- Response
- Right now
- From
- From $190
- Typical time
- How long it takes
- Warranty
- 12 months, in writing
There are two versions of this job and they feel completely different. One is a pipe that has let go and is filling a room right now. The other is a bill that has quietly doubled, a warm patch on a floor, or a meter that keeps ticking with every tap in the house shut.
The first is about speed. The second is about finding it without knocking holes in things — which is a matter of having the equipment and the patience to use it.
Immediate. Ring us and turn the water off while we drive
The signs, in the words people actually use
If two or more of these sound familiar, you have almost certainly got this one.
- A water bill that has jumped with no change in how you live
- The meter dial still turning with every tap and appliance off
- A damp or warm patch on a floor, or a skirting board that has swollen
- Water pressure that has dropped across the whole house
- The sound of running water in a wall when nothing is on
What it turns out to be, most common first
Written in frequencies rather than percentages, because a made-up percentage is worse than an honest 'most of the time'.
- 1
Old galvanised pipe corroding through
The classic in Melville, Applecross and Como. Galvanised steel rusts from the inside out over fifty years and then goes at a joint. When one lets go the rest are usually close behind.
- 2
A failed joint or fitting
Especially on work that was done in a hurry. A single fitting is a cheap fix, which is why finding it precisely matters so much.
- 3
Movement in reactive ground
Clay soil shifting between a wet winter and a dry summer puts a pipe under load it was never designed for. Common under slabs and driveways.
- 4
Water hammer
A banging noise on shut-off is not just annoying — it is a shock wave working joints loose. It is also cheap to fix before it costs you a burst.
What actually happens, stage by stage
No mystery, and nothing that happens out of sight. If there is a camera going down a drain, the screen gets turned around.
- Stage 01
Stop the water
First thing, every time. If it is running now we isolate at the meter or the nearest stop tap so the damage stops growing while we work out the rest.
- Stage 02
Find it properly
Acoustic listening gear, a pressure test and a thermal camera, in that order. On a slab leak the thermal camera usually puts us within a hand-span before anything gets opened up.
- Stage 03
Show you before we cut
You see where we think it is and why, and what we would have to open to get to it, before anything gets cut. Sometimes the better answer is to abandon that run and re-route it, and that is a conversation, not a decision we make for you.
- Stage 04
Repair and pressure test
Repaired in copper or PEX to suit the run, then the section is pressure tested and held before anything is closed up. You get the test result.
Published, with the reasoning attached
Leak detection is quoted as its own job so you are never paying an open-ended hourly rate while somebody hunts. The repair is quoted separately, once we know what it is.
Emergency attendance and isolation
From $190
Getting there, stopping the water, and making the property safe. Credited against the repair if you go ahead the same visit.
Leak detection — non-destructive
$340 – $580
Acoustic, pressure test and thermal imaging. The range is about how much of the house has to be covered.
Accessible pipe repair — single point
$280 – $520
A joint or a section in a wall cavity, roof space or under the house. Most repairs land here.
Slab leak — re-route rather than break out
From $1,200
Running a new line above ground or through the ceiling is almost always cheaper and far less disruptive than cutting the slab.
Making good — patching, plastering and painting — is not included, and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth having us coordinate it or whether your own trades will do it better.
How long it takes
An isolation is minutes. Detection is usually an hour to two. An accessible repair is done in the same visit. A slab re-route is a full day and gets booked, but the water is back on that first night either way — we do not leave a house without water.
Stopping it happening again
Most burst pipes give you months of warning. These are the three things worth acting on.
- Read your meter before bed and again in the morning with nothing running. If it has moved, you have a leak, and finding it now is a tenth the cost of finding it later.
- Fix water hammer when you first hear it. A $180 arrestor is cheaper than the burst it is warning you about.
- If your house still has galvanised pipe and you have had one failure, plan the repipe rather than waiting for the next three. We will stage it so it is not one enormous bill.
A job of exactly this kind, with the invoice
What it was quoted at before it started, what each line cost, and whether the two numbers matched.
- 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
What people ask about burst & leaking pipes
Where is my water meter and which way does it turn off?
Almost always in a green or black box at the front boundary, near the footpath. The tap beside the meter turns clockwise to close. If it is stiff, use two hands rather than a tool — snapping it makes the night considerably worse.
Will my insurance cover this?
Most home policies cover the water damage but not the pipe that caused it. Photograph everything before you clean up, and we will give you a written report with the cause, the location and the date — which is what an assessor asks for.
Can you find a leak without breaking anything?
Locate it, yes — that is the whole point of the acoustic and thermal gear. Repairing it means getting to the pipe, so something has to open. The difference is that it is one considered opening rather than six exploratory ones.
Ring us about burst & leaking pipes
24 hours, 7 days — including public holidays. You get the price before anything comes out of the van, and you are free to say no to it.
Plumbing Contractor PL 7742 · Gas Fitting GF 3318 · 12 months on workmanship, in writing on every invoice