Checklists for your house and your plumber
Print these and keep them by the water heater. Map your shutoffs before a leak, log meter readings when the bill jumps, and line up estimates side by side so you compare the same scope from every contractor, including us.
- Shutoff map worksheet Fill this in on a calm afternoon so that nobody in the house has to search for a valve while water is spreading across the floor. Print it and tape a copy near the water heater.
- Plumbing symptom log Intermittent problems are the hardest to diagnose because they rarely happen while the plumber is standing there. A simple log turns vague memories into a pattern.
- Plumber hiring checklist Tick these off in order, from the first call to the final invoice. It works for a toilet repair or a full water heater replacement.
- Water heater maintenance calendar Hard water shortens the comfortable life of most water heaters. A light routine, written on a calendar, catches problems early and keeps the safety parts in order.
- Water heater self-inspection checklist Ten minutes with a flashlight tells you a lot about the condition of your water heater. Nothing here involves removing covers, touching gas parts or draining water.
- Water meter leak test worksheet This worksheet turns the meter test into numbers you can show a plumber. Fill in each round of readings and the table tells you which part of the system to look at.
- Call now or wait? A plumbing decision guide Not every plumbing problem is an emergency, and not every quiet drip can wait. This guide sorts common symptoms into four levels so you can act in the right order.
- Estimate comparison worksheet Two estimates for the same job can describe very different work. This worksheet puts them in one table so the differences in scope show up before the price does.