

Which brings us to professional plumbing. First of all, there is the professional experience factor that comes into play with hiring a professional plumber. With one look, an experienced plumber can identify the problem at hand. This could have taken hours to identify through DIY plumbing. This comes from seeing many more situations just like the one you present to him/her. This will inevitably save you a lot of time and allow you to do other things that will be of benefit to you.

Professional plumbing also enables the finding of a permanent solution to the current plumbing problem, be it a leak or a burst pipe. This will in the long run save you on cost that may seem too much in the short run. With DIY plumbing, the solution may be fitting, but may not hold for long and you will have to do it over and over again every time the mess recurs.

Another reason to hire professional plumbing services is that the plumber will be sent over with all the latest tools that will make the solution of the problem very easy and efficient. The rudimentary tools that you may have may take a lot of time to aid you in the fixing of the plumbing issue at hand.

Professional plumbers have the technical know how that you may not have. This was acquired through the professional training that they went through when they were in school. Even though you may look at YouTube videos for tips and how to videos, that know how of the inner workings of plumbing systems cannot be obtained in a day.

Professional plumbers will also be able to give you a highly detailed diagnostic report of the problem and the root cause of it. This is because they can identify the problem, and its root cause. With this, you can be able to avoid causing the problem again, if the root cause was human error, or you can pay to have it fixed, if it is an error in the plumbing system itself.

Plumbing services also give a wider range of services other than repair, which include installation of new pipes, replacement of old and rusty pipes, and also installation of equipment such as dishwashers. This could be advantageous to you as you can get a wider range of services from one point, instead of doing it yourself, which will take a lot of your time and energy.

Last but not least, professional plumbing services have excellent customer service. They provide phone numbers that one can use in the event of a plumbing emergency. This can be very helpful in the long run as having a plumber on call is a relief and provides one with the peace of mind needed to do other things better.

In conclusion, it is safe to say that professional plumbing services are the best option when fixing plumbing problems, both on large scale and small scale issues. DIY plumbing is, however, not a completely useless skill to pick up as it is very useful in the event of a small leak, or any other small scale plumbing problem and can thus help you save a bit of cash.