When Chaos Drops In to Say G'day...
- Charlie Crane
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
No one wants to be woken in the middle of the night by the sound of gushing water.
Unfortunately, burst flexi hoses don't care what time it is. They're real vibe killers, especially when you're asleep or when you come home to find water pouring down the stairs, the ceiling on the lounge room floor and your carpet floating towards the front door.
Not cool.
If you're unlucky enough to experience a plumbing emergency, knowing what to do before it happens can save thousands of dollars in damage, and prevent you from emptying your entire linen cupboard trying to dam the flood.
Step 1: Turn the water off.
This is priority numero uno.
Knowing where your isolation valves are before an emergency can save valuable time.
If the burst flexi is under your vanity, kitchen sink or laundry tub...
Hopefully it's connected to a pair of small isolation taps (often called mini taps) inside the cupboard.
Turn them both off immediately.
Remember:
Righty tighty. Lefty loosey.
Turn the taps clockwise to shut them off. There'll usually be one for the hot water and one for the cold. Turning both off should stop the leak while leaving the rest of the house with running water.
Sometimes, however, those little mini taps are as old and tired as your favourite pair of work boots. If they don't shut off properly...
Turn the water off to the whole house.
If you live in a house, you'll usually have a water meter near the front boundary.
Sometimes it's easy to find.
Sometimes it's hiding beneath six years of overgrown shrubs, buffalo grass and whatever exotic jungle your partner planted because it "looked nice."
If you already know where it is...
Congratulations. You're ahead of about 80% of homeowners.
If you can't find it, here are a few tricks.
1. Follow the garden tap.
If there's a garden tap near the front of the house, look between it and the property boundary. Plumbers generally run water in the most direct path, so the main water line often feeds the garden tap before supplying the house.
2. Call Sydney Water.
They can often tell you approximately where the water meter is located, perhaps beside the driveway, near the letterbox or a metre inside the boundary. It won't be exact, but it can point you in the right direction.
3. Call a licensed plumber or a pipe location specialist.
We'll find it.
What if it's the hot water flexi?
If the burst hose is connected to your hot water system, you can often isolate the cold-water supply directly at the hot water unit.
Living in an apartment?
Apartments can be a little more adventurous.
Many have separate isolation valves for the hot and cold water supplying your unit, and they can be surprisingly difficult to locate.
Start by checking:
Under the kitchen sink
Under the laundry tub
Inside the vanity cabinet
Look low down.
Then look again.
The number of times I've found them on the second attempt is slightly embarrassing.
Still can't find them?
Check every kitchen cupboard.
Ask your neighbours.
Ask someone on the strata committee.
Look for locked service cupboards in the hallway.
Check the underground car park.
Look inside ceiling access panels.
Apartment isolation valves might simply be a small T-handle sticking out of the wall, or a lever attached to a square valve box.
Every building is different.
Isolation valve under a kitchen sink Services cupboard
Still leaking?
Even after you've isolated the water, you may still get a little flow while the pipework drains.
Opening a few taps around the house can sometimes relieve the pressure and help the remaining water drain away faster.
Before I go...
Do yourself a favour today.
Take five minutes to find your water isolation valves before you actually need them.
Hopefully you'll never use them.
But if chaos ever decides to drop in and say hello, you'll be very glad you did.
And as always...
Please use a fully licensed and insured plumber for any plumbing work.
Your floors, your walls, your ceiling, and probably your sanity, will thank you.
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