Homeownership is expensive, to say the least. In fact, one of the most expensive times for homeowners is right at the beginning, when they’re buying their home. More than the down payment, expenses like home inspections, title costs, closing costs, necessary repairs and more all come out of your bank account.
The last thing you need after signing on the dotted line of your mortgage is another expense. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what many homeowners are met with. Their whole-home evaporative cooling unit fails on a hot, sunny day. Or, they find evidence of water damage and a major leak in their plumbing in Mesa, AZ. It’s another fee and another headache to resolve these issues.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. If you take the time and pay the cost to have plumbing and HVAC inspections before buying the home, you can avoid paying out the nose after the fact.
Above and beyond home inspection
Most home inspections will cover plumbing and HVAC, but only in a general sense. The home inspector isn’t a master plumber or a seasoned HVAC tech by any means. They’ll simply make sure things work and move on to the next checklist item. The problem is, just because your plumbing and HVAC systems work doesn’t mean there’s not a problem.
To really get the lay of the land, hire an expert for a thorough inspection. No one is going to get more in-depth with your plumbing or HVAC in Mesa, AZ than someone who handles it for a living. They’re the person who’s going to catch the failing blower in your furnace or faulty backflow valve in your toilet’s plumbing.
You’re going to pay a fee and have to go through another inspection, but the cost is worth it. Consider $250 and an hour of your time for a plumbing inspection, versus thousands in costs when a pipe fails and floods your basement. That $250 is the cost of peace of mind.
End-to-end inspections
What you get from a professional plumbing or HVAC inspection is end-to-end thoroughness. A regular home inspector isn’t equipped with a drain cam to examine your sewer line or the electrical equipment to measure your AC unit’s capacitor function. As a result, they’ll give everything a quick check, but miss things at the beginning of the system. The problem is, these are the things that cost you the most!
A damaged sewer line can range anywhere from $2,500 to $15,000 to fix, depending on the extent of the damage and any excavation work.
New AC units and furnaces typically start at $5,000 and go up from there. Damaged ductwork will tack on costs.
Water line repairs can lead into the untold thousands of dollars and beyond, especially if there’s any water damage to remediate.
A regular inspector may be able to clue you in on a non-functional forced air register or a leak under the sink, but that’s the extent of their insight. To avoid big costs and all the frustration that comes along with them, make the decision to call a professional to inspect your HVAC and plumbing in Mesa, AZ.
Let’s face it: we live in an age where consumer goods last a few years on average, at best. While a fridge you bought in the fifties might have lasted you decades, a new fridge typically lasts five to ten years. A washing machine that would have lasted a lifetime now becomes rusty and malfunctions much earlier.
There are a few reasons for this. One is what’s called planned obsolescence, which means that manufacturers are purposefully making goods that will break down and require replacement. For example, lousy paint jobs are what’s allowing that washing machine to rust!
The second reason is that manufacturing has mostly been shipped overseas, often resulting in cheaply made parts that are liable to break down.
Lastly, in some industries where a couple of manufacturers dominate, a lack of competition is likely to cause inertia. If the product continues to sell, the manufacturer won’t see any reason to fix problems that are causing it to break down.
Finding the Quality in Everything
It’s infuriating to see products that die within the first few years of use. Ultimately, it’s bad for businesses and consumers. This tremendous impact extends to the environment as well. All this buying results in more and more waste along with tons of wasted energy.
But this is where PlumbStart Plumbing Heating and Air stands apart. We’re a family-owned and -operated plumber in Mesa, AZ that focuses on our core values of quality, experience and excellence. We thoroughly reject the idea that everything in your house needs to be replaced regularly!
Take a look at how we’re taking a stand with our business philosophy and extending the life of your household appliances:
Experience: We’re a local business that’s been around for more than two decades. If you have any problems with the work we do, we’ll be here to help. Our trustworthy professionals are always here to help on every job, no matter how big or small.
Quality: Our whole team includes NATE-Certified technicians so you can rest easy knowing we’ll do the job right the first time. Anytime you need a plumber in Mesa, AZ, you know that you can turn to us because we’re A-plus rated by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). We also offer a lifetime warranty on workmanship and a triple-check satisfaction guarantee.
Excellence: We measure excellence by gauging our customers’ reactions. And guess what? They are very positive! Not only are we a Google Guaranteed Company with hundreds of five-star reviews, but people keep coming back to us. Our customer retention rate is 86 percent! When you choose PlumbSmart Plumbing Heating and Cooling, you become a customer for life.
The next time you need household repairs, give us a call. We offer the best warranty in the business, combined with reasonable prices free of excessive fees. We also make it our goal to exceed expectations in every job we do. Contact us right now for a free estimate and breathe new life into your faltering appliance.
If you suddenly find yourself with a plumbing problem in your home, it’s important to hire the right professional to come in and take care of the issue reliably in a way that prevents future problems from occurring.
Many people try to avoid bringing in a licensed plumber, simply because they don’t want to pay the price associated with them. Instead, they’ll scour Craigslist advertisements and other local listings for the services of a self-described “handyman” who can come in and get the job done at a fraction of the cost.
It’s understandable why this is so tempting for homeowners—after all, who doesn’t want to save some money here and there? However, if you’re looking for reliability in plumbing work, you should absolutely work with a licensed plumber in Mesa, AZ instead. Here are just a few reasons why:
Lack of protections: If something goes wrong with the job, the handyman will just be able to walk away from the job without any repercussions. In addition, unlike most professional plumbers, they tend to be uninsured and unlicensed, meaning there are fewer protections in place for you as a homeowner and fewer guarantees that they’re actually capable of handling the work you hire them for. Licensed lumbers are insured and bonded and have professional standards they must uphold in all the work they take on.
Accountability: When you work with a licensed contractor, you have a greater ability to hold them accountable should anything happen to your home during the job. You’ll be able to file damage claims and complaints through the Registrar of Contractors if you experience monetary losses. This is a step you simply will not be able to take with an unlicensed handyman.
Research: You’ll find it much easier to research the credentials of a licensed contractor than you will a handyman you find on Craigslist. Not only is a licensed plumber going to be in various professional databases, but they’re much more likely to have a website and reviews you can find on Google, Yelp, Angie’s List, Thumbtack, etc. There’s no real way to verify whether a handyman has a certain level of research or expertise, because they don’t have the same sorts of professional standards to adhere to, so it becomes much harder to research them.
Relationship: Once you have worked with a licensed plumber, it becomes much easier to establish an ongoing service relationship with them that will give you some long-term perks and benefits. This is not the case when you hire a handyman.
With PlumbSmart Plumbing Heating & Air, you have added assurances through our exclusive lifetime warranties we offer on all of our workmanship—a benefit you certainly cannot get from a handyman. You will also be able to get our services for about the same price you’d pay a handyman, but we are also professional plumbers and NATE-certified HVAC technicians, adding a further layer of reassurance and peace of mind.
For more information about the benefits of working with a licensed plumber in Mesa, AZ, contact us today.
Garbage disposals make life in the kitchen — from cooking to cleaning dishes — so much more pleasant. But a garbage disposal is a complicated piece of equipment that should only installed by an experienced professional.
If you are considering adding a garbage disposal to your kitchen or having a problem with your existing garbage disposal, call PlumbSmart. We can typically offer a free estimate over the phone to install a new or replacement garbage disposal.
What Is The Ideal Solution?
In a word: Price. We want to resolve your issues and set you up with a working garbage disposal at the lowest price. A service visit and repair of your existing garbage disposal (when a repair is even possible) will almost always cost as much or more than simply replacing the garbage disposal. Meanwhile, the blades inside a garbage disposal dull and other mechanisms wear out over time, so simply replacing the defective or ineffective unit with a new one will almost always be the ideal solution.
Sounds expensive. Are you sure this is a good idea?
Adding a garbage disposal to your kitchen or replacing a malfunctioning one is remarkably affordable, even with the best-in-class professional installation services we offer. Typically, our price for a new garbage disposal installation is about HALF what our competitors charge.
So, whether you’ve put off upgrading your kitchen by adding a garbage disposal or your existing garbage disposal simply isn’t getting the job done anymore, please give us a call. We will be happy to install a brand new garbage disposal in your home that will make your kitchen a much more pleasant (if occasionally much louder) place.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and we’ll get back to you. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
When it comes time for updating your pipes, there are two materials available for replacing the old pipes: copper pipe or PEX tubing. Copper is the old method that has stood the test of time, and is the favorite of many plumbers. PEX is the new material on the scene. While everything in construction has a lifespan, both of these materials have proven themselves valuable in the plumbing industry.
Copper Pipe
Is a long-lasting material, and has a proven history. It comes in pipe lengths of up to 10′ and assembles by cutting it to length and soldering fittings between lengths of pipe. However, for replacing the pipes in a house, you do have to deal with the fact it is rigid. In order to replace all of the pipes with copper, we will have to open a lot of the walls that contain the plumbing. If you are doing a major remodel or have extensive leak damage, the walls are open anyway.
PEX Tubing
PEX is cross-linked polyethylene tubing, and is the new product on the market. While it has been around for about half a century, it has not been commonly used for quite that long. It is showing signs of lasting well and has advantages that recommend it. While copper pipe comes in 10′ lengths, PEX comes in coils that are several hundred feet. It is also flexible and is not limited to straight runs, both of these features mean that there are less fittings involved in running PEX. Since your fittings are often your weakest point, less is better. PEX is prone to damage by sunlight, making it a poor choice for any exposed piping especially outdoors.
At PlumbSmart, we recognize that both of these materials have their strong points and benefits. We will advise you as to the best material options for your plumbing needs, and provide you with the best quality for your project at the best possible price.
Call us anytime with your questions or leave us a comment using our online form below, and don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
The next time you consider replacing a water heater consider the advantages of changing to a tankless water heater. You will have all the hot water you want, when you want it. You will also have the benefit of not heating water when you don’t want it. Another benefit of the tankless unit is it hangs on a wall, freeing up useful space in your laundry room. You can even hide your tankless hot water heater in a cabinet if you want.
The regular hot water heaters have a tank that fills up and then heats that whole amount of water at one time. If you use all the hot water, it takes around half-an-hour to heat another tankful of water. If you don’t use that hot water, the tank style heater will continue to reheat that water over and over again until you do. This means you are using energy you don’t need.
The tankless hot water heater has a heat exchanger that heats the water in a coil as it flows. The water flows into the coil cold and leaves hot. That means you heat the water when you want it, and not when you don’t. You have all the hot water you need, when you need it. Do you have a large family all getting ready at once? Or a soak tub that takes a whole tankful of water to fill? With the tankless system, you will not have a cold bath or shower unless you want one.
At PlumbSmart Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning, you receive the highest quality service, the best warranty in the industry, and lowest possible price. Let us help you with any and all plumbing needs, including your new tankless water heater installation.
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