A leak does not have to be dramatic to be expensive. A pinhole in a wall can run for months, wreck plaster and framing, and quietly add to every bill. If something is wet and you cannot explain why, it is worth finding now.
Three quick steps. Every enquiry answered within 12 hours. If it's urgent, call.
Could not send just now. Call Luke 0423 213 079 or Zach 0402 273 744, or email admin@bmadvanced.com.au
A burst pipe is a pressurised water pipe that has failed, and it will keep discharging until the water is turned off at the meter, usually located at the front boundary of the property. A hidden leak is the slower version of the same problem: water escaping inside a wall, under a slab or beneath the ground, often for months before anything visible appears. The classic evidence is a water bill that has jumped without a change in usage, a damp patch that never dries, or the sound of running water when every tap in the house is closed. Both need a licensed plumber, and both get worse and more expensive the longer they run.
Most leaks announce themselves late. These are the earlier signals worth acting on.
Here is a free test. Turn off every tap and water-using appliance in the house, then go and look at the water meter. If the dial is still turning, water is going somewhere. That is worth a phone call.
With an active burst, the first job is isolation, not diagnosis. Off at the meter, or at a closer isolation valve if there is one, so the damage stops accumulating while we work out the rest.
The meter test tells us whether water is escaping and gives us a sense of the rate. A fast leak and a weep behave differently and are found differently.
We shut off parts of the system in turn and watch the meter to work out which run is losing water: the service line from the meter, the cold, the hot, or a specific branch. It is methodical rather than glamorous and it is how most leaks are actually located.
Where the moisture is, how it has travelled, which side of a wall is wet, what is above and below, and how the house is built. Water runs downhill and along framing, so the wet patch is often not above the leak.
Once we know where it is, we access it with the smallest opening that lets us do the job properly, replace or repair the failed section, and pressure test it before closing up.
If a pipe has failed because of its age or its material, the pipes next to it are the same age and the same material. We will tell you what we saw, so you can decide whether to deal with it now or wait.
Leaks are priced on how hard they are to find and how hard they are to reach. The repair itself is often the small part.
A note on hidden leaks and water bills. Sydney Water has a process for concealed leaks that some customers can apply under, and it generally requires evidence from a licensed plumber about the leak and the repair. We can supply the invoice and a written description. Whether you qualify is between you and them, so check the current rules on their website rather than taking our word for it.
A burst pipe is obvious and urgent. The leaks that cost people the most are the quiet ones, running inside a wall or under a slab for months, doing damage that nobody can see and adding to a bill that nobody questions.
Turn off every tap in the house. Turn off the washing machine and the dishwasher. Do not use a toilet. Now go out to the water meter, lift the lid, and watch the dial. If it is moving, water is leaving your system and going somewhere it should not. That test costs nothing and it is the single most useful thing you can do before calling a plumber.
Water supply pipe in Sydney has changed materials over the decades. Homes built before around the 1960s were commonly plumbed in galvanised steel, which corrodes internally over its life. The corrosion narrows the bore, which is why you get poor pressure and occasionally discoloured water, and it eventually breaches at a pinhole. Copper replaced it and lasts much longer, though it is not immune to pinhole corrosion. Modern homes are largely plastic.
That history is why leaks cluster in particular streets. The Federation and interwar housing across Wahroonga, Turramurra, Killara, Lindfield and Gordon is old enough that original galvanised supply pipe is a live issue. The same goes for the older beach cottages at Freshwater, Curl Curl, Narrabeen and Avalon, with the added factor that salt air is hard on metal. Through Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills and Winston Hills the mid-century housing stock is mostly copper, which fails less often but is now decades old, and the newer estates are plastic and generally fine unless something was done to them.
The wet patch is rarely above the leak. Water follows the path of least resistance, running down framing, along the top of a plate, across a ceiling batten, and appearing at the first low point it can escape from. That is why methodically narrowing down which pipe run is losing water beats guessing from the stain, and why opening up in the wrong place is both expensive and pointless.
If water is running and you cannot stop it at the fixture, turn it off at the meter. If it is near electrical wiring or downlights, switch off that circuit at the switchboard if you can do it safely. Get belongings out of the way, put down towels, and take photographs before you clean anything up.
Then call Luke on 0423 213 079 or Zach on 0402 273 744, any hour. For a slow leak that is not causing damage today, the form is fine and you will hear back within 12 hours.
Tell us what is wet, how long it has been wet, and whether your water bill has changed. Call for anything active, or send the form for an answer within 12 hours.
Three quick steps. Every enquiry answered within 12 hours. If it's urgent, use the numbers.
Could not send just now. Call Luke 0423 213 079 or Zach 0402 273 744, or email admin@bmadvanced.com.au
