4 Ways To Avoid Calling An Emergency Plumbing Service In The Inner West

What? A plumber in Sydney giving you advice on how to avoid calling a plumber?! 

We know it sounds like we’re trying to do ourselves out of work. However, in all honesty, we’d far prefer to come and help you avoid any plumbing difficulties rather than deal with them as they unfold (or explode, leak, burst and break, as the case may be).

So - what can you do to avoid calling an emergency plumbing service in the Inner West? 

There are some easy plumbing DIY steps you can take at home or in your workplace to just keep things ticking over nicely. Of course, if you detect any potential plumbing problems at all, the team at Pav Plumbing is just a phone call or email away. 

Below are some of our top recommendations.

1. Check your drains and pipes

Blocked drains in the Inner West are a common problem, especially as the seasons change. Why? Because pipes and drains tend to shift, expand or contract in line with the weather. This level of movement can upset a small niggle of a problem and turn it into more of a concern. However, it’s more often a case of the wrong stuff ending up in our pipes in the first place! There’s no judgement here - every household falls victim to it at some point!

As the Mercury dials up and outdoor entertainment becomes more frequent, increased household activity can put our drains and pipes under pressure. It’s not a stretch to see why - more food scraps are being tossed down the sink instead of into the InSinkErator, chook or green waste bin. There’s also an increased chance of things other than toilet paper getting flushed down the loo. If this were to happen now and again, the house might cope. However, when it’s a regular occurrence, eventually, something will give (or, rather, block!). 

The easiest way to detect this is to simply be ultra-observant. 

• Look at how fast water is flushing down the drain. 
• Listen out for any odd noises as pipes make their protest heard. 
• Be conscious of odours, and don’t dismiss anything as just a passing bad smell. 

These are all telltale signs that mean if you don’t act now, you’ll be forced to act down the track and probably have to deal with a much bigger, stinkier, noisier, more unsightly problem.

2. Quality control your InSinkErator

We touched on InSinkErator just briefly above. If you already have an InSinkErator in your home, you know what a blessing it can be and how much pressure it can take off your drains and pipes. However, if it’s neglected in any way at all, this can become one angry and stubborn beast! As such, InSinkErator repair is one of the most common services we provide, from Newtown to Annandale, and from Enmore to Marrickville. Keeping this machine in tip-top condition is pretty low maintenance. 

Of course, the golden rule is to NEVER conduct any cleaning or inspection when the machine is connected. Always ensure it is turned off at the wall, and there is zero chance of it springing to life. Run copious cold water through the machine as it is working, but also before and after. Avoid putting any hard or too-fibrous foods down the hatch. Be sure to clean out the filter regularly.

3. Call us for a root risk analysis

This is another big one. As much as we would like to say there is plenty you can do to avoid this, trees in the Inner West beg to differ. They appear to have the upper hand (or lower root system). Indeed, you can keep branches trimmed, so the roots are not under pressure to continue growing. However, that’s probably the extent of it. The rest relies entirely on a root risk analysis. 

This is a quick (approximately half an hour) physical assessment we undertake on your property using purpose-built camera equipment and technology. We provide a full report detailing the level of any damage and the subsequent action we recommend. It sounds like a bit of mucking around for something that you can’t even see, right? All the more reason to get it done - this invisible destruction is probably the most insidious kind of plumbing nightmare because it happens quietly, progressively, and causes maximum damage. Unless you conduct a pre-emptive analysis, the problem is that you won’t know until it’s a full-blown issue (which likely will result in entire pipe relining). Trust us when we say this is 30 minutes of your life that might save you days and days (and dollars and dollars!). 

4. Service your hot water system 

Emergency hot water repairs are no fun for any household, especially if it means a cold shower in the depths of winter. Let’s be honest, we Sydneysiders don’t tend to love freezing temperatures. So, you won’t be surprised to hear emergency hot water repairs in the Inner West are common as the cold weather descends. So, even though it seems counterintuitive, we strongly recommend a hot water service inspection in spring. This means you can have peace of mind going into winter that everything is performing beautifully, and you won’t compete with every other household requesting our services that time of year.

Hear directly from our happy customers 

If you’ve decided you would like to call us in for a job, or your DIY skills have reached their limit, we’re more than happy to help! If you’ve never called us out on a job before, then perhaps you’d like to read some of our customer testimonials just to assure yourself that you have the best local plumbers on the job!

Contact us

To ask us any questions about the advice herewith or to book us on a job, just contact a team member. We’re more than happy to provide you with a no-cost, no-obligation quote. We look forward to hearing from you!