How many phone calls will I get tomorrow from People Wanting to get a hold of "Joe the Plumber"?
Why you ask? For the past 20 years I have been a professional Realtor. After first hard freeze of the fall season, I always get a phone call from a friend, client or past client for a plumber. You see, there are a lot of people who heed the warnings and leave their water hoses hooked up to the water spickets. The hard freeze freezes the water and bam, a broken pipe happens.
My most memorable experience happened about 8 years ago. I just helped this young couple buy a home in October. At closing I gave them the usual reminders then we started talking about seeding the yard. I explained to them what to do then I mentioned, don't forget to remove the water hoses from the spickets when they weren't using them.
About a week later I got a phone call from Mrs. Buyer. Her husband was out of town and she thought that they had a water leak. I reminded her where to turn the water off in the home and immediately called a plumber. I arrived about the same time the plumber did and we both observed one heck of a mess in the finished basement. It was not a pretty site.
Although plumbers like "Joe the Plumber" like the additional business, if this post saves one plumbing leak, this post in my mind is considered not a waste of time. As I made sure my hoses were unhooked I observed that 3 of my neighbors still had hooked up hoses. I did knock on their doors to remind all of them.
Dowell Taggart Team of Infinity Realty