Hot water gone on a Sunday, replaced by mid-afternoon
A seventeen-year-old gas storage unit with a rusted-through tank, on the one weekend the house was full. Diagnosed, replaced and certified the same day.
- Rang us
- 8:15am, Sunday
- On site
- 9:40am
- Hot water back
- 2:10pm
- Weekend loading
- None
What we were told on the phone
Verbatim, near enough. It is usually the most useful thing anybody says all day.
- "There's no hot water at all this morning and there's a puddle under the unit. We've got family staying and eleven people in the house."
- A puddle under a storage unit is the answer before anyone gets there. If it is coming from the tank rather than a valve, no repair exists — so the useful thing on that phone call was to say so honestly, give a price range for a replacement, and ask them to switch the gas off at the unit.
What we found
A 170-litre gas storage unit, manufactured in 2009, with rust streaking down the casing and water weeping from the base rather than from the relief valve. The anode had long since gone and the tank had corroded through.
That is a replacement, not a repair, and it is worth being blunt about: a corroded tank cannot be safely repaired by anyone at any price.
The gas line and the tempering valve were both sound, and the location had good clearance, which kept the job simple. We quoted a like-for-like replacement at $1,890 complete, and a continuous-flow alternative at $2,450 so they could compare, then left them to talk about it for ten minutes.
What was actually done
In order, including the bits that are not billable.
- 1
Isolated the gas and water, drained the old unit and removed it.
- 2
Installed a new 170-litre gas storage unit with new isolation valves, a new temperature and pressure relief valve and a new drain line.
- 3
Re-used the existing tempering valve after testing it, rather than replacing a part that was working — which took about $140 off the quote.
- 4
Commissioned the unit, tested the gas connection and checked delivery temperature at three outlets.
- 5
Lodged the gas compliance certificate and emailed it before leaving the street. Took the old unit away for scrap.
What it cost, line by line
Published in full, against the figure quoted before anything started. This is the only proof a plumber can honestly offer.
Quoted before work started
$1,890 quoted on the phone, confirmed on site
| Item | Detail | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday attendance and diagnosis | On site 9:40am, fault confirmed, both options priced | Amount$0 |
| 170 L gas storage unit — supply | Five-year tank warranty, carried on the van | Amount$1,190 |
| Removal, installation and commissioning | New isolation valves, new relief valve, new drain line, three-outlet temperature test | Amount$560 |
| Gas compliance certificate | Lodged and emailed the same day | Amount$0 |
| Old unit removal and recycling | Taken to a metal recycler | Amount$0 |
| Tempering valve — quoted, not required | Existing valve tested and found sound, so not replaced | Amount−$140 |
| Invoiced | $1,750 | |
$140 less than quoted, because the tempering valve did not need replacing after all. If a part we allowed for turns out to be fine, it comes off — that is not generosity, it is just what a fixed price should mean in both directions.
Afterwards
Eleven people had hot water by mid-afternoon on a Sunday, at a price with no weekend loading on it, and the certificate was in their inbox before we had left the suburb.
We also fitted a temperature gauge sticker on the new unit and showed them how to lift the relief valve lever, because the reason this one failed early was that nobody had touched it in seventeen years.
What they said afterwards
Pinned to this job, so you can read the review and the invoice it refers to side by side.
- Hot water replacement
“Hot water died on a Sunday morning with a house full of guests. Someone answered on the second ring, told me straight away it was probably the tank rather than something cheap to fix, and gave me the price over the phone. We had hot water again by mid-afternoon and the final bill was less than the quote.”
Other jobs, other invoices
- 01WillettonFebruary 2026
Roots through a clay sewer, cut out and relined
Forty years of jacaranda root through a clay line. Jetted clear the same afternoon, cameraed, and the broken section relined without digging up the lawn.
Invoiced$2,190against $2,190 quoted - 03ApplecrossDecember 2025
A slab leak found with a thermal camera, not a jackhammer
A water bill that had tripled and a warm patch on a tiled floor. Located to within a hand-span, then re-routed overhead instead of breaking the slab.
Invoiced$1,680against $1,680 quoted
Want a number like this for your job?
Ring 0491 570 156 and describe it. You get a fixed price before anything starts, and it is the price that ends up on the invoice.
Plumbing Contractor PL 7742 · Gas Fitting GF 3318 · 12 months on workmanship, in writing on every invoice