When Your Plumbing Repair Requires Excavation
It’s sad but true that sometimes plumbing repair requires digging a tunnel under the house. That’s the only way to get at the source of the problem.
It’s likewise unfortunate that sometimes the plumbing company and the excavation company are two different companies. That can happen for a couple different reasons. Either the homeowner him- or herself makes the decision to hire an excavation company and a separate plumbing company, or else the plumbing company isn’t able to do the tunneling and subcontracts that part of the work to an excavation contractor. However it happens, this division of labor often proves to be a source of problems.
Outside Excavation and Inflated Cost
Outside excavation crews often charge more to homeowners who hire them directly than they do to plumbing companies that hire them. c. Even when it’s the plumbing company doing the contracting, you’re still likely to pay more than if you hire a plumbing company that is itself capable of handling every aspect of the work.
The Outside Excavation Crew Offers to Take Care of the Plumbing Job Too
When a homeowner hires an outside excavation crew, the crew, having dug the tunnel, may then offer to take care of the actual plumbing job as well. Generally speaking, though, the diggers aren’t licensed, qualified plumbers, and the homeowner who takes what may seem to be the path of least resistance and gives the go-ahead may well end up regretting it.
The repair job may be done incorrectly or conceivably not really even done at all. The work may not comply with the plumbing codes in your area. If the repair is insufficient or made with substandard materials, you will have no legal recourse.
If somebody gets hurt while the work is underway, the excavation contractor won’t have insurance that covers the situation. You could end up getting sued, and your homeowner’s insurance could be invalidated.
You could end up with a malfunctioning sewer system, sewer backups and stoppages, insect and rodent problems, and foundation and structural issues.
Outside Excavation and Division of Responsibility
It’s possible for the outside excavation crew to dig the tunnel, the plumber to make the repair, and then the excavators damage the repair work in the course of filling in the tunnel. If that should happen, the plumbing company isn’t responsible. Plumbers can only guarantee the work they actually do themselves, and you’ll find yourself paying to have the tunnel re-excavated and a repair done all over again.
The Outside Excavation Crew Doesn’t Know What the Plumber Needs
Even if the excavation contractor is handing off the actual repair work to a plumbing contractor, there are potential pitfalls. The excavation company isn’t qualified to diagnose the plumbing problem. This means the outside excavation crew might dig a tunnel that’s too long or too small. If it’s too long, that means the homeowner paid extra for unnecessary work. If it’s too short, there’s little choice but to hire the excavation contractor again to extend the tunnel at additional expense.
Outside Excavation Crews: The Bottom Line
For all the reasons explained above, 24-7 Plumbing advises our Westfield, IN customers not to hire an outside excavation crew themselves and not to hire a plumbing company that relies on outside excavation contractors if a job requires tunneling. 24-7 Plumbing is set up to handle every aspect of every plumbing job including those involving excavation and we’re available at any time of the day or night to take your call.