In all of his sales materials, Mr. Godot promises prompt, personal, courteous, and affordable plumbing service. (When will tradesmen start being honest by admitting that they fully intend to be late, rude, and over-priced?) In any case, I decide that Mr. Godot is my man and call the number in the Yellow Pages. Oh yes he also promises that trustworthy drain leak repair a real live human being will answer the phone. Evidently, that only applies on weekdays. Fine. His telephone machine tells me that if this is an emergency to press five on my keypad and leave a description of my problem. Someone, he says, will get right back to me.
Ask for an estimate for the total cost of repairs. Some 24-hour plumbers will not want to give an estimate over the phone, and would want to personally assess the plumbing situation first. But you may be able to get a rough estimate and an idea of the price if you come well-informed about the plumbing emergency. Picture out the scenario to your emergency plumber and ask for the usual or average cost of repair.
Like knowing where your electrical panel is located, it is just as important to know where the valve for the main water service to your home is located. Also, knowing where the water valves for individual fixtures can help keep small leaks from becoming major repairs. Start by turning off the water for the individual fixture near the affected area. If that doesn't work, or your issue is a busted pipe, turn off the main local water heater repair service service. The main water valve is usually located outside in a box in the ground. Turning off the water main will stop the flow of water to your home and thus preventing further water damage.
If you live in a small community then there may be a plumber who will do 'out of hours' emergency plumbing repairs without charging a massive call out fee. A plumber that is willing to help his neighbours out in times of need is worth his weight in gold.
Last but not least is don't hire someone just because they gave you the lowest bid. Next don't hire some handyman that does odd garbage disposal jobs, in some cases they can cause you more problems that down the road it will cost you more money to fix what these handyman broke or did wrong. Sometimes the lowest bid is going to cut corners and not do the job right or when they get there and start doing the work, they keep saying they are finding more and more wrong and you end up spending more than what you should have.
You definitely want a plumbing service that has access to any type of parts that a given job might require. If they do not carry them in their trucks, you want a worker that knows where to quickly buy them. Nobody wants a repair person spending the better part of a week trying to track down some special drain part. While a lot people do not consider this, it is very important.
Some plumbing companies also offer annual maintenance packages where they would come in once a quarter and take a look at all the plumbing issues. If you get a provider who is offering such a package, it is worth considering. Such checks enable you to identify potential problems and nip them in the bud before they escalate into bigger issues.