The spigot on the outside of my house hadn’t worked in years, if ever. I never really needed to use it, so it wasn’t an issue. When the plumber from a reputable company came out to fix it, he cut the water line and a big channel in the drywall up the side of the wall and across the ceiling. And then he left to consult with others at his office because the path he was on wasn’t yielding results. Several days later, he sent an estimate for running a new water line.
Time for a second opinion! My neighbor had a plumber out and I asked him to take a look and give me an estimate for getting the spigot working. He walked over to my water heater and said the valve for the water line was off. It is code for every house in the county to have this valve in that spot. I was completely unaware of the valve’s existence.
Not having the rights skills and information in this case caused a lot of damage. And it wasn’t just the first plumber. Whoever he consulted didn’t have the knowledge either as the valve should have been the first thing to check.
In any business, people who don’t have the required skills can cause a lot of damage. Some of it is visible. Some isn’t until later. And the cost is almost always significantly higher when factoring in the cost of repair.