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Emergency Plumber Rathmines

Rathmines Plumbing Co answers emergency plumbing calls from Rathmines and the western shore day and night, for burst pipes, dead hot water, overflowing sewers and gas smells. A plumber prices the fix on site and you approve it before any work, with the right gear already in the van.

The Rathmines Plumbing Co home page lists the full range of plumbing and gas work, or ring straight through.

  • Available 24/7
  • No call-out fee (excluding after-hours)
  • Fixed, up-front quotes
  • 365-day warranty on all work
Call (02) 4093 0558 Request a quote

Licensed plumbers and gas fitters · NSW Lic. 359278C

Last updated September 2026

Plumber running a drain camera from beside the car

What counts as urgent, and what can wait?

Water where it should not be is the simplest test. Anything flowing that you cannot stop, anything making a home unlivable, and any smell of gas belongs in the urgent basket.

  • A burst service line or failed flexi hose flooding the house
  • No hot water in a home with elderly residents or young kids
  • A sewer surcharging into the yard or backing up through fixtures
  • A gas smell, inside or out
  • A stormwater line overwhelmed while rain is still falling
  • A slow drain that is still draining
  • A tap that drips or a toilet that keeps refilling
  • Warm but not hot water from the cylinder

Not sure where your fault sits? Describe it on the phone and the plumber will help you decide between tonight and tomorrow.

Call (02) 4093 0558
Plumbing ute parked on a residential street

What to do before we arrive

The first minutes of a burst are yours, and they decide how much water ends up on the floor. Take these steps one after another:

  1. 1

    Shut the water off

    The stopcock beside the meter or the house isolation valve stops the flow at the source. If the valve is stuck, the water authority's street-side tap may need a key.

  2. 2

    Let the pipes empty

    A laundry tub tap or a garden tap low on the house drains what is left in the lines once the supply is shut.

  3. 3

    Keep water and power apart

    Where the leak has reached sockets or appliances, turn the mains off before you step into the wet.

  4. 4

    Lift the valuables

    Get rugs, photo albums and electronics up onto a bed or bench, clear of the spreading water.

This suburb sits only metres above the lake, so escaped water does not run far or run fast. It pools. The shut-off matters more on low ground than it does up on a ridge.

How does an emergency call run?

  1. 01

    Ring or send the form

    Call (02) 4093 0558 or use the form to explain the fault. We ask enough to bring the right equipment the first time.

  2. 02

    A fixed price first

    A plumber inspects the job and names a fixed figure up front. Nothing gets started until you give the go-ahead.

  3. 03

    The fix, done on the spot

    A burst is isolated and the split length cut out and replaced. A choked sewer gets the eel or jetter, then a camera run to prove it flows.

  4. 04

    Covered for a year

    Every job carries our 365-day warranty on all work. If something we did isn't right, ring the same number.

What sets the price of an emergency job?

The price depends on what failed, where it failed and when you call. The main drivers:

  • The hour on the clock A 2am or Sunday job runs at the night rate, spelt out while you are still on the phone.
  • Reaching the break A split pipe under a low 1940s cottage floor means crawling in; an exposed pipe on a newer slab does not.
  • Galvanised, copper, PVC or polybutylene The pipe type sets which joiners and tools the repair needs.
  • Stopgap or full fix A clamp can hold a split until morning; a cracked sewer may need pipe relining or digging, priced separately.

We provide up-front, honest quotes that will always match the final price, should you decide to go ahead. A price agreed in the middle of the night stays the price once the sun is up.

Low ground, old services, veteran cylinders

The foreshore shapes the emergencies here

Rathmines sits at roughly 7 metres on the western shore, and the groundwater under the low blocks never drops far. A burst service line in that wet ground is slower to trench, and buried galvanised fittings rust out years earlier than they would inland.

A garden suburb with century-old services

Halloran's 1920 street plan was drained bit by bit over many decades, and the old clay near Rosemary Row is well beyond its intended life. Original water services under those streets split where corroded joiners give way. Along Dorrington Road, salty lake air attacks garden taps and tank casings years early.

Veteran cylinders and ageing flexi hoses

Owners here hold their homes for decades, and plenty of cylinders pass fifteen years in service. A tank that old tends to give out on a cold winter morning. Braided connectors fitted when bathrooms were adapted for older owners are ageing too, and one that lets go at the crimp floods a room fast.

Storms finish the job

In a heavy storm off the lake, water climbs back up flat drains until the lowest foreshore gullies lift their grates. Why stormwater backs up on flat ground is on the stormwater drains page.
Clearing a blocked kitchen sink with a plunger

What customers say

I commend them for their very fast and efficient service when we had a burst pipe.
Joan

Where the urgent work connects

An emergency can be the last stage of a slow fault. The follow-up work sits on these pages:

  • Whether a dead cylinder gets fixed or swapped is weighed up on the hot water page.
  • Sewage rising after rain points to roots or a broken pipe; see blocked sewer clearing and the CCTV drain inspection that shows why.
  • Gas in the air is a gas leak job. Leave switches alone, get everyone out, then phone from the footpath.
  • An unexplained jump in the water account means a hidden fault that leak detection can pinpoint without pulling walls apart.
Call (02) 4093 0558

When we are not the right call

Anything before your water meter, and the big sewer main under the road, is Hunter Water's to repair. If the leak or overflow is on their side, we point you to their fault line instead of quoting. Tripping power after a flood is for an electrician to sort.

Plumber working from the ute drawers

Questions people ask before they ring

Are you reachable at 3am in Rathmines?

Yes. We are Available 24/7, and 3am on a Sunday is no exception. Ring (02) 4093 0558 and a plumber picks up, with the after-hours rate spelt out before any work begins.

A pipe has burst in my home. What do I do while I wait?

Close the stopcock at the meter and open a low tap so the lines drain. Keep people clear of sockets and appliances in the wet, and get anything precious off the floor. Stay on the phone while the plumber is booked and ask anything you need.

Does an after-hours call cost more?

Yes, night, weekend and public holiday work has its own rate, which you hear and agree to first. Once approved, that quote is final, and the job still carries the 365-day warranty on all work. No second bill turns up in daylight.

Sewage is surfacing in my yard. Is that urgent?

Yes. Raw sewage is a health risk, worse with children or pets outside, and with the water table this high it will not soak away. Keep kids and dogs off that part of the yard and ring; the line is cleared, then filmed so you see what caused it.

Need a plumber? Call or send the form

Call (02) 4093 0558 or send the form below. Available 24/7, you see a fixed figure ahead of any work, and every job carries our 365-day warranty on all work.

Call (02) 4093 0558

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