This post has been written in collaboration with Gladesville Plumbing Services
Out of hours plumbing call outs are not ideal. They’re not ideal for homeowners because they pay a higher callout fee and labour charge – not to mention the stress of being presented with a problem and making a few calls to locate an out of hours plumber who’s willing to come out and fix your plumbing issue.
The call outs are not ideal for plumbers either, because even though they are getting paid more, they end up being taken away from time with their family. Or missing out on much needed down time after working hard all week.
But where there is plumbing and an imperfect world, there will always be out of hours plumbing call outs because it’s just how life rolls.
I’ve occasionally been called out of hours to help friends in need with their plumbing emergencies. Some plumbing jobs have needed to be fixed straight away and others could be lived with until Monday morning, but the scare usually jolts them into wanting the job fixed immediately.
I remember when I was called about an overflowing toilet. The house was only 10 minutes from where I lived and when I asked where the water was coming, I was told it was coming through an open pipe in the toilet cistern. It didn’t make sense to me. So I rang my dad and he had an idea of what it could be, but it wasn’t confirmed until we saw it for ourselves. It was an older style toilet suite that had an overflow pipe protruding out of the cistern, which connected to a pipe in the floor. The pipe had been disconnected and the open pipe was left exposed and for some reason the cistern had decided to keep filling which would cause water to pour out of the overflow pipe onto the floor. The constant overflow of water kept the cistern filling up the excess water would flow through the pipe on the floor. My friends were really stressed about it and were grateful when dad and I showed up to fix the issue. From memory dad capped off the overflow pipe and replaced the inlet valve and I calmed my friend. We always made a good team.
Anything to do with water, poo and gas gets people into a panic and there is no need to panic when faced with a plumbing emergency. The worst that can happen is the floors and walls can get damaged. And your feet might get wet. Gas is a little more complex and needs to be fixed immediately.
That’s why it’s important to have on hand a few numbers of 24 hour plumbers that can readily help you with your out of hours plumbing needs. It’s always good to be prepared for the unexpected.
Gladesville Plumbing Services have a 24 hour emergency plumbing service which is a good number to have on hand if you live in Sydney – specifically 12km radius from Ryde. For all other areas, find a reputable 24 hour plumbing service via your state’s Master Plumber’s directory or asking your local plumbing hardware provider for recommendations.
The most common plumbing problems that require an out of hours call out include:
- Sewage flowing out of the Overflow Relief Gully outside or heaven forbid out of the shower or floor waste because there is no ORG.
- Blocked drains where nothing drains away (which causes point number 1)
- Water leaks from flexi hoses
- Water leaks through a ceiling
- Sewage leaking through ceiling
- Hot water unit stops producing hot water
- Water won’t shut off after turning a tap off
- Water won’t flow after turning on a tap
It’s always a shock to find a plumbing problem in your house on a weekend or public holiday, but understand that it happens and that is why there are 24 hour plumbers who are available to fix the problem.
Providing they haven’t gone deep sea fishing and can’t help you.
That’s why it’s always good to have a few names and numbers of 24 hour plumbers listed on your iPhone.
Have you ever had to make an out of hours plumbing call? Ever had a plumbing problem that took you by surprise?
This post has been written in accordance with my disclosure policy.
