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10 years ago when we first bought the house, we put in two new bathrooms. For the first bathroom we hired a Morecambe based
Corgi registered plumber, or so we thought. It turned out he was no longer Corgi registered as he had allegedly been struck
off for blowing up an old ladies home, but the yellow pages ads hadn't renewed and it didn't occur to us to check whether
he had blown anyone up recently! For the second bathroom we thought we'd better get a recommendation. Sadly nobody was able
to recommend anyone as they had had negative experiences. So we hired the guy that had the least worst reference. He put the
loo seat fittings on back to front so the babies kept falling off the toilet and the tap leaked from the word go. We eventually
got it fixed but it made us very wary picking a plumber this time round.
Unfortunately plumbers in the Morecambe and Lancaster Area are not very commercially aware, you might find them advertising
in the Citizen, or Yellow Pages, however the good ones tend not to advertise as they have work all year round. There are some
larger looking firms who have good web presence, however I have been told that a couple of them go bust regularly and to make
sure I didn't give them any money in advance to secure a job.
When choosing a plumber, they need to be Corgi registered if they're touching anything to do with gas, and each time they
touch a gas fitting they have to give you a certificate, which they charge you for. The UK seems to be certification mad these
days and us poor consumers are paying the price. Hence if you're having work done over a period of time, make sure you use
the same plumber so you don't get hit more than once for the certificate.
If you're getting general work done, like outside plumbing or bathrooms, etc, then they don't have to be Corgi registered
(and they will be a bit cheaper) but I would check the quality of their work with recent customers, to make sure you're
not getting a patsy. There are a number of tradesmen in the area that learned their trade in prison, I'm all for rehabilitation,
but I would want to know that somebody is both competent and trustworthy before I let them in my house amongst my family and
worldly chattels.
Top Tips for getting a cheaper job from a Plumber
1. Buy your own bathroom suite, one of the perks for the plumber is to make a margin on the suite. There are loads of direct
sellers on the net with great prices and plenty of advice complete with technical data.
2. When getting a quote ask when they'll be free to do it. If you want it done sooner and they're busy they'll often quote
you a higher price, with the bonus of getting extra money when they didn't really want to do the job at that moment in time.
Plus they're likely to come late anyway and you've paid extra for the privilege.
3. Don't pay them until the job is completely finished. A reputable plumber will wait for the cash. If they're delayed
finishing the job as they're waiting for a tiler before they can come back and complete, not paying them is an incentive to
make sure the job is actually done. There is nothing worse than having to wait weeks for them to come back.
Useful Links
If you'd like an impartial recommendation for a plumber from us email us here.
Advice on Corgi Regulations and the law
The Federation of Master Builders
The consumer protection agency
Plumb World, the largest online retailer of bathroom supplies
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