This month, Terek from Molesey asks… Dear Samuele, I’ve always been one to drink bottled water, but now that the cost of living is skyrocketing, the price of water has become ridiculous. So my question is, how safe is it to drink normal tap water? Yours thirstily, Tarek Samuele says: Ciao, Tarek! And grazie mille for your question. Yes, UK tap water is very safe to drink. In fact, it’s amongst the safest in the Read More…
About Eugene He’s tough. He’s rugged, and he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Meet Eugene, a real man amongst men. Hello Eugene, great to meet you. What keeps you busy at the Italian Plumber? Hello. I’m a plumber, heating and drainage engineer. I do mainly what’s known as ‘reactive’ maintenance. It means most of the time I’m attending all the nice jobs like blocked toilets, sewage pipes, that kind of thing. So Read More…
Here’s the lowdown. I’m pleased to announce that The Italian Plumber has recently been awarded MCS certification, and are fully authorised to carry out air source heat pump installations. This includes being able to advise you on whether you would be eligible for a grant. Currently, we are only able to carry out installations in houses. What is it, and who’s providing the grant? It’s a government initiative run by Ofgem that was started back Read More…
This month, Isabel from Chiswick asks… Dear Samuele, I’ve heard that the government is bringing in a new grant scheme to help homeowners replace their fossil fuel boilers with a heat pump or biomass boiler. Will I be eligible, and will I be able to use the grant towards an air source heat pump specifically? Yours sincerely, Isabel Samuele says: Ciao, Isabel! And grazie mille for your question. The grant relates to the boiler Read More…
About Matt From a career blowing things up, to a new career making sure things don’t blow up… you couldn’t find a safer pair of hands to take care of your plumbing. Let’s meet The Italian Plumber’s new kid on the block, Matt. Hello Matt, great to meet you. What do you do at the Italian Plumber? Great to meet you, too. I work as a plumber and as a trainee gas engineer. Read More…
You’re all packed. The tickets and passports are safe and secure. You’ve switched all electrical appliances off… including broadband, and you’ve allowed plenty of time to get to the airport. But in all the excitement of getting away, it can be easy to overlook a few of the other important domestic essentials. So, before you jet off to enjoy your holiday, take a few minutes to make these final plumbing checks. 1. Never switch Read More…
This month, Eric from Richmond asks… Dear Samuele, I have just noticed that my toilet flush always seems to be making a noise, way after I’ve actually flushed the toilet. It’s almost like the water is continuously running. Considering that I have my water billed on a metered basis, this must be costing me a fortune, not to mention the annoyance of the noise. Is there anything I can do myself to fix it? Yours Read More…
About Vicki She leads from the front. She follows a strict exercise regime, and if someone was to play her in a movie, you wouldn’t mess with her character. Let’s meet Vicki. Hello there Vicki, it’s very lovely to meet you. What do you do at the Italian Plumber? Hi, good to see you. I work in admin and customer service, which I do full time. Where are you from? I was born and raised Read More…
There’s no doubt about it, over the past 10 years or so, the plumbing trade has really upped its game on the customer service stakes. The main reason being the rise of the online review. With platforms such as Check A Trade, Trust-a-trader, and Google My Business, there’s no hiding a poor customer experience. So with all that in mind, I thought I’d reflect on how the industry very much used to be. Sadly though, Read More…
This month, Sabi from Acton asks… Dear Samuele, I’ve recently moved to a new house that has a standard boiler. When I run a bath, I’m constantly having to check that the hot water tap is actually running hot water – it seems to go from warm to hot to warm again, and is generally all over the place. I’ve checked the water pressure on the boiler, and that seems fine. Any ideas? Yours sincerely, Read More…