I was called out after hours look at a burst pipe that was flooding a bathroom and dining room. The water leak was coming through the ceiling and soaking through a brick wall into the next room. The homeowners were looking for an local emergency plumber to fix the problem.
I investigated the water leak and quickly discovered that it was coming from the hot water pipe. This was lucky because I could turn off the hot water valve and the property would still have cold water. Even luckier was the fact that this house had two separate instantaneous hot water units that fed different sides of the house. This meant that I could shut off the damaged section of pipe and the homeowners would still be able to have hot showers.
We always do our best to save money for our clients. In this case we were able to quickly stop the leaking after hours but we didn't have to do the whole job at after hours rates. We came back the next day locate and fix the issue permanently.
You can check out how it went here.
Leak Detection.
Since the water leak was on the hot water pipe we knew we would be able to find it using a thermal imaging camera.
A thermal imaging camera can show where hot water pipes are in the walls. when the pipe is leaking water it shows a larger mark where the water is seeping into the walls.
Once we found the leak we could proceed with the repair.
If you're searching for a local plumber near me to fix a burst pipe make sure they have the knowledge and experience for the job. Not every local plumber is able to locate water leaks.
Fixing the water leak.
Once we were able to locate the issue it was a quick fix from there. We just cut into the wall to expose the damaged section of pipe and welded it back together.
Once the pipe was repaired it was just a matter of testing the line and ensuring that there were no further problems.
But unfortunately there were more problems. I tested the water lines over about 15 minutes and found that there was still a very slight leak. The leak was only about 3 liters every hour. A small leak like this is much more difficult to find as It doesnt show up as well on the thermal camera or the acoustic leak detector.
I installed some shut off valves in the water lines in order to limit the areas that the leak could potentially be in and found that it was coming from the same bathroom. Unfortunately the hot water in the walls from the earlier leak had absorbed into the walls so I wasn't able to get a clear image of where the current water leak was coming from.
I came back the next day once all the heat was out of the walls and was able to locate the second leak. It was a little further on the same pipe. I was able to follow the same process to fix that leak as the first one.
From there I tested the water again and ensured that there were no other leaks on the property.
Emergency plumber near me.
Not all 24 hour plumbers are created equal. Unfortunately I have heard many horror stories of emergency plumbers doing half a job and charging a huge amount of money for it.
At Oakland Plumbing we understand that our reputation is the most important thing to us. We will always strive to provide the best service and make sure that you are taken care off.
We have the tools and experience to look after any plumbing emergency, from blocked drains to burst pipes we can do it all.
If you need an emergency plumber on the North Shore from Hornsby to Mosman and everywhere in between give us a call on 0466871445!