how difficult is it to find a good reliable plumber??

[tostaky]

this is driving me mad... i feel like they dont want to work... i call them, they dont answer or say they will call back and dont
then out of those who come to give you a quote, some dont understand a thing about plumbing, other tell you you have to re-do the whole bathroom/change the boiler system and flush all your radiators, some will say yes i can do it but in 2 months time or i can do it next week and then phone you and say sorry i cant...

i thought i found someone great, albeit working a bit slowly. he broke my shower wall, made a dent on a pipe that was ok, told me he would fix the (small) leak next week... yet he is unable to give me an estimate for my insurance (to be agreed with insurance if i want to be reimbursed) and just avoids my phone calls emails now...
how am i meant to do with 2 young DCs and no shower/bath at all...

seriously thinking about training as a plumber....

for insurance, ask your company if they have a panel of approved local tradesmen. they probably do, and he will be able to put in price quotations according to their scale of charges, and they will have some degree of confidence in his workmanship and reliability.

Otherwise, ask around friends, neighbours and colleagues for a good local plumber they recommend. Try to have a look at some work he's done for them. Luckily most householders can make a fair stab, after they've had him do the work, of telling a good plumber from a bad one. Larger companies tend to be more expensive, rather than better. Do not use anyone who has a mobile phone no only, and no real-life address. Do not use a nationwide or regional company with no local phone no or address that claims to be local, they are just farming the work out to the cheapest local person, for a fee.

BTW some people do plumbing and also gas work. For gas, they must be Gas Safe registered (old scheme was Corgi) and you must see their ID badge before they start work. (If they say "It's in the van" or "I've left it at home today" be sympathetic and say you'll wait.) Preferably they will also have been on a training course by the manufacturer of your boiler, and be on that manufacturer's website as an approved installer. Being a good plumber and being a good gas fitter are not at all the same thing. Tiling and replastering, or re-fixing floors, are different again.

p.s. it is now winter. Any Boiler of Heating Engineer with a good reputation now has his diary full until April, and he will use any spare time to do emergency repairs, especially for his existing customers.

I wouldn't necessarily use the insurer's tradespeople. We had a team in to redecorate after a flood and they caused more than £2.5k worth of damage in the house (gouges out of walls, paint spilt on newly laid and varnished wooden floors, paint on carpet etc etc - I get sweaty thinking about it!). They were given a steady stream of (overpriced) work by the insurer and had clearly become complacent about the standard of the work they did.

Word of mouth is always good - is there a local forum, not necessarily Mumsnet, in your area where you can ask? Or something like trustatrader.com? Good luck as I know how frustrating it can be.

Where do you live by the way - perhaps a plea with your are in the title on this topic?

Thank you both - good idea about asking my insurers for their tradepeople.
i have already ask every body i know for a plumber and also on freecycle to no avail...

planning to type my postcode + plumber and then ring everybody on my list on monday...

Maggie - i live in harringey, london

the ones who advertise the most, and are most readily available, are the ones with no loyal customer base....

thats why im thinking yellow pages....

i just need to be able to wash my children..

is it something wrong with your boiler? What make is it?

actually, my boiler was alternating hot and cold water when i turned the hot water on. i had many corgi plumbers coming in giving a quote and their own version of the problem and qupotes (from £20 to i need to replace the whole system)
Somehow, after all these men taking the cover off my boiler and banging on it with their screwdrivers my boiler is working fine again...
so im not going to touch it yet. however i had a leak in my shower, someone came, took the tiles off, showed me where the (small) leak was and told me he would come next week to fix it and im still waiting... really pissed off and we only have a shower in the flat, no bath. i bath my kids in the baby bath but it is not easy...

I can recommend two fab plumbers, who actually turn up, do the job and don't rip you off, I'm afraid one is in West Cornwall, the other in Northampton, so may not be of use to you. Both were made known to me by reputation/personal recommendation.

tostaky

And what make is the boiler?

Biasi - why?

OP, in answer to your question, impossible. We have had 5 plumbers round since April. Problem still not completely sorted. I feel your pain.

Becaus if you go to the manufacrurer's website, there is a good chance they will have a list of approved installers who have been on their free training course.

They are likely to be competent, and very often gas installers also do plumbing, or have an assistant who does, as they need the same skills and tools to do pipework and radiators.

Piglet - i rang them, they dont....
but as i said, im more concerned by my shower than my boiler atm

sprinkles - seriously considering taking some time off to do a plumbing course...