Plumber Brisbane

Top 5 Brisbane Emergencies

As your local plumbers, we experience numerous amounts of plumbing and gas emergencies each day. Below is a list of the top 5 most common emergencies, along with what you should do when you encounter them.

1. Blocked Toilets

When your toilet gets clogged up, it can be a real pain for home owners, not only is it messy, but it is very inconvenient. The first thing you should do immediately turn your water supply to the toilet off. Once you have done this, try attempting to unblock it with a plunger, if this is unsuccessful, you need to call your local plumber.

2. Blocked Drain

If a drain stops allowing water to freely flow down it, turn off the tap associated with the drain, try to remove the blockage with a plunger. The plunger should be large enough to completely cover the opening of the drain. If the plunger has not worked then you should call your Brisbane plumbers, DO NOT attempt to use a drain snake or any and chemical drain cleaners as these will cause more damage to your pipes.

3. Broken / Leaking Taps

This is one of the most common plumbing problems that we find ourselves attending to the residents for. A leaking tap is not to be underestimated, it will cost you hundreds and thousands of dollars if left to just leak. There is no shame in needing a plumber for a leaking tap, it is what we are here for.

4. Water Leaks / Leak Detection

Pipes do occasionally leak, burst and break, and when they do they need to be fixed as soon as possible. First you should shut off the main water supply, this will stop the water flow to the house and stop and further water from leaking out of the pipe. Next turn of the power / gas supply to your water heater so it doesn’t over heat. Call a plumber, one who specialises in non-destructive leak detection may be necessary if the leak is in a wall or under concrete.

5. Leaking Hot Water System / No Hot Water

Having no hot water to your property is a major problem, particularly when there are multiple people living in the property. When you are faced with a leaking hot water system, the first step is to turn the power to your hot water system off, ensuring it is not heating as it may overheat and/or cost you extra money. Then isolate the water to your hot water system, this ensures that there will be no extra water running costs. Once you have safely and securely taken control of the situation, you need to call a hot water system specialist who is local to the area and who can look after you and fix your problem, giving you nice, fresh hot water by nightfall.

These are our Top 5 Plumbing Emergencies and how you can handle them. If you ever have any questions about what you should do, call us today so we can help you through this process to make sure you remain safe and you don’t put yourself or others in harm’s way.

Attention Residents ...
You Must Read This Before Using a Drain Snake or Plumber's Electric Eel!

There are a lot of plumbers that still use the older Electric Eel (also known as a plumbers snake or a drain snake) method today and only few that use a High Pressure Water Jetter, but which is the better choice to clear a blocked drain an Electric Eel or a High Pressure Water Jetter this is a common question asked when a blocked drain or clogged drain becomes a problem. In this article we will compare the two based on time, cost and effectiveness.

The first Electric Eel or Drain Snake was invented in 1933 the Electric Eel works by a motor spinning a steel cable with a cutting head attached to the end. The cable is fed into the pipes chewing and mashing whatever it comes in contact with, however the further the head is away from the plumber the more uncontrollable it becomes.

The High Pressure Water Jetter is far newer technology it pumps water at roughly 5000 psi which is strong enough to cut tree roots. The Water Jetters consists of a motor which pushes water through the water hose and finally out of the head which has an outlet on the front to clear the way and multiple outlets behind it facing all directions which clean the pipes and propel the Water Jetter through the pipe.

Plants that cost local Residents THOUSANDS!

Residents love to garden and plant new plants. But most people don't consider their plumbing when planting their beautiful new garden until it's too late. Whilst all trees have root systems than can be potentially dangerous to plumbing, some are much more likely than other.

Plants can't be all to blame though, the root system of a plant is designed to track down moisture, and that's exactly what plumbing transports, moisture. There are some types of plants that you should avoid planting near your plumbing.

Here you go Brisbane! Our Top 6 Water Saving Tips!

1. Fix your leaky taps – even a slowly dripping tap can waste up to 20,000 litres a year. Not only that, but a leaking tap can cost you hours of uninterrupted sleep. We don’t want you to be left tired each morning because of a leaking tap where all you heard was drip…drip…drip.

2. Try a water saving shower head and fix aerators to your taps and limit showers to four minutes. These quick-fire, simple techniques are water saving tips that will cost you thousands each year.

3. Only use your dishwasher and washing machine with full loads to optimise water usage or change the settings to suit the load. There is no point in using the same amount of water for a load that is not full compared to one that is full. At the end of the day, it will cost you the same amount per load so it is more efficient for you maximise each load.

4. Install a water tank. In many locations, installing a water tank to collect roof run off is an easy and practical way of gathering rainwater for use in the home or garden. This water that you then collect can be used for things such as your garden and outside taps. This will then be water that isn’t costing you as you use it.

5. Don't over-water your lawn, instead, train it to use less water by encouraging the roots to grow deeper. Set your mower level higher during summer and let your lawn grow longer because keeping grass longer shades the soil surface and reduces evaporation loss.

6. If you have an outdoor pool or spa, keep it covered when not in use. You don’t want to have to waste hundreds of litres of water to top up your pool, instead, keeping it covered shades the pool from the sun, hence stopping the entire evaporation process. Not only that, you will save yourself time by having to clean it less often as it will protect your pool from leaves and other debris from falling in.