Plumbing Picks exists to give homeowners straight answers about plumbing problems and the products that fix them — the kind of advice you’d get from a plumber who has no reason to upsell you. Here’s exactly how this site works.
Who writes this
Everything here is written by a licensed plumber with 5 years in the trade, licensed in Georgia. The recommendations come from the same judgment used on real job sites every week: what actually holds up, what fails early, and what’s a waste of money. To keep the focus on the advice rather than the person, articles are bylined “A Licensed Plumber” rather than a personal brand — but the experience behind them is real.
How we choose what to recommend
We don’t rank products by who pays the most — nobody pays to be included. For each guide, picks are chosen on:
- Hands-on field experience. These are categories a working plumber installs and services on real jobs, so picks reflect which makes and mechanisms hold up in actual homes and which ones generate callbacks — the part a spec sheet can’t tell you. (We draw on that field experience plus manufacturer specs and standards; we don’t claim to bench-test every individual model.)
- Published specifications. Capacity, flow rate (GPM), materials, warranty length, and fit — read directly from manufacturer documentation, not guessed.
- Standards and code. Where it matters, picks reflect relevant standards and plumbing-code realities — EPA WaterSense for fixtures, venting and gas-line requirements for water heaters — including when a job genuinely needs a licensed pro instead of a DIY part.
- Value, not price. The cheapest option that fails in two years isn’t a deal. We weigh up-front cost against how long it lasts and what it costs to run.
We pick a small number of genuine winners per guide rather than padding the page with every option on the market. If nothing in a category is worth recommending, we say so.
How we make money (and why it doesn’t bend the picks)
Plumbing Picks is reader-supported. Some links are affiliate links — mostly Amazon — which means if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That’s what keeps the site free.
It does not change what we recommend. We choose the product first and add the link second; the commission is identical whether we point you to the best option or not, so there’s no reason to steer you wrong. We’re an independent site and an Amazon Associate (plumbingpicks-20); we are not sponsored by, and do not accept payment from, any manufacturer to be featured.
What we’ll never do
- Invent star ratings or “9.8/10” scores to look authoritative.
- Claim we tested something we didn’t.
- Recommend a product because it pays more.
- Run fake reviews, fake testimonials, or fake urgency.
When to call a pro
We’ll always tell you when a job is a safe DIY fix and when it isn’t. Gas, main water lines, sewer work, and anything behind a permit can be dangerous or illegal to DIY — we’d rather lose the affiliate click than send you toward a flooded basement or a gas leak.
Found something wrong? Tell us.
Specs change and products get discontinued. If something here is out of date or you think a pick is wrong, let us know — corrections get made fast, and that’s part of how a site earns trust.