Regular plumbing maintenance might not be a cost associated with home ownership. But guess what? It should be. It should be part of a yearly budget plan – which might include home reno project – that homeowners use to keep their costs in line. It’s nice to know that property tax is not through the roof expensive, hopefully leaving enough cash at the end of the year to put back into the property.
There seems to be a misconception about home plumbing that should be clarified. The misconception is that pipes and drains are much like the roof of the home. A new roof is installed and left essentially dormant up until it proves to be too weak to function anymore. A new roof is then installed and no one bats an eyelash. People think of plumbing in much the same way: just wait for it to stop working and then scramble around to find the money to mitigate a plumbing disaster.
This is not the way to think about plumbing. Instead of this ignorance is bliss approach, homeowners should be proactively hiring plumbers every couple years to clean out their system to ensure it stays consistently smooth.
It Makes Financial Sense
The proactive approach does not just make logical sense – it makes financial sense too. Let’s look at the cost break down for two different kinds of approaches to home plumbing: the inactive and the proactive. Keep in mind that professional plumbers cost between $46-65/hour.
The Inactive Approach
When disaster strikes every 10 years and the bathroom plumbing needs to be redone, the work involved is going to run over $4,000 (labor and parts combined). This is a low-end estimate that does not account for the fact that plumbing issues will probably arise in other areas of the home – at around the same time or perhaps later on. There will at least be a similar problem in any other toilets in the home. So let’s make a safe estimate and say that there are two bathrooms in the home, and each requires about $3,000 worth of work. That’s $6,000 for the removal and replacement of new plumbing in the two bathrooms of a home.
So, what is the alternative?
The Proactive Approach
Much like a doctor would say regarding general health – it’s better to have regular check-ups once a year than to wait and see what will happen. A homeowner that takes a proactive approach can expect to pay around $150 for 3 hrs of cleaning each year. That works out $750 every five years, $1,500 over ten years, and $2,250 every fifteen years. Not a bad scenario, is it?
Not only will the proactive homeowner know the state of their pipes, they will also be confident in the knowledge that little tubes and connector cables have been replaced if needed. Both the supply lines and drain pipes have a lot of connector pieces that might weaken under pressure. Paying attention to these intangible things early on will save money and stress – so it really is a win-win situation to be in. Check out one of the many Toronto plumbing services and start being proactive about plumbing as soon as the budget allows.