AU Blogspot

             Thanks to Nic McPhee for permission to use this Photo. 

I find maintaining and repairing plumbing systems the most interesting and challenging work in the plumbing industry.  If you enjoy figuring out and solving problems, then plumbing service work will likely be a good field for you.  Even as a seasoned professional, I openly admit that there are simply some problems will be difficult to figure out, diagnose, or repair.  Here are some key points I have learned through many years of doing plumbing service work:             

1. Keep your mind open and stay loose on your feet.  When you first get to a job, try not to get locked into one course of action.
2. Before you jump into a course of action, remind yourself that the customer has probably been living with the problem for days, months, or even years.  You have only been on the job for a few minutes.  Give yourself time to choose the best course of action.  
3. Listen to what the customer has to say.  Try to understand the facts.  It is appropriate to write down what the customer says. 
4. Now, try to put what the customer has said aside.  Look and test for the problems yourself.    
5. Compare your independent observations with the customer’s comments.  Do they match?  Look and test some more.
6. Be aware that there may be several causes for a plumbing problem, or several independent problems that need repairing.
7. Before beginning work, list the various repair options along with an estimate of the cost and discuss this with the customer.  Offer what you believe is the best course of action, but let the customer decide how to proceed.

Following these seven points is very important.  If you just jump right into a situation without analyzing the entire job site, you are likely to see only a part of the problem, and therefore won’t be able to fix the problem correctly.

Here is an actual problem that I was recently involved with.  The customer had smelled gas near the hot-water heater. (more…)