There’s virtually no end to the serious things that can damage a home. Water, mold, smoke, fire, and natural disasters like hurricanes and flooding can instantly wreak havoc on a house’s structural integrity. A top priority for many homeowners is ensuring their valuable investment is protected from harm. They also want to protect their savings from costly repairs!
As plumbers well know, water is one of the most destructive forces to hit a home. In fact, about 2% of (or nearly 3 million) homeowners submit a claim for water damage every year. Water damage-related costs total more than $13 billion per year, and the average insurance claim is over $10,000. Whether it’s due to natural flooding or water pouring out of a ruptured main, homes feel the impact. While the first instinct is often to call in a plumber, many homeowners soon find they need a water restoration company as well to handle any water mitigation and repair work.
Finding a reputable plumber and restoration company that can work together to alleviate water damage isn’t always easy for property owners. For plumbers looking to increase their customer base, working with other companies like a water restoration contractor can be a great way to increase revenue and grow their business.
The Difference Between Plumbing and Water Restoration Services
Plumbers and restoration companies both specialize in fixing water damage issues, but the services they provide are quite different, complementing each other but rarely crossing paths. The biggest differentiator between the two professions is the extent of water damage.
- Typical plumbing issues include leaking toilet seals, clogged pipes, drain line problems, broken water heaters, water main issues, and septic tank problems. Most of these can usually be fixed within a few hours.
- Water restoration issues are much more far-reaching, causing mold issues, damaged drywall and flooring, and flooded basements. They can take days or weeks (and sometimes even months) to repair.
When plumbers and water restoration companies work together, they can be upfront with customers about what they do and don’t provide and recommend each other for the appropriate services.
What Plumbers Do During a Water Emergency
Water leaks and damage come in many forms and magnitudes. Broken pipe fittings break, burst pipes, and toilet leaks are just a few water-related disasters that can cause severe damage to walls, ceilings, and floors, while also advancing mold growth. A qualified plumber can fix a multitude of problems, including:
- Broken faucets and showerheads
- Broken gas, water, and sewer lines
- Clogged and overflowing toilets
- Clothes washer hoses burst
- Condensation drains clogs or leaks
- Defective gaskets and fittings
- Icemaker or dishwasher connection leak
- Leaking and cracked pipes
- Toilet seals and valves malfunction
- Water heaters leak or flood a room
- Water sprinkler systems malfunction
It might make things a lot easier for homeowners if their home’s water damage is stopped by merely fixing or replacing a broken pipe or other defective plumbing fixture. Unfortunately, in many cases, water causes more extensive structural issues that don’t necessarily fall within a plumber’s capabilities or specialties.
If you own or operate a plumbing business, partnering with a water restoration company like Central Florida Restoration Solutions helps you build business relationships with other local businesses and can boost your own referral rates.
What a Water Restoration Company Does After a Water Catastrophe
Water damage restoration companies specialize in quickly providing emergency services during a water-related crisis. These emergency services can include:
- Cleaning
- Containment of the source
- Decontamination, including mold remediation and sewage remediation
- Deodorization
- Drying
- Protection of structure and contents not yet affected but in harm’s way
Once the water disaster’s been stabilized, a water restoration company inspects the home and its contents for damage. More detailed cleaning might take place, and repairs are often performed to restore the house and its contents to pre-loss condition.
When Plumbers and Restoration Companies Work Together
In every plumbing or restoration situation, clean, gray, or black water has potentially leaked. A plumber may be called in to stop and repair the source of the leak by either replacing a washer or seal, unstopping a drain line, removing and replacing a damaged pipe or valve, etc. When the leak’s source is found and repaired, a plumber’s work is generally complete. Often, though, one or more of the water categories has come into contact with the home’s structural elements and contents.
Damage can range from slight dampness to inches or feet of water. Metals corrode and finishes deteriorate. Laminates buckle, drywall softens, and electronics develop shorts. Perhaps worse of all, with 24 hours mold spores often grow and flourish, even to the point of causing health problems.
Many times, a homeowner mistakenly thinks their plumber took care of all these issues. Proactively referring a water restoration company to customers helps a plumber gain trust and helps promote repeat business and referrals.
For many years, plumbers and restoration companies rarely communicated. Today, that’s changing as:
- Customers often feel abandoned when a plumber completes their work and leaves, but everything’s still wet.
- Homeowners look to their home service providers to provide them with advice. The more a plumber knows about restoration companies, the better they can assist their customers.
- Insurance companies are demanding faster response times from restoration companies to reduce claims costs.
Professional plumbing contractors often come across projects that require water damage restoration services, such as a dry out. In other cases, they’re not aware of just how far the damage has spread until they start making their own repairs. If a restoration technician is on the job and discovers the service of a plumber is needed, they can call you in to make necessary plumbing repairs.
Most water pipes are hidden behind walls, above ceilings, or run underneath a home’s floorboards. When an interior pipe breaks, it’s not always obvious off the bat. Depending on where the pipe’s located, a plumber may not be able to access the problem area easily. That’s when a homeowner might need to call in someone else to tear out walls, ceilings, and flooring before their plumber can even begin fixing the leak.
Of course, some homeowners decide to rip out the walls, floors, and ceilings themselves. But a professional restoration company provides the right tools and techniques to ensure the work is done with minimal damage and mess. Homeowners worried about the additional expense of calling in a restoration company should check to see if their insurance policy covers all or part of the cost to tear down and rebuild parts of the house to get to a leak or broken pipe; many do.
Sometimes a homeowner will call a water restoration company first, and sometimes the water restoration professional won’t know where the leak or water damage is originating from. Having the incorrect type of professional work on various water damage issues can significantly increase a homeowner’s overall repair costs.
Plumbers and water restoration experts know, too, that tearing down structures and finding and fixing leaks doesn’t always mean the water mitigation work is finished. Joists, flooring, and entire sections of drywall might need replacing to restore the integrity and appearance of the home.
Today, plumbing and restoration companies are starting to realize the work goes more smoothly when they coordinate the work with each other. Together they’re able to help a homeowner solve their water damage problems.
What Homeowners Can Do in a Water Emergency
Does a homeowner play a role in bringing plumbers and water restoration companies together? Yes. When water damages their home, it’s critical for homeowners to have the leak repaired as quickly as possible before it can do even more damage and to prevent mold and pests who are drawn to water from proliferating. Plus, insurance companies often deny coverage of a water damage claim if the homeowner doesn’t take immediate steps to limit the damage. Unaddressed water damage also decreases the value of a home and can make living there potentially dangerous.
Once they call in the plumber to fix a leak, it’s imperative for homeowners to contact a reliable restoration company that can work closely with their plumber. Working together, a plumber and a restorer can quickly fix and restore a home to its former glory, protecting its market value and the people who live there.
Why Plumbers Should Refer CFRS for Water Damage
Most plumbing companies have what’s referred to as needs, dreams, and obligations:
- Want or need to grow their business.
- Want to offer a secure working environment for employees.
- Want to be liked and respected by their fellow business owners.
- Want to improve customer service.
- Need to have systems in place that improve efficiency.
- Need a succession plan for retirement day.
- Need to bring in more customers to boost revenue.
- Need better marketing ideas, including how to find more referrals.
When plumbers partner with a water restoration company, they are, in effect, serving as an extension of their service team. And because homeowners are more likely to take referrals from a plumber or restoration company they trust, both companies can profit from such referrals.
Partner With Central Florida’s Most Reliable Water Damage Restoration Company
Customer demand requires assistance from both plumbers and water restoration companies. What’s the point in fixing a pipe if dampness and wetness remain in the walls and flooring once the plumber leaves? There’s also no point in water restoration if the source of a leak isn’t identified and repaired. By working together, everyone benefits.
Partnering with a professional water damage restoration service offers big returns in the way of customer loyalty, more referrals, and a healthier bottom line. Finding the right water damage professional to partner with doesn’t need to be a complicated endeavor, either.
Central Florida Restoration Services looks at referral opportunities as partnership opportunities. We provide the kind of services you’ll be proud to recommend, and your customers will appreciate that you made the referral. We have over 25 years of experience, nearly 1,000 customers served, and 18 industry certifications. Our reputation speaks for itself, and our customer reviews demonstrate we’ll treat your customers well.
We have an extensive network of professional, highly qualified plumbers who work with us to tackle any size or scope water damage project. We let our plumbing partners handle their areas of expertise while we clean, dry, and sanitize with the latest equipment. Our advanced water detection tools ensure no water source remains and help homeowners avoid even more costly repairs.
The skilled technicians at CFRS have the knowledge and expertise to get any water damage restoration job done right the first time. We’re central Florida’s most experienced providers of water damage, mold damage, fire damage, and smoke damage restoration services. You and your customers can always depend on CFRS to locate and assess any and all water leaks and provide the services needed to mitigate any water damage that’s occurred.
To learn more about how referring Central Florida Restoration Solutions for water damage services can help you grow your plumbing business, contact us online today or call or text us at 407-988-6101. We provide the water damage mitigation solutions homeowners prefer to keep their homes and families safe from water-related damages.
