Leland Plumbing

cleanest plumber in town

440 North Tamiami Trail

Osprey, Florida 34229

941-966-2158

Saving Money?

Have you ever tried to save a little money by purchasing a low cost product, only to have the product break sooner than you expected? Have you ever tried to save a little money on a repair, only to have the problem reoccur?

Not only have you wasted everything you've spent, but now you must deal with the hassle of buying a new replacement product or getting the repair done over. The low price product or service ended up costing more.

Back in the last millennium, we decided it was better to explain our pricing once, than to apologize for our service forever. For the record, we are not the lowest priced plumbing company in Sarasota County. While we are not the lowest priced up front, we believe we cost you less in the long run. If we charge a little more than some companies, we deliver more as well. We spend more to supply you with quality parts and products that last. We spend more to hire the best mechanics in the area so you get the problem fixed right the first time. We spend more to check out our employees so you know it's safe to allow a Leland Plumbing employee in your home. We spend more for standby capacity so that we can respond quickly when you need us. We spend more to stock our trucks with the top quality parts we need to repair your plumbing, no matter what we encounter, eliminating delays to run to the supply house. And on and on. There are lots of important differences and they all cost money.

Top shelf installations and great service does cost slightly more, but our customers don't seem to mind. It's why we've grown while the "cheap" guys keep going out of business. We want to earn your business forever!

Retail Therapy

Remarkably, there are some plumbers who refuse to install fixtures, faucets and other supplies unless they supply all of the materials for the job. We don't do business that way. The fact is, some of our customers really enjoy shopping. Whether folks purchase plumbing material from a big box retailer, the neighborhood hardware store or an upscale plumbing boutique we're happy to install these items. Our installation warranty is the same as it has been for years: rock-solid 24/7/365.

While we stand behind our installation, our warranty does not extend to cover materials purchased from others. Say, for instance, one of our customers calls us out to install a kitchen faucet they purchased at Lowe's. Our tech typically arrives the same day and the shiny new fixture is firmly mounted atop the kitchen sink. Now let's assume nine months go by and our customer notices a drip under the sink. Once again our tech arrives the same day. If he or she finds a leak in our connection to the Lowe's faucet, a quick adjustment is make at no charge because we warrant the connection for one year. That's the good news.

More often than not, the news is bad, and we find say a hairline crack in one of the faucet's component parts. Since this faucet was purchased at Lowe's, our customer is charged for our tech to trouble shoot the problem, procure the proper parts and repair or replace the defective material. This can get expensive.

Without a doubt, Lowe's or Home Depot or any other retailer for that matter stand behind their products in most instances. Our hypothetical customer may elect to make the trip back to the point of purchase in search of the proper replacement part. Be warned that this could turn into multiple trips. phone calls to the manufacturer and a pile of dirty dishes in the sink.

Still it's a free market, and those who shop their own material should remember that the faucets and fixtures they purchase differ in quality. The cheapest product on the shelf is frequently not worth the money. Conversely there are lots of expensive plumbing fixtures of questionable quality. Ask the vendor, "Are the parts to repair this item available in your store? Are they available locally?"

We install plumbing every day and we are ready to offer our advice on what to buy and what to avoid if you decide to shop for your own plumbing material.

Toilet Tissue Is The Issue

A local plumber recently held a competition among 4 popular brands of toilet tissue. The best rating was given to the tissue that dissolved the quickest in a solution of pure H20.

The test was performed by immersing 20 squares of each tissue in a flower vase full of water. Each sample was periodically agitated by an agitating expert, Brenda Brown. Within 2 minutes, the Angel Soft was breaking down and 2 hours later it had degraded to a uniform solution, winning the competition. Second place went to Scott Tissue, a single ply product which dissolved at a slightly lower rate. 3rd and 4th place went to Charmin and Cottonelle respectively. Both took more than a day to degrade.

Why does this matter? That's because paper that won't efficiently degrade in water remains in building drains, sewers and septic tanks. If your home was constructed before the 80's, your original drains are most likely cast iron and the interior walls of this pipe build up with oxidation much like plaque builds up in the walls of arteries. This build up literally traps toilet tissue occluding the pipe. This can cause stopped up drains and the expensive mess that comes with them. You could save this aggravation by switching to Angel Soft.

Could Your Home Flood?

Your greatest risk of flooding does not come from hurricanes. It comes from burst water heaters and washing machine hoses.

According to Safeco Insurance, appliance failures and faulty plumbing underlie 92% of all water damage claims. Weather related damage resulted in only 8% of claims.

Altogether, water damage affects more than 250 thousand households in the United States and Canada, resulting in more than half a billion dollars of damage. The shame is disasters arising from burst hoses and heaters are usually preventable.

Low Flush Toilet

An easy way to save water is to flush less. Not fewer flushes (don't even want to go there), but less water per flush. In other words, install a high performance low flow toilet. Conventional toilets use 3.5 to 5 gallons each flush. Low flow toilets only use 1.6 gallons per flush.

According to government research, an average person uses the toilet about four to five times a day. Aside from the disturbing thought that someone in the government actually studies our potty proclivity, four to five flushes per person per day means a low flow toilet has the potential to save a family of four more than 14 thousand gallons of water per year. Saving that much water at today's prices means a low flow toilet pays for itself in a couple of years. Financially, that's a darn site better return than you can get from the bank.

Low Flow Showerhead

Another painless switch you can make is to install a low flow showerhead (sometimes called an energy-efficient showerhead). A standard showerhead drops 4.5 gallons of water a minute. Low flow showerheads only release 2.5 gallons a minute. With better showerheads, you can't tell the difference. This showerhead mixes air into the water stream so that you still get a pulsing stream of hot water. A quality low flow showerhead can save a family of four as much as 20 thousand gallons of water a year. And you're not just saving water, but hot water. Between 14% and 25% of your home's energy use goes to heat water. Ouch. Your toilets and your showerheads top the list of easy water conservation methods that save a LOT of water.

Bottled Water - Tap Water

You don't have to look very hard to find bottled water these days. It's a booming business. Local discount boxes and grocery stores have it by the case and they stack it to the ceiling.

This is partially driven by the utility companies in Sarasota County who provide water to our homes that may be of dubious quality. Local water summaries note the presence of some nasty stuff including radium, arsenic, lead and atrazine. Our water is also disinfected with chlorine and four other additives I can't begin to pronounce.

The result of our water treatment is a chemical brew that, while safe by federal standards, has an off-taste and smell to most folks. Swimming pool water comes to mind.

Is Bottled Water Worth It?

Gallon for gallon, bottled water is more costly than gasoline. Expensive packaging and transportation to the point of sale are key factors.

Water bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is rendered from crude oil. In 2006 Earth Policy Institute estimated that U.S. demand for bottled water required 1.5 million barrels of oil for the year to manufacture the bottles alone.

Two top selling brands are made by familiar corporate giants: Coca-Cola makes Dasani brand and Pepsi makes Aquafina. Both are purified tap water.

If you're not happy with your tap water consider a more eco-friendly alternative to buying water by the case. Install a point-of-use water filter in your kitchen and fill your own reusable water bottles. It's a healthy way to save money.

Types of Water Purification

The two most common types of water purification are activated carbon and reverse osmosis.

The activated carbon filter is the most popular and least expensive treatment I know of. Typically the filter is mounted under the kitchen sink and dispensed through a separate tap on top. These filters are often interconnected with icemaker lines and hot water dispensers to provide clear ice cubes and great tasting coffee and tea.

Good carbon filters reliably eliminate chlorine taste and odor as well as large particulates like iron, manganese, molds and algae. The cartridges must be changed periodically and it's so easy you can do it yourself.

Reverse osmosis systems filter water by forcing it under pressure, through a super fine semi permeable membrane. They really polish the water by removing disinfection byproducts, nitrates, chloroform, barium, arsenic, radium and lead. These substances are left behind on the RO membrane which is then "backwashed," carrying the bad stuff away to the kitchen drain. RO technology costs more initially but it's easy to maintain. Top quality under sink RO systems are manufactured right in Venice. As a consequence there is no middle man and the price is trending down. A drawback is that RO systems waste the water used to clear the membrane - often at a factor of 3 to 1. While some complain that the water tastes "too bland," most folks really love it.

Contact Us

Leland Plumbing 440 North Tamiami Trail Osprey, FL 34229 phone (941) 966-2158 fax (941) 966-6328