From my earliest days as a service technician, I always wanted to bring my sales numbers up. Starting out in an industry that I had no experience in was a challenge in itself. Add to that my lack of selling skills, I thought I was doomed to fail.

But not so.

I discovered the art of plumbing checkups.

There was a gold mine of opportunities waiting underneath every basin, inside crawl spaces, and outside where there were buried sewer clean-outs and faulty hose bibs.

These little gems take roughly 10 to 15 minutes, and uncover all the surprises that your clients never even knew existed. Finding even one additional item to repair will bring your sales total up.

If you want to give yourself a raise, consider doing more plumbing checkups.

Thorough Checkup

A thorough plumbing checkup should incorporate the following:

Inside

• Pressure test
• Water main shutoff turns on and off with no leaks
• Kitchen faucet functioning
• Kitchen sink draining
• Basket strainers watertight
• Garbarator working
• Shutoffs turn on and off with no leaks
• Supply lines not leaking
• Union p-trap
• Cleanout on trap arm
• Test bathroom lav for same
• Tub & Shower diverter works
• Bathtub drains
• Toilet flushes properly
• No leaks from fill valve
• Flapper seated securely (dye test)
• Toilet shutoff turns on and off with no leaks
• Laundry hoses not leaking
• Laundry bibs not leaking
• Hot water tank not leaking
• No signs of rust/leaks
• T&P valve in place
• No corrosion on water lines
• Shutoffs turn on and off with no leaks
• Properly sized venting

Outside

• Water meter working
• Hose bibs not leaking
• Type of rain leaders (Big-O, PVC, clay, etc.)
• Locations of clean-outs (storm and sewer)
• Location of storm basin

What do you think of plumbing checkups? Do you do them? Do you not do them? Do you see any advantages or disadvantages?