Preventing "Band-Aid" Fixes - Wisler Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, & Electrical

Part of the communication training that we conduct at Wisler Plumbing involves the importance of a thorough diagnosis. This diagnosis comprised of three questions: What is the problem, what caused the problem, and what are we going to do to prevent the problem from happening in the future?

While it’s possible to put a bandage on a plumbing issue, that makes it likely for the problem to resurface in the future. Instead, we must first properly diagnose the root of the problem. We have found that there are five common causes to plumbing issues: The age of the system, water pressure, water quality, improper installation, or lack of maintenance. We investigate those five main potential causes to make sure we give a thorough diagnosis.

First, is the equipment simply failing due to old age? Second, is there excessive water pressure in the lines? The high pressure could be causing damage to the fixtures. Third, is the water of poor quality? There can be high amounts of chlorine, iron, or minerals that led to component failure. Fourth, were any components installed improperly? Finally, was there a lack of proper maintenance, leading to a problem that could have been prevented?

A common example of plumbing symptoms indicating an underlying problem is a backed up drain. In the main drain line leaving the house, there could be a blockage caused by tree roots that grew into the pipe. The usual bandage fix is to send a snake or cable down the drain to open up the pipe. This does not address the actual problem (the tree root). As the roots continue to grow again in six months to a year, the problem will resurface.

At Wisler Plumbing, we want to minimize callbacks. If we can fix the problem the first time around, customers won’t have to call us to bandage the same problem repeatedly. This is why we prefer to properly diagnose the underlying problem. Obviously, we don’t expect our clients to be able to know all the answers when they call our phone support. The best thing to do is to set up an appointment for a qualified technician to come to your home.

If you would like to have us take care of your plumbing’s underlying issue instead of just making a bandage fix, give us a call at (540) 352-4262 or contact us here.