Plumber Information: How To Fix a Water Leak
Information & tips from a Sydney Plumber to fix plumbing issues in houses, apartments or units.
Why does my sink drain have a water leak?
Why does my kitchen sink have a water leak?
Similar to drains, kitchen sinks can start to have water leaks due to the age of the sink and the water proof seals around the edge where it meets the bench. There could also be movement in the kitchen cabinets that has caused the piping to be dislodged or small gaps created in the seals.
Why does my tap leak?
A water leak from a tap is the most common household problem any property owner will face. There are millions of tap hardware choices but they all have a common structure which is a series of seals, washers and rubbers. Over time these can either become loose, corode or perish due to age and the amount of use it gets. What the actual cause is will depend on the make, model and age of the tap fixture.
What should I do when I have a leaky pipe?
Leaking pipes can mean there are lots of different things causing water to leak from what should be a sealed ‘system’ to either deliver water or get waste away from your property. It’s true that some people might get some high strength tape to solve the issue or try putting putty or filler on the leak. Although these are not only dangerous but may not really solve the problem, it could just move it to another location as water makes its way elsewhere depending on the gradient or location of the pipe. What might look like a problem solved could simply be ‘a problem created elsewhere’ and you don’t realise it until weeks or months later.
For pipes that have water leaks, you need to get a licensed plumber to do an inspection to determine the correct cause and remedy of the problem.
What causes your toilet to leak from the bottom?
A leaking toilet could be from the base, around the seating area, the waste pipes, the inlet tap or the cistern. There are so many different connections that get water into and wastage out of your toilet. If there are leaks around the base it means the seal and footing may have been damaged. This can cause leaks and potential odours to enter the property.
Leaks from other parts of the toilet could be due to corroded connections, seals or washers, so best to have a licensed plumber inspect your toilet to work out the problem and suitable remedies.
What are the common signs of slab leaks?
Water leaks from property foundations or slabs can sometimes be seen as water appearing on a pathway or driveway like a slow stream. At other times it could be soft, mushy, grass areas. In worse case scenarios you can’t see it and it begins causing small cracks in walls as the ground underneath becomes soft and can’t hold the weight of the building.
In either scenario you must call a licensed plumber to work out the cause of the issue.
How to find hidden water leaks in plumbing?
Water leaks that you can’t see are obviously one of the hardest to remedy. We have professional leak detection equipment that can scan floors, walls and ceilings to identify the source of a leak. What makes this process difficult is that the actual leak may not be at the location where the water is seen. Sometimes a leak could be further up the piping in a different spot, but water is moving to a lower part of the property and gathering.
Using our expertise and plumbing equipment we can detect these issues to work out the best way to approach leak repairs.
How to find a leak in my shower plumbing?
For shower plumbing we can normally do a special dye test where we put a colour in the water to work out where or how it is flowing. Water leaks that you can’t see are obviously one of the hardest to remedy. We have professional leak detection equipment that can scan floors, walls and ceilings to identify the source of a leak. What makes this process difficult is that the actual leak may not be at the location where the water is seen. Sometimes a leak could be further up the piping in a different spot, but water is moving to a lower part of the property and gathering.
Using our expertise and plumbing equipment we can detect these issues to work out the best way to approach leak repairs.
How much does it cost to fix a leaking tap?
The cost of fix a leaking tap is between $100 and $500 depending on the type of tap, how hard access is and what the actual cause of the leak is. It is impossible to really know until we can inspect the tap be wary of these things happening;
- Some plumbers might replace your tap with a cheap unit, so the problem is solved short term but the cheaper hardware fails later on.
- Be careful of fixed quote tap repairs. Without knowing the brand of tap, seeing what the problem is how could it be possible to know exactly the time it will take to fix? What some plumbers might do is offer a fixed price but then make up some other issues to recoup the money they lost if the job took longer than expected.
How do plumbers fix leaky pipes?
Fixing a leaky pipe isn’t a straight black and white answer. Sometimes it could be a simple as replacing part of the pipe if it is exposed and we can get to it. Other times the pipe may be underground or in a roof so we have to get to it first that could mean excavating the ground etc.
Once we have determined the cause of the leak, found where the pipe is then we will typically organise new materials, fittings, plumbing tapes, sealants etc to then get started and fix the leaky pipe.
How do plumbers find leaks underground?
Can a gas meter show if there's some kind of leaking?
Years of experience
Nu-Trend since 2009
Nu-Trend was formed just over 10 years ago by father and son team, Rick and Michael Karagiannis.
Michael has been in the industry for more than 20 years, passing his knowledge and expertise to Rick as the family tradition lives on.
Rick has always enjoyed the finer elements design details. Not content with solving plumbing problems he soon broadened his skills to also do bathroom renovations in Sydney. A perfect match with hundreds of reviews later & beautiful bathrooms being enjoyed by hundreds of people.
Rick
The passionate business owner who loves his job, always goes the extra mile & who many say “is too good for the industry”
Rick dislikes the typical industry behaviour and firmly believes in ‘no gimmicks’ and upfront, honest work.
- Position: Director
- Years in the industry: 15
- Expertise / specialty: A hands-on Director and business owner who provides leadership for the team.
- Qualifications: Licensed Plumber, Bathroom Renovator.
- What he loves about his work? I love helping people when someone wants something and we achieve what they are after it’s rewarding for me.
- Funniest on the job story: Doing a job on a live sewer stack and someone flushing the toilet while we were underneath. It was quite brown, but you had to laugh.
- Favourite brand of bathroom product: Caroma Products
Robert
Robert is the co-owner of Nu-Trend who loves walking into different scenarios every day & trying to solve problems quickly.
He is the organiser in the team, keeping the boys on track each day. Some dub him the ‘pretty face’ of Nu-Trend.
- Position: Director
- Years in industry: 14
- Expertise / specialty: Quoting, team organisation and logistics to keep everything running smoothly.
- Qualifications: Licensed Plumber and Bathroom Renovator.
- What he loves about his work? Doing something different every day and working with really good people to solve a range of everyday problems.
- Funniest on the job story: Pranking the boys with fake emails or calls and waiting to see their reactions. Funny at times but a good way to practice real situations.
- Favourite brand of bathroom product: Boffi Products
Chris
Chris joined Rick and Robert a few years ago as the number of jobs and bathroom renovations began to increase.
Ever reliable Chris gets stuck in when the hard work is required and provides the Nu-Trend team with a lot of the hard yakka.
- Position: Plumber
- Years in industry: 6
- Expertise / specialty: Maintenance and domestic plumbing for houses or unit apartment blocks.
- Qualifications: Licensed Plumber with aspirations to learn about renovations.
- What he loves about his work? Seeing Nu-Trend customers satisfied after a completed job where they notice the little details or finishing touches.
- Funniest on the job story: Too many to list and he has been thinking about writing a book about funny plumber stories for everyone to read about.
- Favourite brand of bathroom product: Boffi Products
Local | Licensed | Insured
Nu-Trend is a plumber and bathroom renovations team in Sydney, available 7 days a week. With 15 years experience, the Directors Rob and Rick are hands-on and provide a personalised service that is fully licensed, insured and qualified. You can check online with the NSW Department of Fair Trading here
Work with a local Sydney renovator.
FULLY LICENCED 217859C
A qualified and licensed builder.
INSURED $20,000,000
Public liability insurance for peace of mind.
Drainer | Gasfitter | Plumber | LP Gasfitter
Kitchen, Bathroom and Laundry Renovator
STANDARDS AUSTRALIA AS/NZS3500:2018 Compliant
All the work carried out by Nu-Trend is AS/NZ3500:2018 compliant. It is the Australian Standard for Plumbing and Drainage in NSW as set down by Standards Australia and the Australian Building Codes Board. They give the plumbing industry technical direction to enable compliance with required regulatory frameworks.
Rick and Rob are the hands-on Directors for Nu-Trend Plumbing. Rather than hire sub-contractors and manage their business from a distant office, they are on the tools, at your site & working towards delivering your bathroom renovation or plumbing service. It means you are talking directly to the owners of the business, the guys who are accountable and responsible rather than via email or through customer service teams.
It is why they are able to provide a written guarantee that demonstrates their confidence in standing by the quality of their workmanship and the service they deliver to every single client.
They have a very single minded commitment to deliver a high level of professionalism and quality, they’ve been doing it for 15 years.
No sales tricks, guaranteed.
'No Gimmicks' that's our policy
With so many years in the trade, the Nu-Trend team has seen their fair share of sales tricks, special offers, promotions and other gimmicks to secure business. Rather than copy what everyone else is doing they decided a long time ago to avoid all the typical gimmicks and stick to clear, upfront information and pricing, including the provision of free Quotes.
Here are the most common sales gimmicks you will see and how they work, keep in mind there is a reason most service industries don’t disclose fixed prices.
Learn more
More Information
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