Emergency Plumber Springvale

What to do in the first five minutes

When water is pouring out somewhere it should not be, the most useful thing you can do is stop it at the source. Every Springvale home has a water meter, usually in a small box or on a short standpipe near the front boundary, often beside the driveway or under a garden bed. Turn the tap on the meter clockwise until it stops. In blocks of units, each unit usually has its own meter in a bank near the street or by the car park, so check the number on the meter matches your unit before you turn it.

If the leak is near power points, a light fitting or an appliance, switch off the power at the switchboard. If you smell gas, turn off the gas at the meter, open the doors and windows, do not use switches, lighters or the stove, and ring from outside the house. Then call us on 03 7076 1660 and tell us what you can see.

What counts as an emergency

We treat these as urgent:

• a burst or split pipe, flexible hose or fitting that is spraying or pouring water
• sewage coming up through a floor waste, shower, toilet or the overflow relief gully outside
• a smell of gas inside or near the meter
• no water at all to the property
• water coming through a ceiling, wall or light fitting
• the only toilet in the house blocked or overflowing
• a hot water unit leaking heavily or dumping water from the relief valve
• stormwater backing up against the house in heavy rain

If you are not sure, ring and describe it. We will tell you honestly whether it needs someone tonight or can wait for a normal booking, and what to do in the meantime.

Burst and split pipes

Many Springvale houses built in the 1950s and 1960s still have some galvanised steel water pipe, often under the floor or in the walls of the original part of the house. It rusts from the inside, thins and eventually splits. Early copper can crack at joints, and the braided flexible hoses under sinks, basins and toilets fail suddenly when the outer braid corrodes or the crimp lets go. In units and townhouses, a failed hose in an upstairs bathroom can flood the unit below in minutes.

We find the break, make the area safe and repair it with new copper or approved polyethylene pipe. If the old galvanised pipe is failing in several places, we will show you and talk through replacing the run so you are not calling us again next month.

Sewage overflows

When the sewer line between your house and the main blocks, sewage backs up and comes out at the lowest point. If your overflow relief gully is working, that will be the grate outside, not your shower. In older parts of Springvale, the usual cause is roots inside the original clay sewer pipe, often from trees planted decades ago in front yards and nature strips. In the busy households common in the suburb, kitchen fat and wipes add to it.

We clear the line with an electric eel or high-pressure jetter to get the water moving, then run a camera through to see what caused it. You get the footage, an explanation and options, from regular maintenance to pipe relining or a section replacement.

Gas leaks

A gas smell needs action straight away. After you have turned off the meter and gone outside, we find the leak with a pressure test and a detector, repair it and retest the whole installation before turning the gas back on. Common culprits are perished cooktop and heater hoses, loose bayonet fittings, corroded old pipe and faulty appliances. If you cannot isolate the gas or the smell is very strong, call the gas distributor's emergency line as well.

No water or no hot water

No water at all can mean a burst service pipe, a fault at the meter or a problem in the street. We check your side of the meter, and if the problem is the water corporation's, we tell you who to call. No hot water in a house with seven people is urgent in a different way. We check pilot lights, thermocouples, elements, thermostats and valves, and carry common parts. If the unit has failed, we can usually arrange a replacement quickly.

Water through the ceiling

Water dripping from a ceiling usually comes from an upstairs bathroom, a hot water unit in the roof space, a leaking roof plumbing joint or a box gutter overflowing in heavy rain. Turn off the water and the power to that area, keep people out of the room if the ceiling is sagging, and catch what you can. We find the source, stop it and tell you what else needs drying or repairing.

After-hours and weekends

Plumbing does not keep business hours. We take calls early in the morning, at night and on weekends and public holidays for genuine emergencies. When you ring, you speak to someone who understands plumbing, not a call centre script. We give you a realistic time and keep you posted if anything changes.

Restaurants and shops

For food businesses, a blocked kitchen drain or failed hot water service can stop trading. Springvale's restaurants, bakeries and grocers rely on drains that keep moving and grease arrestors that are working. We respond to commercial emergencies, clear and jet trade waste lines, and work around service where we can so you can keep your doors open.

Price before the work

Even at 2am, you get a fixed price before we start the repair. The plumber finds the fault, explains it and tells you the cost of the job. If you would rather we just make it safe tonight and come back during business hours for the full repair, we can do that.

Things to avoid

• Do not pour caustic drain cleaner into a blocked drain that is already backing up. It makes the job dangerous for whoever clears it.
• Do not keep flushing a toilet that is rising.
• Do not try to relight a gas appliance that you suspect is leaking.
• Do not use a wet-and-dry vacuum near water that is close to power points.

Tenants and landlords

In Victoria, a burst pipe, a blocked or broken toilet, a gas leak, no hot water and a serious roof leak are urgent repairs. Tenants should contact their agent or landlord first. If they cannot be reached, the tenant can arrange an urgent repair up to a set limit and seek reimbursement, so keep the invoice. We provide clear invoices and photos for agents and owners.

Insurance and records

If the emergency has caused damage, take photos before cleaning up. We can give you photos, a written description of the cause and what we repaired, which helps with insurance claims. Some policies cover resulting damage but not the repair of the failed pipe or the cost of finding it, so check your policy.

Emergencies in unit blocks

Springvale has hundreds of small unit blocks, and emergencies there involve more than one household. A burst pipe upstairs floods downstairs. A blocked shared sewer pushes sewage out of the lowest unit's shower. A leak at the meter bank can affect water to every unit. When you call from a unit, tell us whether the problem is inside your unit or seems to affect neighbours too. We isolate what we can without cutting water to the whole block, and we give photos and a written note of the cause so owners and the owners corporation can sort out responsibility later.

Hot water emergencies

A hot water unit discharging lots of water from the relief valve, leaking from the tank or smelling of gas needs attention fast. Turn off the gas or the power to the unit and the cold water valve on the inlet if you can reach it safely. A failed tank usually means a replacement, and we can often install one the same day.

What to tell us when you ring

• your street and suburb, and the nearest cross street
• what you can see and hear, and when it started
• whether the water or gas is now turned off
• whether anyone vulnerable is in the home, such as a baby or an elderly relative
• if it is a business, your trading hours

This helps us bring the right tools and parts and get the job done in one visit.

Sewage inside the house

If sewage has come up inside through a floor waste, shower or toilet, keep children and pets away, avoid touching it with bare hands and stop using water in the house so you do not add to it. Once we clear the blockage, the affected area should be cleaned and disinfected properly, and soft furnishings that were soaked may need to be thrown out. Your insurer may cover the clean-up.

Springvale ground and pipes

Springvale sits on a mix of sandy loam and heavier clay, and much of the suburb was built in the 1950s and 1960s with earthenware sewer pipes and galvanised or early copper water pipe. Clay joints shift over time and let roots in, rusting galvanised pipe slowly narrows and leaks, and drains under subdivided blocks are often shared between homes. We use drain cameras, locators and pressure tests to see exactly what is going on before anyone digs.

How we approach the job

From your call to the finished job