How We Work

As soon as you call us we get to know you. We want to take care of you, your family and your home, long term.

You’ve got a leaky tap, a tired kitchen, or a leaky shower. Whether your job is simple or complicated we don’t leave things to chance. When you call us we’ll ask you:

What do you want done?

We’ll get an idea of what you’re after, although some of this is better discussed when we visit.

When do you want the work done?

Usually this is “right away please!” and if you just need a plumber we’ll fit you in soon. If you’re after something bigger like a major renovation, you could be waiting for anything from a few weeks to a number of months.

Why? Because renovations involve a number of people and they all have to be available at the right time. You don’t want your job stalled and waiting, and we won’t let you go there.

Is anyone else already involved in the job?

We don’t mind, we just need to know so we can work with them as a team.

What’s your budget?

We’re used to working with budgets and we take care to cost every detail of a job. While we can’t eliminate all surprises, with many years of experience we usually know what to expect.

We’re realistic. If we think your budget you won’t give you what you want, we’ll tell you. If you need to make hard choices about how best to spend your budget, we’ll help you make the best choices you can.

If the work you need done is simple and only needs a plumber we can usually tell you costs over the phone. If you agree with the cost, we just come round and do the work.

While we don’t do our full Initial Site Visit Checklist for small maintenance jobs, we do still ask a few basic questions about the age and condition of your house, your pipe work, and your appliances. If any potential issues appear we can give you advice on what to do.

If your job is more complex we can probably still give you an idea about costs over the phone. But we’ll need to visit to see exactly what you want, and what we’re dealing with.

If you’re planning a renovation or other major work, when we first visit your place we’ll go through our Initial Site Visit Checklist to check your plumbing thoroughly. Knowing exactly what we’re dealing with means we give you the best advice about what will suit your existing system.

Our Initial Site Visit Checklist is long, and gives you the benefit of our many years of experience. Here’s a sample of what we check:

• The general health of your plumbing, roof and drains
• Wear and tear on your major appliances so you can plan for replacement
• Anything that looks like it might be a ‘tin of worms’ waiting to be discovered
• Your water and/or gas pressure
• Ease of access to places where work needs to be done
• Any safety hazards that need to be managed
• And on and on …

This checklist is a living document and as our clients’ needs grow so does the checklist. We make a point of keeping up to date with current trends, products on the market and client needs.

By now we’ll have a good idea what your job will cost. If you’re happy to proceed, then we’ll nail down the details so you know exactly what to expect.

If unknowns exist in your job we can estimate them for you or give you a range of how much it might cost. This is more commonly known as a PC Sum or Price Cost Summary.

If we find something is going to cost more than expected you’ll know soon after we do. We always keep you in the loop so you can stay in charge and make informed decisions.