Leak detection

Leaks and burst pipes
across the Inner West

Found with equipment rather than by opening anything, which matters most in a wall that belongs to two houses and that neither of them should be cutting into on a hunch.

Located before opening24/7 for burstsNSW Lic. 368473C

Call 1300 381 569

Get a leak callback

A shared wall is one wall, and it has two owners

In a terrace or a semi the wall between you and next door is not two walls touching. It is one wall, and both houses are built into it. Pipework can run within it from either side, which is ordinary and has been fine for a hundred years.

It stops being uncomplicated the moment damp appears. Water shows on the face of the wall that gives way first, which is a fact about plaster and paint rather than about plumbing. Damp on your side tells you where the water came through. It does not tell you which side it came from, and people reliably read it as though it does.

That matters because the usual next move is the wrong one. Opening a party wall to have a look is an intervention in a structure two houses depend on, it is disruptive and expensive, and if the water turns out to be coming from the other side you have opened your wall for somebody else's fault.

So it gets tested instead. Each property's supply can be isolated independently and the meters watched, which frequently answers it inside twenty minutes with nothing cut into. Acoustic listening and thermal imaging narrow the rest. Only then does anybody open anything, and by then everyone knows why.

Call 1300 381 569 Book a look

Nothing opened on a hunchLeast of all a wall two houses are built into
Both sides isolatedWhich frequently settles it in twenty minutes
Findings in writingUseful when the conversation is with a neighbour
Licensed plumberNSW Licence 368473C, fully insured

Regional leak guide

Leaks in inner west housing

One wall, two houses

A party wall is a single structure both properties are built into.

Pipework can run in it from either side.

Damp shows where the surface gives way

Which is a fact about plaster rather than about where the water started.

It tells you which face failed, not which side is leaking.

Isolate before opening

Each property's supply can be shut off separately and the meters watched.

Twenty minutes, and nothing has been cut into.

Opening it is the expensive guess

It is disruptive, it is structural, and it may be for somebody else's fault.

There is no version of that worth doing first.

Get the finding in writing

Especially where the conversation is going to be with a neighbour.

Evidence travels better between houses than recollection does.

What we find and repair

Leaks within party walls, tested from both sides
Burst and split pipes, made safe at any hour
Concealed leaks in walls and ceilings
Underground and under-slab leaks
Dripping taps, valves and fittings

Call 1300 381 569

Where we work across the inner west

Suburb boundaries © Australian Bureau of Statistics, ASGS 2021, used under CC BY 4.0.

What leak work costs across the inner west

Fixed price agreed before anything starts. These are indicative 2026 ranges.

Emergency isolation and make-safe $200 – $450

Water stopped and the situation stabilised, at any hour.

Party wall investigation $350 – $700

Both supplies isolated and tested, with the findings written up.

Locate a concealed leak $250 – $600

Acoustic, pressure and thermal, with nothing opened to find it.

Burst pipe repair $300 – $900

Depending on the pipe, the material and how it has to be reached.

Written findings included

Which side, where, and what we did. Not an extra.

How a leak call-out runs.

Step 01

Booking a leak call-out across the inner west

We ask where the damp is

And specifically whether it is on a wall you share. That changes the method before anybody has driven anywhere.

Step 02

Isolating supply to test a party wall leak in the inner west

Isolated and watched

Each supply shut off independently, meters observed. It is the cheapest test available and it frequently ends the question.

Step 03

Tracing a concealed leak in the inner west

Narrowed with equipment

Acoustic listening and thermal imaging until it is a point rather than an area, and still nothing has been opened.

Step 04

Repaired and written up

What failed, which side it was on, and what it took, at the figure agreed before we started.

Leak and burst pipe questions.

What the Inner West locals ask us before booking a plumber.

Ask us yours Licensed plumbing van covering the Inner West and the surrounding suburbs

There is damp on the wall I share with next door. Whose problem is it?

Possibly both, and that is the honest answer rather than a dodge. A party wall in a terrace or a semi is one wall serving two houses. Pipework can run in it from either side, so damp appearing on your face of it does not establish which side the water is coming from. It establishes which side it came through.

How do you work out which side it is?

By testing rather than by opening it. Each property's supply can be isolated separately and the meters watched, which frequently settles it in twenty minutes without anybody cutting into anything. Thermal imaging and acoustic listening do the rest.

What if my neighbour will not cooperate?

Then we work with what we can access, which is usually enough to say whether the water is leaving your system. If your side isolates clean and the damp continues, that is a useful and defensible finding, and it is the sort of thing worth having in writing.

Should I just open the wall and look?

We would rather you did not, and not only because it makes a mess. Opening a party wall to look is an intervention in a structure two houses rely on, and if the water turns out to be coming from the other side you have opened your wall for somebody else's fault.

A pipe has burst. What do I do first?

Turn the water off at the meter before anything else, then ring. How much a burst costs is almost entirely decided by how long the supply stayed on.

The bill has jumped but nothing looks wet. Possible?

Common. Close every tap and appliance and watch the smallest dial on the meter. If it creeps, water is genuinely leaving on your side, and it can do that underground for months without surfacing anywhere.

What does leak work cost across the inner west?

Locating a concealed leak is $250 to $600. A party wall investigation with both sides isolated is $350 to $700. A burst repair is $300 to $900. Emergency isolation and make-safe is $200 to $450.

Licensed the Inner West plumber arriving with his tools

Get the leak found across the inner west

Tell us where it is showing and whether that wall is shared with next door. Those two answers decide the method and, frequently, whose problem it turns out to be.

Isolated, located, and opened once, in the right place, on the right side.

1300 381 56924/7 emergency line

[email protected]Non-urgent enquiries

Servicing the Inner West & districtNSW Licence 368473C

Leaks and burst pipes
across the Inner West

Get a leak callback

A shared wall is one wall, and it has two owners

Burst right now? Meter first.

Leaks in inner west housing

One wall, two houses

Damp shows where the surface gives way

Isolate before opening

Opening it is the expensive guess

Get the finding in writing

What leak work costs across the inner west

Emergency isolation and make-safe $200 – $450

Party wall investigation $350 – $700

Locate a concealed leak $250 – $600

Burst pipe repair $300 – $900

Written findings included

How a leak call-out runs.

We ask where the damp is

Isolated and watched

Narrowed with equipment

Repaired and written up

Water going somewhere right now?

Leak and burst pipe questions.

Get the leak found across the inner west

Get a leak callback

Leaks and burst pipes across the Inner West

Get a leak callback

A shared wall is one wall, and it has two owners

Burst right now? Meter first.

Leaks in inner west housing

One wall, two houses

Damp shows where the surface gives way

Isolate before opening

Opening it is the expensive guess

Get the finding in writing

What leak work costs across the inner west

Emergency isolation and make-safe $200 – $450

Party wall investigation $350 – $700

Locate a concealed leak $250 – $600

Burst pipe repair $300 – $900

Written findings included

How a leak call-out runs.

We ask where the damp is

Isolated and watched

Narrowed with equipment

Repaired and written up

Water going somewhere right now?

Leak and burst pipe questions.

Get the leak found across the inner west

Get a leak callback

Leaks and burst pipes
across the Inner West