Everyone is faced with a blocked drain from time to time. Having an effective contractor to hand will prevent a drama from turning into a crisis.
Even if you follow all the rules about what should or should not go down the drain, every homeowner is faced with the occasional blockage. This is particularly the case in London, where the overall infrastructure is close to capacity, and any unusual event, such as a severe weather occurrence, can push things over the edge.
If you have water – or worse – backing up out of toilets and sinks, the last thing you need is to waste time on the phone or internet assessing the comparative merits of different drain cleaning contractors. You need someone who you know will sort the problem out professionally, at a reasonable price and, most important of all, quickly.
A recommendation speaks volumes
In any industry, it is easy for a business to talk about how great it is. What really makes a difference is when it is the customers who are giving the recommendations. Talk to friends and family, or failing that, check the company’s website for client recommendations and testimonials. Blockages happen for all sorts of different reasons, so look for a company that is praised for its problem-solving skills. As a general rule, if they have worked for large companies, they are likely to be reliable and efficient.
Check the accreditations
Happy customers are a great indicator, but if the regulatory bodies and quality assessors are also smiling, you know you are working with professionals. There is not an accreditation programme for drain cleaning per se, but there are plenty of schemes that are related. These include things like the Safe Contractor scheme, Constructionline and the British Safety Council to mention just a few. Again, check out the website, a good contractor will have a handful of accreditations and should be happy to share information about them.
24/7 help
If a drain is going to suddenly become blocked, then we all know there is a good chance of it choosing 10pm on Christmas Eve to do so. Ringing a number to find that the drain cleaning company will be back in action in two weeks time is no help to anyone, so make sure you have the number to hand for someone that can provide an emergency service 24 hours a day and seven days per week.
Shop locally
If you search for London drain cleaning services on Google, chances are you will see a whole host of results from all sorts of locations. Many industries are becoming decentralised and you could find yourself ringing a number in Barnsley that will nevertheless assure you that an emergency engineer will be with you in a couple of hours at a good price. The danger here is that they are clearly subcontracting the work out, so whatever assurances they might give over the phone, you really have no idea who is going to be turning up. Far better to call a local company that ticks all the boxes we mentioned above. That way, you are 100 percent clear about exactly what you are getting.