How to Turn Off Your Water Mains in Adelaide
Where the mains tap is on an Adelaide property, how to identify the valve you are looking at, and the 5 second test that proves the water is actually off.
Read the guidePlumbing advice for Adelaide homes
Plenty of plumbing problems have an answer that does not need a plumber, and knowing which ones do is worth more than any sales pitch. These guides cover both: what you can sort out yourself in 10 minutes, and where the line is between a safe fix and a job that legally needs a licensed plumber or gas fitter.
24 guides, written for Adelaide conditions.
Emergencies
Drains and blockages
Are Flushable Wipes Really Flushable? What Adelaide Drains Show
Toilet paper falls apart in minutes. Wipes labelled flushable do not. Here is what the testing found, why Adelaide clay sewers catch them so reliably, and how to tell a wipe blockage from a root blockage.
Read the guideDo Supermarket Drain Cleaners Damage Your Pipes?
Most pages on this subject say never use them, which readers do not believe because the bottle sometimes works. Here is the accurate version: what is in it, what it damages, the narrow case where it is a fair choice, and the symptoms that mean it will never help.
Read the guideWhy Is My Kitchen Sink Gurgling When I Flush the Toilet?
The gurgle is air being pulled through a trap seal. Which fixture makes the noise, and which fixture triggers it, tells you whether you are dealing with a free fix under the sink or a root-blocked sewer near the boundary.
Read the guidePipe Relining vs Pipe Replacement: How to Choose the Right Repair
Patch relining and excavation are 2 tools for 2 different faults. The pipe conditions that decide it, what the camera has to show before a liner is an option, and when digging is genuinely the better repair.
Read the guideThe Overflow Relief Gully: What It Is, and Why Yours Is Blocked
An overflowing ORG is not a fault, it is the safety valve doing its job. What to do in the first 5 minutes, how to check yours is installed legally, and who pays for the blockage.
Read the guideWhy Do My Drains Smell Like Rotten Eggs, and How Do You Fix It?
Rotten egg means hydrogen sulphide, and there are only 3 realistic sources in a house. Work out which one you have first, because the fix for a dry trap, a biofilm build-up and a hot water anode have nothing in common.
Read the guideStormwater Drain Maintenance in Adelaide: The Autumn Checklist
Adelaide gets most of its rain between May and September, which means a stormwater system has all summer to silt up before its first real test. Here is the autumn checklist, the faults worth paying to fix, and the ones you can safely leave alone.
Read the guideTree Roots in Pipes: The Adelaide Guide to Stopping the Damage
A drain that blocks every year around the same time is not being overused. It is taking tree roots through an open joint. Here is how roots actually get in, which Adelaide trees do it, what each fix genuinely buys you, and the treatments that waste money.
Read the guideHot water
Electric vs Gas Hot Water in Adelaide: What Each One Actually Costs to Run
The arithmetic behind the argument, done with South Australian conditions rather than national averages: what each system draws, how the running costs compare, and the daily supply charge that quietly decides the whole thing.
Read the guideHeat Pump Hot Water Rebates in SA: What You Can Actually Claim
The 3 schemes a South Australian household can stack on a heat pump, how they actually reach your invoice, the paperwork traps that void a claim, and the situations where a heat pump is still the wrong purchase.
Read the guideHot Water System Leaking? Where the Water Comes From Decides the Fix
A leak from the relief valve, a fitting, the tempering valve and the tank body all look the same on a wet floor and mean completely different things. Here is how to tell them apart in 30 minutes, and what to shut off in the meantime.
Read the guideIs It Worth Repairing a Hot Water System, or Replacing It?
The repair-or-replace call comes down to the age of the unit and what has failed, not to how anyone feels about your system. Here are the faults always worth fixing, the faults never worth fixing, and the running-cost argument that changes the answer for anyone with solar panels.
Read the guideHow to Relight a Gas Hot Water Pilot Light Safely (and When to Stop)
The correct sequence, the flame colours that mean stop immediately, the 2 causes that account for most Adelaide pilot outages, and a clear line where you put the matches down and call a licensed gas fitter.
Read the guideSacrificial Anode Replacement: How Often, and When It Is Not Worth Doing
The rod that corrodes so your tank does not. How often it actually needs changing in Adelaide, what shortens the interval, and the cases where replacing it is money thrown at the wrong problem.
Read the guideGas
How Often to Service a Gas Heater in Adelaide, and What a Real Service Includes
Every 2 years for most gas heaters, annually for open-flued units and anything past 15 years. What a proper service actually tests, why the spillage test matters most, and the point where replacing beats servicing.
Read the guideThe 5 Silent Signs of a Gas Leak in Your Home, and What to Do First
Rotten egg odour, a hiss at a fitting, dead grass in a line, yellow flames and a bill that climbed. What each sign means, the order to act in, and the 3 things that smell like gas but are not.
Read the guideRepairs and maintenance
Ceramic Disc vs Washer Taps: Which Actually Lasts Longer
Ceramic disc cartridges outlast jumper valve washers on paper. Repairability, Adelaide water quality and whether the spare part still exists are what decide which tap is actually the better one to own.
Read the guideGalvanised vs Copper Pipes: When Replacement Is Actually Due
Most pre-1960s Adelaide homes were plumbed in galvanised steel, and it corrodes shut from the inside. Here is how to identify what you have, which symptoms genuinely mean the pipe, and how to stage the replacement without wrecking the plaster.
Read the guideShocked by Your SA Water Bill? The 15 Minute Test That Finds the Leak
A quarterly bill that doubles is either a leak or it is not, and there is a free 15 minute test that settles the question before anyone is paid to look. Here is the test, the arithmetic behind it, where Adelaide leaks actually hide, and how to tell when there is no leak at all.
Read the guideThe Plumbing Rough-In: What to Lock In Before the Walls Close
Rough-in is the stage that decides whether a bathroom renovation runs smoothly or ends with tiles coming off. Here are the Australian set-out numbers, the finished floor level trap, what a concrete slab changes, and when the whole stage can be skipped.
Read the guideWhy Your Toilet Cistern Keeps Running, and How to Stop It
A running cistern is 1 of 2 faults, and a few drops of food colouring will tell you which in 20 minutes. The Australian drop valve, the inlet valve, and how much water it is wasting.
Read the guideWhat Is Water Hammer, and Why Are Your Adelaide Pipes Banging?
A bang after the washing machine stops is a pressure wave arriving, not a fitting coming loose. Here is what causes it in Adelaide homes, how to work out which cause is yours, and the fixes in order of how involved they are.
Read the guideNeed a plumber who turns up when he says he will?
Tell us what is going on and we will come back with a time and a price before any work starts. For anything actively leaking, call instead.