HOUSTON – The demand for plumbing services is so high across the Houston area, plumbing companies are working around the clock to get homes repaired.
But because there is a backlog of work orders, some folks are trying to tackle the work themselves instead of waiting several more days for a plumber.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, not this bad,” said Rick Rosas as he worked to fix broken pipes at his home in Brazoria County.
Two sections of plumbing froze and burst after last week’s winter blast. He said he’s not a plumber but he’s slowly figuring it out.
“When you fix it, then I get another leak,” Rosas said. “Fix one leak, you get another leak. That’s what’s happening right now. Sooner or later I’ll get it. The hard part right now is getting parts. I’ve been looking for parts for three days and I didn’t find nothing, but finally today we’re getting some parts.”
KPRC 2 reached out to about a dozen plumbing companies across the Houston area. Many did not answer or return calls. One plumber who did answer said the biggest problem in getting repairs done as quickly as possible is not having enough parts in stock, but they are out there working as fast as they can.
That high demand for plumbers is causing a lot of folks, including Noah’s House and its 44 residents to wait for repairs. The living center for adults with intellectual disabilities and special needs had several pipes burst last week, causing water to leak and a huge backup to their system. They’ve put out several calls for help. They hope a plumber will call them back soon.
“Our facility doesn’t always fall at the top of the list because we’re a nonprofit, and what we are able to pay isn’t the same, so it’s been hard getting people out here,” said Jonte Rollins, Executive Director of Noah’s House. “We were able to get a plumber to come out, but we still haven’t gotten a quote back.”
The damage to Noah’s House, Jonte said, is upwards of several thousand dollars.
Plumbers said while it may be tempting to try to do the work yourself, don’t. You may end up having a plumber go back and fix some very costly mistakes.
