Some plumbing can wait until Tuesday. A burst pipe under pressure, a sewer backing up into a shower, or the smell of gas cannot, and the first few minutes are usually yours rather than ours.
The phone is answered at any hour for work of this kind — nights, weekends and public holidays included. It is a real phone rather than a call centre, so you get the tradesman who will be doing the job.
Below is what to do before we arrive. It is deliberately the first thing on this page rather than buried under a booking form.
What we handle
- Burst and leaking pipes under pressure
- Gas leaks and gas appliance faults
- Blocked sewer and sewage overflow
- No water to the property
- Hot water unit failure and leaking tanks
- Storm and overflow damage
Worth knowing
Water everywhere
Turn off the mains at the meter near the front boundary. If it is hot water specifically, there is usually a separate isolation valve at the unit itself.
Smell of gas
Gas off at the meter, doors and windows open, no switches, no ignition sources, everybody outside. Call from outside the house.
Sewage backing up
Stop using every fixture in the house — each flush adds to it. The overflow gully outside is designed to release before it comes up inside, so keep it clear.
Common questions
Where is my water meter?
Almost always near the front boundary, under a small rectangular lid, often close to the letterbox. Find it before you need it and the next burst pipe costs you a fraction of what it otherwise would.
Do you answer the phone after hours?
Yes — for emergencies, at any hour, including weekends and public holidays. Booked work such as a bathroom fit-out or a quoted repair still happens in normal trading hours; the after-hours phone is for the jobs that cannot wait until morning.
What counts as an emergency?
Water you cannot stop, sewage coming back into the house, no water at all, or any smell of gas. If you are not sure, ring anyway — we would rather talk you through isolating something at 11:00pm than look at the damage in the morning.