A Guide to Hiring Copper Repipe Specialists
Posted by Rob on 21 Sep 2010 at 08:37 pm | Tagged as: Hiring Tips
The process of copper repiping involves taking out the old pipes and replacing them with new ones. In the past galvanized pipes were the norm. Now as these pipes start to corrode they must be replaced by qualified repipe specialists.
The first thing that you will need to do before you go out and hire specialists is to determine whether your pipes need replacing or not. The general rule of thumb is that if pipes are over twenty five years old they will need some work. There will be signs that the pipes are corroding and you will need to watch out for these. If the water is brown or has rust in it it is likely the pipes have started to corrode. Other warning signs are unpleasant tasting water and leaks in the pipes.
If you have seen these signs do not hesitate to contact a repiping specialist. If you leave the pipes as is the corrosion will get worse and cause water damage. Repairing water damage is much more costly than the cost of repipe specialists. In fact hiring repipe specialists to fix the problem will raise the value of your building and make it easier to sell in the future.
Choosing the right repipe specialists is an important task that should not be taken lightly. If you choose the wrong specialists it could end up costing you a lot of money. Because of this it is important that you ask some questions before you choose the right specialist for your repipe job.
First, it is important to pick repipe specialists that have been in business for a long time. Ideally the specialist you hire should have at least six to ten years of work experience in this field. If you choose an experienced and knowledgeable repipe specialist the work will get done quickly and efficiently.
One of the most important things you must do before you hire repiping specialists is to check that they are licensed. If they do meet this criteria, then make sure that the license is current. Repiping specialists should have at least five hundred thousand dollars worth of liability and workers compensation insurance.
In terms of pricing a copper repipe specialist will either charge by the hour or per project. Terms should be negotiated with the copper repipe specialist before they have started work. You should also keep in mind that in some cases additional charges may be incurred. This is often not something that you can easily predict. For example if the specialists need more copper fittings than expected you may need to pay more for these copper fittings.
The total price that they charge you will be dependent on a number of things. Firstly if you are getting your own home repiped it will cost a lot less than a commercial building. This is due to the sheer size of an industrial building. Larger structures may require more workers, more materials and more time. Because of this, repiping a commercial structure can become very costly.
When you contact a specialist the first thing to do is a get a quote. Many contractors will refuse to use the word quote and instead provide you with what they call an estimate. This is because the term quote implies that the price is set in stone. An estimate means that this is what they expect the job to cost but it may cost more if the circumstances change, for example if they find an additional problem to fix.
In an ideal situation the contractor will be able to offer a guarantee. This means that if something goes wrong with the work that they do they will fix it for free. In reality copper repiping is not an easy job. In fact, it takes a lot of experience and training to do this job properly. If at all possible, hire a specialist instead of a plumber. While a plumber is capable of doing a particular job, they do not deal with copper repipe jobs on a daily basis as specialists do. They may charge a bit less for the job. But you might pay the price by getting a service that is not up to par with that of a specialist. The best place to look for a repiping specialist is online.
[...] sealed and that no obvious structural changes have occurred. Using one of the many qualified repiping specialists for such work ensures the proper incompletion of the job in a manner that will satisfy the [...]