Common Household Leaks and Blockages, And Fixes That Last.
What causes the problems every Sydney home gets, what is safe to try yourself, and when it is time to call a licensed plumber.
The five plumbing problems every Sydney home gets eventually
After twenty years of call-outs, the same handful of problems account for most of the phone calls we take. None of them are unusual and all of them get worse if ignored. Here is what causes each one, what is safe to try yourself, and the point at which it is time to call a licensed plumber.
1. The dripping tap
A tap drips because the washer or ceramic cartridge that seals the water off has worn out. It wastes surprisingly large amounts of water, up to 20,000 litres a year for a fast drip, and it is the cheapest plumbing fix there is. In older Sydney homes the seat the washer sits on is often pitted, so a new washer alone leaks again within weeks. Reseating the tap fixes that properly.
Safe to try: tightening the tap gently. If it still drips, stop; overtightening damages the seat.
Call us when: the drip returns, the tap is hard to turn, or it is a mixer tap. Tap washers from $49.
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2. The running toilet
A toilet that keeps running or refills on its own has a worn inlet valve or outlet washer inside the cistern. It can waste hundreds of litres a day silently. Most cisterns in Sydney are dual-flush units whose internals are cheap to replace, but the parts vary by brand and a wrong part will leak again.
Safe to try: lifting the cistern lid and checking whether the float is stuck or the flush button is jammed.
Call us when: the water will not stop, the cistern leaks onto the floor, or the toilet is more than about fifteen years old. See toilet repairs.
“Kitchen drain was totally blocked on a Sunday arvo. Harry's team had it cleared within the hour, no weekend surcharge nonsense. Upfront price, great bloke.”
3. The slow or blocked drain
Kitchen sinks block with fat and food. Bathroom drains block with hair and soap. Sewers block with tree roots. A single slow drain is usually local to that fixture. If more than one fixture is slow at once, or the lowest drain in the house (often a shower or floor waste) is backing up, the blockage is in the main sewer line and no amount of plunging will fix it.
Safe to try: a plunger on a single slow sink or basin, and clearing hair from the shower waste. Avoid chemical drain cleaners: they damage old pipes and rarely reach the blockage.
Call us when: more than one drain is affected, the toilet gurgles when the sink drains, or the blockage keeps coming back. Blocked drains from $69, with a free CCTV inspection.
4. The leak you can hear but cannot see
A water bill that jumps, a hissing sound when everything is off, or a damp patch on a wall or lawn all point to a concealed leak. In Sydney homes built before the 1980s the culprit is often galvanised steel pipe rusting through from the inside. Under a concrete slab it may be a copper pipe damaged by ground movement.
Safe to try: turn off every tap and appliance, then watch the water meter for ten minutes. If it moves, water is leaking somewhere.
Call us when: the meter moves. We use acoustic and thermal leak detection to find it without guesswork, then repair or replace the section. See general plumbing.
The Mr Flow crew on real Sydney jobs.
5. Low or fluctuating water pressure
Pressure that has faded over years is usually internal scale in old galvanised pipes. Pressure that drops suddenly can be a burst pipe, a failed pressure-limiting valve at the meter, or a problem with the street main. Pressure that only drops at the hot taps points to the hot water system.
Safe to try: checking whether cold and hot are both affected, and whether the neighbours have the same issue.
Call us when: pressure is poor at every tap, or it dropped suddenly. Replacing galvanised lines with copper or PEX restores full pressure for good.
“Kitchen drain was totally blocked on a Sunday arvo. Harry's team had it cleared within the hour, no weekend surcharge nonsense. Upfront price, great bloke.”
When it is an emergency
Water you cannot stop, sewage coming up through a drain, the smell of gas, or no water at all: turn off the water at the meter (or leave the house if you smell gas) and call us. Mr Flow runs 24 hours a day with a 60-minute emergency response target across Sydney. See our emergency plumbing page for what to do in the first five minutes.
Got One of These Problems?
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