What happens when you ring
You tell us what you have noticed. A licensed plumber comes out, and there is no charge for that visit.
He finds the leak first. That is the whole job on a hidden leak — anyone can swing a shovel, but knowing where to dig is the difference between one hole in your lawn and five. Once he knows where it is and what has failed, you get a written price before anything starts. If you decide not to go ahead, you owe nothing and that is the end of it.
Why Harrisdale leaks are not like older suburbs' leaks
Most plumbing advice about leaks is written for old houses. It does not fit here.
Harrisdale was only gazetted as a suburb in 2007, and the main Harrisdale Green estate — a joint venture between the State Government and Cedar Woods — did not start construction until July 2010. Almost every house in the suburb is under about fifteen years old. Nothing has been replaced yet. Every pipe, every joint, every valve in the wall is the original one.
That changes what we are looking for. In a suburb built in the sixties we are usually chasing corrosion — old galvanised pipe that has quietly rusted through from the inside. In Harrisdale we are almost never chasing that. Instead we are chasing:
Original joints that were never quite right
A fitting that was a fraction under-tightened, or a pipe that was nicked during the build, can hold for ten years and then let go. It was always going to. It just took a decade.
Pipework under a slab
Newer homes on newer estates put a lot of plumbing under concrete. When something fails down there it does not show up as a puddle — it shows up as a warm patch of floor, a hissing you can hear at night, or a water bill nobody can explain.
Irrigation and retic lines
A leaking retic line on a reticulated garden can pour water into sand for months without a single visible sign above ground. On a new estate with established gardens, this is one of the most common sources of a mystery bill.
Service lines across the block
The run from the meter at the front boundary to the house is often long on these lots, it is buried, and it is under constant mains pressure whether anyone is home or not.
Harrisdale is also almost entirely houses — 98.5% of occupied homes here are separate houses, with next to no units. That makes the job cleaner than it is in a strata block. One meter, one service line, one owner. Nobody has to work out whose pipe it is before anyone can start.
The bill is usually how people find out
Water Corporation says leaks are the most common reason for a high bill, and in a suburb like this one it shows up faster than most. The average Harrisdale household holds 3.2 people — well above the state average — so normal use is already high, and a leak on top of that pushes the bill somewhere obvious.
Two things are worth knowing before you ring anyone.
A leak on your property is yours to repair. Water Corporation is responsible for the main in the street. Everything from the meter into your house is the property owner's.
A leak allowance does not pay for the repair. It may refund part of the water you lost, in some circumstances. It has never covered the cost of fixing the pipe, and it will not here. Anyone who implies otherwise is selling you something.
That is the honest position, and it is why we quote the repair in writing before we touch anything. More on high water bills in Harrisdale
How we find a leak without digging up your yard
The point of leak detection is to stop guessing. We work from the meter inwards, narrowing it down until there is only one place left it can be.
The meter check comes first
With everything in the house shut off, the meter should be still. If it is not, water is going somewhere, and how fast it moves tells us roughly how big the leak is before we have looked at anything else.
Then we isolate
Shutting off sections of the property one at a time tells us which side of the house the loss is on — inside, outside, retic, or the service line from the boundary.
Then we listen
Water escaping from a pressurised pipe makes a specific noise, and it travels along the pipe and through the ground. Acoustic gear picks that up where a person standing on the lawn hears nothing at all.
Then we mark it and open one hole
Not five. That is the entire reason to do the detection properly before anyone picks up a tool.
On a gas leak the sequence is different and the urgency is different — that is its own job, and it is done under a gas licence. Gas leak repair in Harrisdale
What we do in Harrisdale
Leak detection
Finding hidden water leaks — under slabs, under paving, in walls, in retic lines, and on the service run from the meter. Located first, then repaired. Leak detection
Emergency plumbing
Burst pipes and leaks that cannot wait until you have thought about it. Water isolated, damage stopped, then the repair. Emergency plumbing
Blocked drains
Drains that back up, gurgle or run slow, and the drain faults that only show themselves as damp ground. Blocked drains
Storm water and soakwells
A failed or full soakwell puts water where it should not be, and it is regularly mistaken for a leak. Storm water and soakwells
Commercial plumbing
Leak detection and repairs for commercial premises, where a leak is a trading problem as well as a water bill. Commercial plumbing
The leaks people actually ring about
Most people do not ring and say "I need leak detection". They ring and describe a symptom. These are the four we hear most, and each one has its own page.
The bill has doubled and nothing looks wrong
I can smell gas
There is water under the hot water unit
The toilet never seems to stop
Why Harrisdale calls us
Licensed plumber and gas fitter
Plumbing licence 8396 and gas licence 13098, both held by Tim, who does the work. Water leaks and gas leaks are separate tickets, and plenty of people hold one and not the other.
$0 call-out fee
We do not charge to come out and look, and that includes the time spent finding the leak before we can price the repair.
Free quote, in writing, first
You get the price before any work starts. Transparent pricing, no hidden costs — that is the whole arrangement, and it is why nobody gets a surprise at the end.
Close by
We work out of Leeming, not from a depot on the other side of the river. On the day water is going somewhere it should not be, that is the part that matters.
The person who quotes it is the person who fixes it
Tim is the licence holder and he is who turns up. There is no chain of people between you and the work.
Where we work
Harrisdale is the middle of our patch. We cover the suburbs around it as well — Piara Waters and Southern River next door, across to Canning Vale and Huntingdale, and out through Forrestdale, Seville Grove, Thornlie and Armadale.
- Piara WatersWA
- Southern RiverWA
- ForrestdaleWA
- Canning ValeWA
- HuntingdaleWA
- Seville GroveWA
- ThornlieWA
- ArmadaleWA
If you are just outside that ring, ring anyway. It costs nothing to ask. All service areas
Hours
Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 4:00pm. We do not run after-hours or weekend callouts, so if you reach us outside those hours leave a message or send the form and we will come back to you.
Common questions
Why has my water bill suddenly doubled in Harrisdale?
A leak is the most common answer — Water Corporation says so themselves. In a new suburb the usual culprits are a retic line, a joint under the slab, or the service run from the meter to the house. None of those are visible from the surface, which is why the bill is so often the first sign. Ring us and a licensed plumber comes out at no charge to find it.
What runs up a water bill the most?
A continuously running leak beats every other cause, because it never stops. A toilet cistern that leaks quietly into the bowl, or a retic line weeping into sand, runs twenty-four hours a day whether anyone is home or not. That is why a small leak can cost more over a quarter than a big one caught in a week.
How much does leak detection cost in Harrisdale?
There is no call-out fee, and the quote is free. A licensed plumber comes out, finds the leak, and gives you a written price for the repair before anything starts. If you decide not to proceed you owe nothing.
Do I need a plumber to fix a leaking toilet?
Yes, for anything past the lid. A cistern that leaks into the bowl is wasting water constantly, and the fix is usually an internal valve or seal rather than a new toilet. It is a small job, and it is one of the cheapest leaks to put right. Leaking toilet repair
Is it normal for a hot water system to leak water?
A small, occasional drip from the relief valve is normal — that valve is doing its job. Water sitting underneath the unit, or a steady run rather than a drip, is not normal and usually means the tank itself has gone. Those two look similar and mean very different things. Leaking hot water systems
Can you find a leak under a concrete slab?
Yes. That is the job leak detection exists for. We narrow it down from the meter, isolate sections, and use acoustic gear to pinpoint the spot before anything gets opened up. The goal is one small opening in the right place instead of guesswork across the floor.
Will Water Corporation pay for my leak repair?
No. Leaks on your side of the meter are the property owner's responsibility. A leak allowance may refund part of the water lost in some circumstances, but it does not cover the repair itself.
Are you available on weekends or after hours?
No. We work Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 4:00pm. If water is pouring out right now and you cannot reach us, turn the water off at the meter at the front boundary — that stops the damage while you wait.
Do you do gas leaks as well as water leaks?
Yes, under gas licence 13098. If you can smell gas, leave the house, do not touch switches, and ring from outside. Gas leak repair
Get it found
Tell us what you have noticed — the bill, the damp patch, the sound, the smell — and we will call you back to arrange a time. A licensed plumber comes out at no charge, finds it, and leaves you with a written price.