Vlog

• Do you know where your main access point or inspection opening is?
• Knowing where your inspection openings are can help save time and money
• Check out more of our VLOGS here.

The Job – Signs of a Blocked Drain

We were called out to this job because the customer reported blocked drains. The symptoms started with a gurgling toilet followed the next day by a laundry that presented with the same issue.

Fortunately, the client knew where the main drain access point was and in this particular scenario, the blockage affecting the property was between the access point and the water corporations main.

Do you know where your inspection openings are?

Every property is different and inspection points are not in standardised locations. In some older properties the inspection points may be hidden away or be fully covered over making it even more difficult to locate. While inspection openings are required and are regulated, they aren’t always raised when necessary to make them easy to find.

Why is it good to know where your access point is?

Knowing where your access point is will save time searching which means money. While we are pretty good at sniffing out access points, the longer we have to spend hunting and digging with our paws, means incurring what could be unnecessary charges. You may have come across your access points in obscure places when doing your gardening or maybe getting a patio installed so this knowledge may come in very handy.

The Video

Our obedient Plumbdog knows his stuff and isn’t afraid to get his paws wet. He gets in with some new and old fashioned technology to get the job done with a combination of the drain shaft plunger followed by our CCTV drain camera equipment to clearly identify the problem where you can clearly see the culprit tree roots. Then using our custom made high pressure water jetters, we get the job done!

Well done to our loyal customer too for knowing where the inspection shaft was saving time and money making it quick an easy to get on with the job of detecting the blockage and fixing the problem.

• Imagine horrible sewerage water spilling all over your property. It’s a nightmare come true!
• Only a licensed plumber is allowed to contact the Water Corporation to get an emergency crew out to clear the mains. 
• Water Corp will clear and disinfect the property. 
• Plumbdog are proud to be specialists in blocked drains. Maintenance plumbing finding and fixing problems is our specialty.  
• Check out more of our VLOGs & don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Blocked Drain in Kensington, Perth WA

In today’s video, our obedient Plumbdog Perth plumber is on a property in Kensington in Western Australia. The task for today is a blocked drains present in the rear left-hand corner of the property. The first issue in hand is that Richard has to figure out the exact position of the inspection shaft. which is the access point into the mains.

Finding the Inspection Shaft

After a little inspection using the shovel, Richard can determine the correct position of the inspection shaft. But the next issue at hand is that it’s a bit beyond the reach, and it’s almost a foot down deep into the sewage water. If he tries to get hold of it, then the water would go over the top of his glove; hence he has to think of a better way to handle the situation.

To get a better result, Richard instead decides to use a bucket to get all the water out by directly putting the bucket inside the hole as far as possible. He repeats the process around 20-30 times to get the water level down to get the hold of the access point and figure out if it’s a mains blockage or not, but unfortunately, it’s all in vain. No matter how hard he tries, the water keeps refilling at a swift pace, making it impossible for him to accomplish his task.

Reporting to the Water Corporation

After failing multiple times to get the water levels down, the best option is to report to the water corporation. Being quite certain that the issue is in the mains, Richard reports to the water corp to send out an emergency crew to clear the blockage and also a crew to disinfect the property.

Important Note: Only a licensed plumber is able to report to the water corp. A customer simply can’t contact the water corp directly and needs to have a licensed plumber visit the property first.

Providing Long Term Solutions

After the water corp finished clearing the mains and disinfecting the property, our experienced Plumbdog can make recommendations to keep the plumbing in good order going forward. The fact that the property houses a lot of matured trees, tree roots are a most likely cause of the blocked drains. With our specialised equipment, we can complete a full inspection and make recommendations along with a recommendation to bring up the inspection shaft to the ground level which is an ideal position.

For now, the best Richard can do is wait for both the water cooperation and disinfectants to do their job, and then Richard can re visit to see what’s the best he can do to combat the issue at hand.

• In some instances, replacing a Gas Continuous System with another Gas Continuous System might not be the way to go.
• Have you seen a hot water system that has fallen off the wall? Check out the video!
• You can also watch more of our VLOGS here

Why not replace Gas Continuous with another Gas Continuous System?

In this scenario, the existing Continuous Gas Hot Water System installed in the property was undersized. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as replacing with a newer larger system. For this particular job, replacing with a larger continuous gas hot water system means increasing the gas pipe all the way back to the meter. For this property it was quite a distance between the hot water system and the gas meter which would make replacing the whole pipe quite a costly exercise.

The Solution, a Gas Storage Hot Water System

Our skilled Plumbdogs have the skills and ability to think on their paws to find the best solutions for our customers. Rather than replacing the whole pipe which would be costly, we altered the pipes and made changes to install a Gas Storage Hot Water System.

The Video

Our skilled and experienced Plumbdog takes us through the job and does a great job explaining the whys and hows. If you have an existing hot water system that needs to be replaced, this might give you some insights so that you understand what might be required when a plumber starts to talk about why they can or can’t do something with the hot water system.

More importantly, if a plumber simply quotes and tells you that they have to replace the whole pipe for the unit that you have selected, they aren’t necessarily doing the wrong thing. They are only quoting as requested but they might not have shared insights that you may have other options available which could save a lot of time and money.

• Ticking Water Meters when water isn’t in use is a good sign that you might have a water leak.
• Having a uniquely stunning property can also mean it ca be difficult to detect water leaks. 
• On the property today, our skilled Perth plumber detects leaks with minimal damage to the property to keep things aesthetically stunning. 
• Pipes erode over time and sometimes fixing just one broken pipe might not do the trick. 
• We pride ourselves in being genuine maintenance plumbing specialists specialising in water leak detection & repairs.
• Check out more of our VLOGs & don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

In today’s video, top dog Richard is on a beautifully architectured property in Victoria Park, Perth, Western Australia. The task in hand is to find and fix a potentially massive leak at the residential property. The plumbing on this property is all over the place making it a good challenge for our Plumbdog to find and fix the enormous leak.

Signs of a Water Leak

Noticing that the water meter was still ticking even when the water was not in use, the client sought professional help and gave us a whistle!
After testing the meter, Richard notes that the dial is spinning peculiarly fast, indicating a potential water loss of up to 20 liters per minute for this property.

All The Gear and Every Idea

Our vans are stocked with all the gear and Richard uses advanced water leak detection equipment to start the inspection on the property’s long driveway. After checking over a particular area to spot the leak, he can hear a significant amount of noise from below the deck. Rather than simply removing the whole deck or main parts of the deck to check for the water leak, he inspects through the small panels on the side first. This minimises any unnecessary damage to the aesthetics of the property.

Finding & Fixing the Leak

After lifting the small panel, he can spot the downstream flow of running water. After inspecting a little closely, he figures out the leak source, which is a broken fitting. Two water lines are running parallel to one another, and one of them has been broken due to a massive tree root. The tree root has broken one of the screw fittings, and the enormous pressure of water has further destroyed it by wearing it out and eroding its other parts. Seeing the extent of damage, it’s clear that the leak has been present over a substantial amount of time.

To fix this issue wholly itself, Richard will now replace the pipe’s destroyed fitting with a new one. One of the pipe fittings types that we like is auspex which he will use today. The old hepworth pipe fitting has now been replaced with the auspex to ensure that this situation does not occur again in the near future and the pipes function smoothly.

Inspection

After the repair work is completed Richard does another check of the meter reading. Unfortunately, he finds out that the meter is still ticking a little, thankfully not anywhere close to the last time. However, it indicates leak of several liters happening somewhere, which means another burst pipe somewhere else on the property. These situations call for the process to be repeated until the next problem area is identified.

In case you detect any possibility of a potential leak on your property, then do not wait for any further. Give us a whistle at the earliest to prevent damage of this magnitude, as it will not only burn a hole in your pocket but cause a lot of accidental water loss. Also don’t forget using a licensed plumber also means that they can help you with a leak loss report which is a report for the Water Corporation which confirms that the leak repair has been carried out by a licensed plumber. This allows you to send the report to the water corp to seek a deduction for lost water.