Water is patient. A pinhole leak inside a wall, a weeping joint under a slab or a slow drip behind the shower tiles can run for months before it announces itself — as a stain on the ceiling, a warped floorboard, a musty smell, or a water bill that’s suddenly double. By then the water damage often costs more than the plumbing repair. Our job across the Eastern Suburbs is to find leaks early, precisely, and with as little demolition as possible.
Finding leaks without wrecking the house
Guesswork is expensive when it involves opening walls. We locate leaks with the right equipment instead:
- Acoustic detection — sensitive listening gear picks up the sound of pressurised water escaping, pinpointing a leak under a slab or in a wall cavity to a small area
- Thermal imaging — moisture and the temperature changes it causes show up on camera through plaster and tiles
- Pressure testing — isolating and testing sections of pipework confirms which line is losing pressure
- Meter testing — the simple starting point that confirms whether a hidden leak exists at all
The result: we open one small section of wall or floor over the actual leak, rather than exploratory holes across the bathroom.
Why the Eastern Suburbs leaks the way it does
The area’s pipework tells its age. Paddington and Woollahra terraces still carry original galvanised — and occasionally lead — services that corrode from the inside until they weep and finally burst. Interwar semis in Bondi and Randwick have copper that’s spent close to a century in service. Near the coast, salt air attacks external pipework, valves and fittings from the outside as well. And in the strata blocks of Coogee and Eastlakes, ageing shared risers mean a leak between floors is as often common property as private — we provide the reports strata managers need to sort out whose repair it is.
Burst pipes: the emergency end
When a corroded pipe finally lets go, hundreds of litres an hour go into your wall, garden or ceiling. Burst pipes are a priority dispatch for us, 24 hours a day. We isolate, repair and — where the burst is one symptom of a pipe run that’s failing generally — give you a straight assessment of whether repairing or replacing the run is the better money.
Leaking showers and bathrooms
The most common “mystery leak” in Eastern Suburbs homes isn’t a pipe at all: it’s a shower. Failed waterproofing membranes, perished silicone and cracked grout let water track under tiles and into the room below — especially in renovated units where corners were cut. We test to establish whether the culprit is pipework, tray or sealing before anyone talks about a bathroom renovation, because often it isn’t one.
A leak never gets cheaper by waiting. If something’s dripping, staining, smelling damp or quietly inflating your water bill anywhere in the Eastern Suburbs, book a detection visit — finding it this week beats repairing the ceiling next month.
Frequently Asked Questions
My water bill doubled but I can't see a leak anywhere. What now?
Try the meter test: turn off every tap and appliance, then watch the water meter for ten minutes. If it's still ticking over, water is escaping somewhere — commonly an underground service line, a slab leak or a silently running toilet. Detection equipment finds it without digging up the yard on a guess.
A pipe just burst — what do I do before you arrive?
Turn the water off at the meter (front boundary, usually in a ground box), then open an outside tap to drain the pressure. Move what you can away from the water and, if water is near power points, switch off the affected circuit. Then call us — burst pipes are a 24/7 priority.
Is a leaking shower a plumbing job or a waterproofing job?
It can be either, which is why diagnosis matters. Water in the ceiling below a bathroom might be a failed pipe joint, a leaking shower tray membrane, or perished sealant. We test to find which it is before anyone quotes you for ripping the bathroom apart — often the fix is far smaller than feared.