by Gary Mays | Aug 25, 2014 | Blog, City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Hot Water Temperature, Insurance, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, Whywait Plumbing
It is normally the routine of a knock on the door by a friendly “salesman” stating they were in your neighbourhood doing some work and that a neighbour had suggested they do the same “free check” on your hot water service.
This unsolicited pitch or a variation of it is a signature of rip-offs who prey on gullible homeowners, especially the elderly. They commonly show a great deal of empathy and concern and are only doing the “free check” of your hot water service as your neighbour had already had theirs repaired and were concerned for you.
In the photo on the left the anode on the left was replaced by Whywait Plumbing with the one on the right with the differences between old and new perfectly illustrated.
Take it from me knocking on your door and cold-calling is not a professional or viable way to market or operate a plumbing business. And yes to work on your hot water service you must be a licensed plumber. In all likelihood the person knocking on your door is not a licensed plumber or a licensed plumbing contractor and in our experience they are ordinary old con artists who have no experience or knowledge in servicing a hot water service.
Yes your sacrificial anode on your hot water service should be checked at least every 5 years. But if it has never been checked and your hot water service is over 7 years old you are wasting your time replacing it as the damage has already been done to your steel storage tank.
by Gary Mays | Aug 13, 2014 | Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Insurance, Leaking Pipes, Plumber Brisbane, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, Plumbing Renovation, Queensland Government, Sustainable Plumbing, Toilets, Water, Whywait Plumbing
Not Compliant? It’ll Be Expensive!
Plumbing Costs for Correct and Compliant Work
Plumbing is expensive if not done correctly and compliantly. Quality plumbing is not a luxury but is a legal requirement under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002.
Cheap, illegal plumbing repaired by Whywait Plumbing after sewer odours were escaping inside an office because there was a 35mm gap allowing the odours to escape where a 65mm pipe had been pushed inside a 100mm pipe
Not everyone can afford a Lexus GS450h at $130497 or a BMW 7 Series 760Li 4 door Sedan at $141,200, but everyone can afford and should ensure they use a quality plumbing company. So if price is your only consideration, PLEASE phone another plumber as there are plenty of “cheap”, “competitively priced”, “discount”, “budget priced” plumbers out there who will do your work to a price but for your own sake please make sure they are:
- licensed plumbers by the Plumbing Industry Council
- licensed plumbing contractors with Queensland Building and Construction Commission
- insured for your protection with at least $10 million of Public Liability
However if you have come to the conclusion that your home is your biggest investment and you want to maintain your home to peak value then please phone Whywait Plumbing provided you want the work undertaken legally and compliantly with Australian WaterMark approved materials and highly skilled licensed plumbers who guarantee their work.
Please don’t phone us and ask for free quotes or free advice over the phone as no professional plumber can give you a price over the phone without an on-site diagnosis. Believe me, every plumbing installation is a one-off no matter how similar they appear.
Just remember if you use the cheap meeting the standard market price plumber ask to visually to see their plumbing license and their contractor’s license as they are required to carry them with them by law. In the end, these licenses are put in place by the Queensland Government for your protection, not for the plumber’s protection.
If you want cheap plumbing or free plumbing estimates or discount to meet the market pricing please do both of us a favour and save each others time by calling someone else.
By Gary Mays
by Gary Mays | Apr 27, 2014 | City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, Gold Coast Plumbing, Insurance, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Maintenance, Whywait Plumbing
One of the more common questions clients ask us over the phone at Whywait Plumbing is “what’s your hourly rate for plumbers?”
Hourly rates are utterly subjective to the point of being meaningless. Unfortunately, the majority of Gold Coast plumbers focus on hourly rates for pricing rather than the cost of the job in its entirety because they are frequently not competent enough to calculate out the value of the job in advance.
Hourly rates were abandoned as a method of pricing by most industries over 20 years ago. Ultimately all a client cares about is the total price of having a plumbing job undertaken not the component prices of which labour is only a proportion of the cost of undertaking the job.
Using hourly rates for plumbers as a comparison tool is meaningless as clients do not want the price to vary. It’s an unfortunate fact that too many Gold Coast plumbers use ridiculously low hourly rates for plumbers as a means of getting you to invite them into your home to do the job. Invariably this leads to bill shock as it’s akin to turning on a taxi meter except you had no idea when it was turned on and when it will be turned off.
There is nothing worse than the stress and aggravation of getting a more massive than expected bill once a job is completed. That is why, in reality, there is no such thing as a free plumbing quote.
At Whywait Plumbing, we have guaranteed upfront pricing. This means every job is priced in advance and approved by you before we commence work after an on-site diagnostic evaluation of the work required.
Imagine the confusion and shock if every business had to charge for their service by the hour that their clients pay for every day without a second thought. Imagine if you to pay hourly rates for a cup of coffee or a haircut.
Using a coffee purchased from Zarraffa’s as an example lets calculate their hourly rate for you to buy a Masai size (20oz) Americano coffee:
| Time in seconds to make an Americano |
60 |
| How much does an Americano coffee cost |
$5.45 |
| Size of an Americano |
20oz |
| cost of coffee beans, water and cup for Americano |
$0.93 |
| Hourly Rate for making a Zarraffa’s Americano Coffee |
$322.35 |
Now let us calculate the value of a haircut at Toni&Guy where you would have a cut and blow dry at their Broadbeach salon from a stylist:
| Time in minutes for a cut and blow dry |
15 |
| How much does a cut and blow dry by a stylist cost |
$89.00 |
| Total material costs for gel, shampoo, water etc. at retail price levels |
$2.50 |
| Hourly Rate for a Cut and Blow Dry at Toni&Guy |
$346.00 |
As can be seen by the examples of hourly rates above for the cost of labour, they are a meaningless component of the overall price of providing a business service.
As a bonus when you call us at Whywait Plumbing, we come to your home or business with service available 24/7. In contrast, if you have to go to a Zarraffa’s coffee shop to purchase your coffee or to Toni&Guy’s salon in Broadbeach to get a cut and blow dry you can only go at times they choose to be open.
Ultimately the only cost you should ever focus on when getting plumbing services is the total price, not an hourly rate for plumbers.
by Gary Mays | Mar 3, 2014 | City of Gold Coast, Cold Water, Consumer Issues, Gold Coast Plumbing, Kitchens Outdoors, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Maintenance, Plumbing Renovation, Whywait Plumbing
What plumbing is needed in an outdoor kitchen is a question that we are getting asked more frequently at Whywait Plumbing. To be honest an outdoor kitchen is exactly as the name says – a kitchen built in an outdoor living area so plumbing needs replicate those of inside your home.
As restaurants have increasingly focused on alfresco dining this has now flowed through to our homes. Landscaping design is now all about creating an elaborate outdoor entertaining area complete with alfresco dining where meals are served from an outdoor kitchen.
Outdoor kitchens have increasingly become more and more sophisticated to allow gourmet meals to be cooked and served so frequently include the following:
- permanent storage cupboards
- preparation and serving bench spaces
- sink and prep sink
- bar fridge
- wine cooler
- ovens and or stove top
- range-hood
- barbecue with wok burner
- dishwasher
- beer on tap
- designer lighting
- gas heating
- coffee machines
- ice machines
- pizza ovens
From a plumbing perspective many of these appliances and fixtures need to be connected to water reticulation, sewer drains and gas reticulation. Ideally your outdoor kitchen should be located with easy access to your house to enable easy connection to existing water, drainage and gas lines. Building an outdoor kitchen without easy access to these existing connections will mean that you have to install extra services lines which will blow your budget costs upwards.
In an ideal world you should plan for your outdoor kitchen when building a new home so that you can ensure that the water, drainage and gas pipes are installed before the landscaping is undertaken. It is easy to plan ahead for the possibility that you may install an outdoor kitchen in the future even if your original design doesn’t include one by installing live capped off water connections, drainage connections and gas connections outside for potential use in future. When you are building a new home the cost to install live capped off connections is usually under a $1000 compared to upwards of $10000 to install new connections at a later date.
By Gary Mays
by Gary Mays | Feb 7, 2014 | City of Gold Coast, Cold Water, Gold Coast Plumbing, Insurance, Leaking Pipes, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Maintenance, Toilets, Water Leaks, Whywait Plumbing
Every business relies on many factors and unexpected disruptions are an everyday occurrence to be managed . From a plumbing perspective the best management technique is preventative maintenance which is critical plumbing advice for business owners. One of the most disruptive plumbing problems faced by business owners is a sudden leak or failure of a plumbing appliance or fixture. (more…)
by Gary Mays | Nov 15, 2013 | Bathrooms, City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, Health Issues, Plumbers, Plumbing Maintenance, Whywait Plumbing
33% of employees admitting they do not wash their hands every time they use workplace toilets is why Whywait Plumbing ensures toilet basins are correctly installed and maintained
Construction sites, workshops, factories, offices, restaurants in fact any Gold Coast workplace is a breeding grounds for germs with the majority of businesses not making workplace hygiene the priority it needs to be. Recent research indicates poor workplace hygiene is costing business Australia wide up to $800 million in lost wages each year and the Gold Coast is not exempt with:
- 33% of employees admitting they do not wash their hands every time they use workplace toilets
- 5% of employees worry about other employees not washing their hands when using workplace toilets
- 70% of employees genuinely believed poor workplace hygiene affected their overall job satisfaction.
- 40% of employees fearing poor workplace hygiene will cause them to get sick
- 50% of employees believe concerns about workplace hygiene affected their productivity
- 75% of employees believe poor workplace hygiene indicates their employer “doesn’t care about them”
- 55% of employees are dissatisfied with their workplace toilets
- 55% of employees criticised their employer for not providing a clear vision and clarity of expectation for the expected level of hygiene that all employees should meet
- 56% of employees are distracted from work due to concerns regarding the hygiene behaviour of other employees
- 57% of employees believe their personal productivity is reduced because of time spent talking to other employees about their company’s hygiene standards
- 72% of employees are reluctant to recommend a business with poor workplace hygiene
- 54% of employees indicated they had to spent time cleaning up after other employees in workplace kitchen and toilet facilities
Most frightening with all of the issues surrounding workplace, health and safety, (W,H&S) is that the research survey showed up that the hygiene habits of Australian workers are appallingly low with one in six employees falling ill from poor workplace hygiene and the poor cleanliness of lunchrooms and staff toilets. For employers the statistics are even more frightening with:
- 4.8 employee sick days annually
- productivity losses of $800 million in wages for employers
Whywait Plumbing found this workplace urinal with no flushing water and full of odour blocking tablets to mask the smells that were overpowering with employees only using the toilet as a last resort
The plumbing technicians at Whywait Plumbing are frequently shocked at the condition of workplace toilet facilities that they are asked to repair with many businesses failing to maintain their employee workplace toilet facilities operationally with the most common faults being:
- toilets not flushing correct amounts of water leading to blockages
- urinals not being maintained correctly
- basin taps not working
- hot water turned off or disconnected
- cracked porcelain basins, toilets and urinals
All too frequently these workplace toilet facilities are also poorly maintained in regards to cleaning hygiene with the most common issues being:
- no soap dispensors
- no paper towel dispensors
- broken toilet roll holders
- cracked wall and floor tiles
All of the above issues create an ideal breeding ground for germs leading to cross contamination within the workplace. No matter which way you look at it poor workplace hygiene reflects poorly on any business.
Business owners and managers need to take the lead in the workplaces issued by outlining the expected hygiene standards for workplace kitchen and toilet facilities. It is well proven that a business with a good company culture that has a clear vision and clarity of expectation with regard to workplace hygiene ensures that the expected level of hygiene are complied with by employees.
By Gary Mays
