When minor things go wrong with your plumbing and heating, often it can be something that you can deal with yourself, and our blog is testament to the basic plumbing and heating hacks that you can implement to resolve issues such as bleeding your radiators or thawing out your condensate pipe. However, it’s important to recognise the lines you must not cross otherwise you could cause more damage than you started with or, in worst case scenario, actually make things dangerous.
You may be quite proud of your DIY skills, you may even fancy yourself as a jack of all trades but some jobs definitely need leaving to a professional. According to Which Trusted Traders, 21% of tradespeople said that they were regularly called in to fix a job where the DIYer has caused a dangerous situation and 27% said it happened occasionally. Plumbing ranks top of the list of most abandoned DIY jobs, ahead of electrical work and white goods installation.
By its nature, bodging a plumbing job – even one that initially seems to be quite simple – can have significant consequences. Getting a plumbing job wrong can lead to undetected leaks or full scale flooding which can cause extensive damage. Even something as seemingly simple as plumbing in a washing machine can be more challenging than you anticipate so you need to be confident you know what you’re doing before you start.
One thing that you should never ever attempt to have a go at is anything to do with gas. Jobs like connecting a gas oven or repairing the boiler have to be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Not only can it be dangerous for an unqualified person to conduct these jobs, it’s actually illegal so really not worth contemplating.
Potential damage and actual danger are the most obvious consequences of DIY disasters but there are other things to consider as well such as invalidating your insurance. Whether that be boiler cover or general home insurance, damage caused by not taking due care or using a person qualified to conduct the work may see your insurer rejecting any ensuing claim which could leave you significantly out of pocket. Likewise, if you are in rental property you may think that you're doing your landlord a favour but you could ultimately lose your bond plus repairs are their responsibility, not yours.
While, of course, using a professional plumber or gas engineer will cost you money, it is often a false economy not to, especially if you end up causing a bigger problem than you started with and it’s really not worth the risk to safety.
If you have a plumbing or heating job that you need attending to, give us a call on 0333 577 0151 or complete the enquiry form to the right.
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