Burst Pipe Plumber Sydney: Do This First

A burst pipe does most of its damage in the first hour. Turn the water off, take the pressure off the pipe, and then read the rest of this page while you wait for us. It covers where your meter tap is, what to photograph, who pays for the damage, why the pipe burst in the first place, and how a plumber finds a leak behind a wall without digging.

Water running now? Turn off the meter, then call: 1300 301 354 or book online. You get an arrival window on the phone and a fixed price before any work starts. $0 call-out fee.

Burst pipe? Do this first

1. Find your water meter and turn the tap beside it clockwise until it stops.
2. Open the lowest tap outside to drain the pressure out of the pipes.
3. Move electrical items away from the water and stay away from the switchboard if water is anywhere near it.
4. Lift what you can off wet floors: rugs, boxes, furniture legs onto foil or blocks.
5. Photograph everything: the leak, the meter reading, the damage. Keep the burst section of pipe when we remove it. Your insurer may want to see it.

Where your water meter tap is

In most Sydney houses the meter sits near the front boundary, in a plastic or concrete box in the lawn or garden bed, or on a pipe rising out of the ground beside the driveway. Units and townhouses usually have a bank of meters near the driveway entry or in a meter cupboard, one per unit, sometimes labelled. If you cannot find it, ring us and describe the front of the property; we can usually talk you to it.

Don’t touch the switchboard

If water is running down a wall that has power points in it, or dripping from a light fitting, treat the whole area as live. Do not touch the switchboard if it is wet or you have to stand in water to reach it. Turn the water off at the meter, keep clear, and tell us when you call; we will tell you whether an electrician needs to attend as well.

Who pays for water damage: you, the landlord or the insurer?

The repair to the pipe is a plumbing cost: yours as an owner, or the landlord’s if you rent. The damage the water did to floors, walls, cabinets and belongings is an insurance question. Sudden bursts are the kind of event home and contents policies are designed for; slow leaks that were visible for weeks often are not, so speed matters. If you rent in NSW, a burst water service is an urgent repair the landlord must attend to promptly, and there is a set amount a tenant can spend on urgent repairs and be reimbursed for if the landlord cannot be reached. Do not throw out damaged items until the insurer has said so.

Is it covered by insurance?

Read the “escape of liquid” section of your policy. Most cover the resulting damage from a sudden burst, some cover the cost of finding the leak, and most exclude the pipe repair itself and damage from gradual leaks. We give you a written report of what burst and why, because that is the document the insurer asks for.

The 3 causes of burst pipes

1. Age and corrosion. Old galvanised steel rusts from the inside; old copper pits and pinholes, especially where it was buried in concrete or contact with soil.
2. Pressure. Sydney mains pressure can be well above what old pipes and fittings were built for. A failed or missing pressure limiting valve lets the whole house run at street pressure, and the weakest joint goes first, often the flexible hose under a tap or toilet.
3. Movement and damage. Ground movement, tree roots, a nail through a wall, or a hose fitting that was never tightened properly.

Copper or poly: which bursts?

Both can, for different reasons. Copper fails by pitting and pinholing over decades, and at joints that were poorly soldered. Poly (PEX and similar) fails at fittings and where it was kinked or exposed to sunlight. The most common burst in a Sydney home today is neither: it is the braided flexible hose under a basin, sink or toilet, which has a service life and lets go without warning. If yours are more than ten years old, replacing them is cheap insurance.

Why old copper pipes burst

Copper laid in the 1960s to 1980s is now 40 to 60 years old. Water chemistry, high pressure, and contact with concrete or soil eat pinholes in it. The first sign is usually a damp patch, a warm spot on a floor, or a water bill that jumps. By the time it bursts, it has often been weeping for months.

Water bill suddenly high? Why

A leak you cannot see: a pipe under a slab, a buried garden line, or a toilet cistern silently running. Test it tonight: read the meter, use no water for two hours, read it again. If the number moved, something is leaking. Ring us with the two readings and we can tell you roughly how much it is losing per day.

Leak behind a wall? 9 signs of a hidden leak, and how we find it without digging

1. A water bill that rises with no change in use.
2. The meter turning with every tap off.
3. A warm patch on a tiled or concrete floor (a hot water line).
4. Damp, bubbling paint or a musty smell in one spot.
5. A patch of lawn or garden that is always green or soggy.
6. Low pressure at one tap only.
7. Mould appearing on one side of a wall.
8. The sound of running water with everything closed.
9. Cracking or lifting tiles or timber floors in one area.

Leak detection, explained: we isolate sections of pipe and pressure test each one to prove which line is leaking, then use acoustic listening equipment and thermal imaging to locate it along that line, often to within a hand span. Then we open one small area rather than a whole wall or floor. You get the location, the fixed price to repair it, and a report for the insurer.

What a burst pipe really costs

The plumbing repair is usually the small number. The large number is the water damage, and it grows with every hour the water runs. That is why we give you the meter and pressure steps above before anything else, and why we turn up when we say we will. The repair itself is a fixed price quoted before we start, $0 call-out fee, with the failed part shown to you and the warranty on the invoice.

The burst pipe checklist

• Meter off, lowest tap open.
• Power kept away from water.
• Photos of leak, meter and damage.
• Failed part kept for the insurer.
• Fixed price in writing before the repair starts.
• Pressure checked and a limiting valve fitted if the house is running too high, so it does not happen again next month.

Call now, 24 hours, 7 days: 1300 301 354 or book online. You get an arrival window on the phone and a fixed price before any work starts. $0 call-out fee.

Who you are dealing with

All Day Plumbing & Maintenance Pty Ltd is a Sydney plumbing company based in Seven Hills, run by a licensed plumber with 20 years on the tools. NSW Contractor Licence 339748C. Fully insured. Every job comes with an upfront price before we start, a $0 call-out fee and a warranty on the work. You can check any NSW plumbing licence, ours included, on the NSW Fair Trading licence check (search “verify licence NSW”).