Top Signs That You Need to Call a Plumber

Richard Moyle

Owner & founder of Moyle Plumbing & Gasfitting. Plumbing since 1983, Richard is an experienced plumber with a wealth of knowledge in residential & commercial plumbing & maintenance.
Now Richard Specalises in Maintenance Plumbing & Gas on the Southside of Brisbane, Northern Gold Coast & Logan City.
Richard is from a family of qualified trades, with his father an electrician, and both son’s second generation plumbers.

How do you know if you need a plumber?

Professional & Licenced plumbers do more than fix problems with a sink or toilet. They help protect your home from potential plumbing problems and water damage. They can help save you money and headaches

When to call a Licensed Plumber.

You must a call your plumber when you’re changing any drain position, connecting to or adding a new water pipe, installing a new toilet or an appliance such as a dishwasher, water filter or hot water heater. This includes installing & repairing taps. I have included a list of jobs that you can do (DYI Plumber) at the bottom of this list.

Essentially plumbing work should be left for the professionals, both legally & financially. There are many licenses, registrations & qualifications that a plumber requires for most of the work performed.

There are different kinds of plumbers.

No different to electricians, teachers or policemen, there are different kinds of plumbers with varying specialities. Make sure you know which kind of plumber you need before you start ringing around so you get the right tradie for the job.

A) Residential plumbers

Residential plumbers are often trained in the building of the plumbing network in a new home or home renovation.

These plumbers usually work a fixed-day on a job site, which means they usually don’t do call outs to fix minor problems outside of working hours.

B) Commercial plumbers

Commercial plumbers are trained to work on large-scale projects and job sites such as schools, hospitals and public buildings. The tools and methods these plumbers use is often much larger than residential work and require a different work method.

C) Maintenance plumbers

If you need a new toilet installed – these are the people you call. Service and repair Maintenance plumbers, known as maintenance plumbers, have experience and training to problem-solve and fix a multitude of issues that can arise in a home.

Due to the nature of their work, a good plumber should also be a good communicator and able to empathise with you and your situation and why you need a job done.

When do I need a maintenance plumber ?

BLOCKED DRAINS

The common cause of a blocked drain is the bathroom is an accumulation of hair combined with soap scum, while in the kitchen, it’s an accumulation of cooking grease & small pieces of leftover food.

When left unnoticed, all this gunk congeals together in the pipes, causing them to reduce, even stop the flow of the waste water and you now have a blocked drain. These drains are very messy to clear, especially in the kitchen drain & it gets very smelly & unpleasant. Your blocked drain plumber will not only have the expertise, but the tools to clear this drain.
Top Tip:
You can DYI maintenance on these drains to reduce the chance of them becoming blocked. Try making a mix of baking soda and vinegar are powerful combinations to create a fizzing action that can release stubborn drain clogs. Put this in the drain, boil hot water & pour it down the sink. Repeat this a few times. It should help to clear any build up & even may work on a blockage. If not, you will need to call your emergency plumber.

Do this every month on a regular basis & it may help to keep the plumber away.

2. BLOCKED TOILET

If your toilet is making a gurgling sound, or the water rises to the top when flushed, you need to call your emergency plumber urgently. This gurgling sound is your plumbing system trying to find air & means that you may have an emergency problem is immanent.

It is important to make sure that your emergency plumber is also a blocked drain plumber, he or she will need specialised tools & experience to get the job done quickly.

In case the problem is not isolated to your toilet, we recommend you do not run a dishwasher or washing machine ATM, as this may put extra strain on your drains & plumbing system which can make more of a mess.

3. LEAKING TAPS

Continuous dripping is annoying, but it will also increase your water bill. A leaking tap can waste 200 litres of water a day. A leaking tap can also cause rust & mould to accumulate, causing more damage.
Tip:
Service your taps every couple of years, before they get tight to turn or even start to leak. Tap bodies have a thread which requires grease to keep them turning smoothly, along with a body washer & washers that wear down, split or break with age. Turn your taps of softly & carefully. If your taps don’t turn off when using a soft hand, then they require a service.

Call your emergency plumber to fix these taps. It is best to have your emergency plumber also service the other taps in the home that are used the most while there.

If your spout or faucet requires replacing, then we recommend you be careful when removing the old one. Your plumber uses a special tool to remove this & if it is rusted into the combination or pipes behind the wall, you will have a bigger problem then just a new spout.

4. HEAR WATER DRIPPING OR RUNNING

If you hear water dripping or running in your toilet or water pipes when you are not using the toilet, you might have a leak. Check for any moist, wet or brown areas on the floor, ceiling, and walls. If this area is warm to touch, then you may have a hot water leak. If it is warm, then go out to your hot water heater, turn off the water supply to the hot water tank & call your hot water plumber.

5. BURST PIPES

Incorrect installation, ground movement, unprotected pipes, age, misuse, or damage, are some of the reasons for burst pipes. This plumbing issue can paralyse or cause damage to the entire water system when left unattended.
Tip:
Shut off your main isolation tap at the council meter and call your emergency plumber. This type of plumbing repair should only be done by an emergency plumber to minimize further damage.

6. LOW WATER PRESSURE THROUGH OUT THE HOME

There are several factors can cause low water pressure to the home, such as old water pipes may have obstructions such as rust. If there has been a water pipe repair in your area, you may have debris caught in your water lines, mixer taps, toilet or hot water tempering valves. You may have a failed or failed pressure limiting valve on your water line which is causing the low water pressure. Your problem may not be just on your property, but the surrounding homes as well. You may have a poor water supply-line design. Your emergency plumber knows how to test, repair & give good advice on all of these problems

7. NO HOT WATER

It’s obvious what happened, but unless the hot water tank is leaking, it may take a while to find out why. If your hot water tank is electric, it could have a failed heating element, or a tripped circuit breaker, a faulty thermostat, or a faulty electrical switch. On your gas hot water heater, the problem can be a failed thermocouple, ignition or burners.

8. GAS SMELL

If you smell a gas in any part of your house doing anything, don’t take it lightly. The LPG gas & natural gas is mixed with scent and it might be a gas leak which you can smell due to the unpleasant smell. You should immediately call the emergency gas plumber to shut off your gas. Meanwhile, close all the switches and appliances in the house to avoid any damage due to the gas leakage from the pipes as even a spark in a bulb can ignite a gas explosion.

9. SEWERAGE SMELL

If you suddenly smell an odor of rotten eggs, you might have a broken sewer pipe or a vent in your house. This problem is not only unpleasant but will also cause environmental and health issues. This problem can ingress into your home’s foundations & cause very expensive damage. You need to contact your emergency plumber for them to attend to this problem asap.