When a plumber comes into your home, they’ll only bring a bag with some diagnostic tools and they’ll ask to be brought to the problem area. You’ll leave them alone while they investigate, and then they should be able to come back to you and give you a detailed explanation of the problem and an estimate of the time and cost to fix it.
Assuming you agree, they’ll go back out to their van and suit up – usually some kind of overalls to protect their actual clothes. They’ll also grab whatever specific tools they need to get the job done. Plumber’s vans have hoses, wrenches and a myriad of other tools needed to fix anything water-related. They often also have powered rooters, which are hoses used to flush out water mains and can provide hundreds of feet of tubing to thoroughly complete the job.
As they’re completing their job, the plumber will usually tell you if you need more work or if you should speak with another contractor. This occurs primarily when water damages a subfloor or interior wall and additional work needs to be done that the plumber doesn’t handle.
When the plumber is done, they’ll present you with an itemized list of the problems they fixed along with the bill and anything else they found that might be distressing or need fixing in the future. A licensed plumber will also provide a warranty on their work; if things break down or come undone, they should come back out and fix it. Be sure to ask if your plumber guarantees their work ahead of time – if they don’t, hire someone else.
