Storm Alert: What To Do In A Sydney Plumbing Emergency

As The Australia’s Bureau Of Meteorology predicted, our La Niña weather event is now underway with Australia’s wettest Summer downpours in decades occurring down the east coast. Sydney is in the firing line. 

Accompanying the big wet comes an increase of home plumbing issues like blocked drains, blocked gutters, blocked stormwater drains and leaks. Issues like this, when not dealt with immediately can have sudden, dramatic effects on your home’s plumbing system, even resulting in an emergency plumbing situation.

If You Do Have A True Sydney Plumbing Emergency On Your Hands (One That Poses A Risk To You And Your Home) You Need A 24 Hour Sydney Plumber Who Is Available To Get To You Fast! Please call our licensed plumbing team at Proximity Plumbing now on 0420 102 394.

We will be able to gauge the severity of your emergency and diagnose the issue over the phone, giving you tips until our team arrive. We’re available 24/7 and are staffed around the clock during this Sydney weather event. 

We’ll also be able to tell you if the issue can wait until normal business hours so you can avoid the emergency callout fee.

Here’s a few points to know (and we’ll cover now):

• What Is A Plumbing Emergency?
• What Kinds Of Plumbing Issues Are Emergencies?
• Things You Can Fix Yourself
• What To Do In A Plumbing Emergency?
• How To Be Prepared For The Worst.

What is a Plumbing Emergency?

Flooding water, leaking gas, blocked pipes and a blocked drain are some of the most common plumbing emergencies for which you might need the assistance of a professional plumber. 

In Sydney, most of us tend to enjoy a comfortable life with abundant ‘mod-cons.’ As such, we end up taking some things for granted – like our plumbing! It is only when “the plumbing is on the fritz” do you realise how important it is and that it needs fixing ASAP.

A true plumbing emergency can look like this:

• Water is flooding your home and property.
• Water needs to be restored to the property.
• Measures need to take place to prevent water damage to the property.
• A blocked drain needs to be cleared to allow water to flow freely.
• A gas leak is present. 
• A sewage system/waste connection needs to be restored to protect public health.

It is an owner’s responsibility to call an emergency plumber if they feel they are affected by any of the above points.

So, knowing when to call a Sydney emergency plumber and when to call a routine plumber is very important.

At Proximity Plumbing, our team of experienced professionals is on the go throughout the east. We are the go-to Sydney emergency plumber for all your plumbing needs.

When your plumbing emergency catches you off guard, our team has your back! We have relevant experience as well as the ability to repair your plumbing system FAST.

Sydney Emergency Plumber services can include:

• Leaking toilet
• Blocked drain, pipe or toilet
• Damaged gutter, roof, or downpipe – leading to a leak
• Broken cooling or heating system
• Burst pipe
• Power failure – excluding blackouts
• Dishwasher leaks
• Showerhead or tap bursts
• Gas leak

In case you feel the need to call an emergency plumber, reach out to our team now on 0420 102 394.

Plumbing Issues You Can Attempt Yourself

If you have some basic knowledge of plumbing systems, are quite handy with DIY and don’t mind getting your hands (dirty) or wet, then you can attempt some basic plumbing troubleshooting yourself. 

Obstructed Roofs, Gutters and Downspouts

Gutters are an integral component of most Australian homes and buildings. The primary function of your home’s gutters is to provide a channel for rainwater to move off your rooftop and away from the foundation of your home. This channelling ensures that the water doesn’t seep beneath your home’s foundation, weakening it and causing serious issues in the future. If your home is exposed to prolonged periods of moisture it can weaken and deteriorate parts of your home’s structure.

We don’t want that!

You can clear debris from your home’s gutters yourself. Please take safety precautions and work with a buddy where possible. 

Blocked Sink Drains

Your kitchen sink or bathroom drains may be blocked from a build up of food scraps, hair, soap or debris. Before you call the pro’s you can try to get rid of the build up via natural cleaning methods or using a drain snake. 

Leaking Tap

If you are handy with a wrench, you can attempt to change the washer, apply a new fixture and fix the leaking tap yourself. 

Clogged or blocked toilet

If you have a trusty home plunger handy, get a plunging. Read our article here for help.

Here are some steps to take when you’re in a plumbing emergency: 

1. Shut Off Water Supply Immediately

As soon as you encounter some major problem in the plumbing system of your house, like a burst pipe, you should turn off the main or water value immediately. The water main or the value is mostly situated outdoors on the water meter. Water meters are usually situated somewhere close to the front-side boundary line of the property.

If you are renting in a unit, the water main can sometimes be hidden around the toilet or under a basin. Whenever you move in to a new unit you should ask where the water main is, so in the event of an emergency you understand where to go.

When you shut off the main water supply, it will not solve the plumbing problem at hand. However, it will prevent unnecessary water run-off and flooding of your property.

It is not always necessary to shut off the main water valve – depending on the location of the problem in the house. For instance, if there is water leakage from the toilet or a tap in your house, you can only turn off the water supply of the given system. It will allow you to get access to water in other areas of your house – until emergency help arrives. 

2. Call Your Best Sydney Emergency Plumber

If you’re in the eastern suburbs, that’s us!Call our team on  0420 102 394 now. Any time of day or night, we have someone in our team of professional plumbers on standby to assist you. We will also provide you with tips you can do whilst we are on our way to make sure we save valuable time. In an emergency, we have an on-site guarantee of 30 minutes within the eastern suburbs.

3. Clean The Mess The Best You Can

By the time the plumber reaches your property, you can simply clean the area in case it is wet. It is recommended to keep the floor dry. As such, professional plumbers are able to work efficiently as soon as they arrive

4. Analyse the Damage With Your Sydney Emergency Plumber

Go through what is going on such that you are capable of explaining the problem to the local plumber. In case you have burst pipes, it is critical to shut off water instantly. Then, you should analyse what happened. The more knowledge you have when you book a plumber, the easier it becomes to diagnose the main problem. The plumbers can come well-prepared with the right plumbing tools to help you out. Once your local plumber has handled the emergency situation he or she will take you through the reasons why the issue has occurred and propose solutions to ensure it won’t happen again. 

5. Ongoing Maintenance

Once the Sydney emergency plumber has left and the issue has been resolved, there will be some ongoing maintenance to help prevent any futher emergencies.

6. Speak With Your Insurer

Depending on your cover, the cost of the emergency plumbing call out and the cost of any repairs can becovered by your insurer.Most home and contents insurance in Australia does cover for flood damage however you need to check with your insurer and your specific policy.

When Deciding Whether You Have A Plumbing Emergency On Your Hands (or not) There Are A Few Questions You Can Ask Yourself.

• Can the issue be isolated or stopped so it’s not in use?
• Is this plumbing issue essential to the health and wellbeing of my family?
• Is there raw sewage overflowing that could pose harm to the wellbeing of my family and others?
• Is there a risk of flooding or water damage to your property?
• Can you smell gas?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you should call an emergency plumber as soon as possible. Ignoring a plumbing emergency is not only bad for your plumbing system, but it can also risk the health of your family. In particular, overflowing sewage or gas leaks can be dangerous for your health. They can also cause lasting damage to your property which can be prevented if you call an emergency plumber.

If you’re unsure, please call our team and we can help to answer a few key questions for you.

How Much Does An Emergency Plumber Cost? 

If youremergency plumbing issue happens during normal working hours, you can wait for the plumber to fit you into his schedule that day or the following morning. This way you should be able to avoid any call out altogether. For those situations that just can’t wait and you need a plumber NOW you’re likely going to have to pay what’s known as an “after hours call out fee” plus materials and the time spent on the job.

We are proud to let anyone who asks to know that we charge anywhere between $250-350+ GST for after hours emergency call outs and the price ranges depending on the time and day. Any plumber who doesn’t charge an emergency call out fee should be a major concern as they are immediately being devious and slugging you that fee somewhere else.

Proximity Plumbing is a true Eastern Suburbs based local business, operated and owned by a husband and wife team who manage a group of expert licensed plumbers and plumbing experts.

Our goal is to constantly provide real, true and honest information to all our customers and potential customers in the hope of raising the standards and reputation of the plumbing industry and be seen as leaders in our profession. We offer a $0 call-out fee.

As a Proximity Plumbing customer, you will be given all the information you need to make a decision on whether or not to use our crew for your plumbing needs upfront and in real-talk. You will not suffer from ‘bill shock’ because all our work is quoted, priced and approved before we get started. You know exactly what you’re paying for. 

Proximity Plumbing’s $0 Call Out Fee And 30 Minute Onsite Guarantee

Many tradies like to advertise a $0 callout fee, although once on site, they charge a service fee which is usually waived if a quote is approved. Very sneaky! We believe this method to be unethical so we prefer to keep it simple. When we say $0 call-out fee, we mean it, we have provided an example on our latest blog –” how to bypass the Sydney plumber sales gimmicks”.

‘$0 call-out fee’ means that we DO NOT charge you to arrive at your door, between business hours (8 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday). Before we start any work to help you with your plumbing issue, an upfront FIXED price will be discussed. This is so that you don’t have any ‘bill shock’ at the end of your service and there are NO hidden costs.

Attending your plumbing job will cost you absolutely nothing and will include a $0 handwritten quotation, which you can keep. If you choose not to proceed and use our crew for your plumbing issues, that’s totally fine and we will leave with no expectations whatsoever.  We are a truly local business – just having the privilege to provide you with a quote is good enough for us.

Being a truly eastern suburbs based business, means we have plumbers ready to serve our community on standby. 

As we are locals and we’re just around the corner, always within proximity of the area.

In an emergency plumbing situation, we offer a 30-minute on site guarantee within business hours.

Case Study

It’s our guarantee to always assist our local, eastern suburbs community as fast as we can (and offer our $0 call out fee).

We recently had a customer call in a panic with an overflowing pool drain. Not something you want to be dealing with in a severe weather event!

One of our lead plumbers attended the job ASAP and was able to assist. Luckily for our customer, it was an easy fix and the issue was remedied extremely fast.

For that reason, we decided not to charge a fee at all.

Images taken from our internal service software in real time.

The Best Thing About Our Community? The Relationship We’ve Built.

Proximity Plumbing is proud to say we are the most trusted Plumbing crew in the eastern suburbs.

Whether it’s sunny skies, or severe weather, we’re always helping and supporting our local community in whatever plumbing issue they may be facing.

Plan For The Best – Be Prepared For The Worst

In our current weather event, it’s best to plan for the best but prepare for the worst. When you are prepared for an extreme weather event, you are ahead of the pack. You and your family can discuss and plan for what happens in the case of an emergency. You can prepare things like:

A Blackout Bag with things like: candles, matches, water, snacks, blankets.

A Grab-And-Go Bag with things like: drinking water, snacks, blankets, toiletries, fresh change of clothes and shoes for everyone in the home. Essential paperwork that you want on hand (ID, birth certificates, passports), your wallet/cash and anything else you deem necessary. 

A Plan For Your Pets: What happens if you need to evacuate with your pets, Do you have a carry case/food/water for them ready to go?

An Escape Plan for when you need to exit your home or building safely. Share this with your family so everyone knows what to do. 

A Safe Location To Escape To: Do you know your local community shelters? Is there a friend of family member’s home you can escape to?

An Emergency Contact List: Save numbers like the SES, Your Emergency Plumber, Your Emergency Electrician, Your Insurance Company on your phone now. 

We’re here to help should you need us or have any questions. Please call the team on 0420 120 394. 

ALSO READ:

• Storm Plumbing Emergencies 
• Is Emergency Plumbing Covered By Home And Contents Insurance 
• How To Prepare For A Wet Summer
• What Is A Plumbing Emergency?