Plumber in Cabarita Beach, NSW
Working around Cabarita Beach's village strip, the headland and the 1960s streets
Cabarita Beach, also called Bogangar, is a compact village on a narrow strip of land between the ocean and Tweed Coast Road. Norries Headland closes the southern end of the beach. The Cudgen Nature Reserve and its wetlands sit behind the village, so the streets cannot spread sideways. The work sits in the blocks of the original estate near the beach, in the holiday apartments and the hotel and resort sites along the front, and around the small shopping centre that serves the village.
A lot of work in Cabarita Beach is in holiday apartments, and the first thing to settle is who holds the key. Tell us if the unit is let to guests, whether it is up stairs or in a lift building, and where a van can stand. The streets near the beach and the headland draw visitors, so parking can be tight on a busy weekend, and we would rather know before we arrive than circle the block.
The village grew from the Cabarita Country Club Estate, which a builder started in 1960 around a hotel and motel. By 1962 about 120 blocks had sold, and town water only reached Bogangar in 1963. So the oldest cottages here date from the 1960s onward, and a cottage that age has usually been altered since. Sand miners flattened the gentle contours of the dunes before the streets went in, so the ground is sand. Beside the cottages are holiday flats and apartments, and a hotel in a former beachfront lodge.
What we do here most
What a village of sand, salt and visitors keeps needing
Cabarita Beach is sand, salt and holiday guests, and each of these four jobs comes from one of the three.
Bathroom and Kitchen Plumbing
Opening up a 1960s cottage bathroom
A cottage from the original estate has usually been altered at some point, and each alteration leaves its own joints behind. When a wall comes open for a renovation, we find out what is really in it: old pipe, newer pipe and whatever joins the two. We move the pipes that are in the way and cap or replace the ones that are tired. You hear what we found before anything is closed up again.
Leak Detection and Repairs
A holiday apartment leak while nobody is staying
A holiday apartment can sit empty between guests, so a small leak can run for days before anyone sees it. The sign is often a damp patch on the ceiling of the unit below, or a water meter that keeps turning with every tap shut. We isolate the apartment, listen along the pipes and find the wet point. Then we tell you whether the wall has to be opened or the pipe can be reached from a cupboard.
Blocked Drain Clearing
Sand in the drain from the outdoor shower
Surfers rinse off at the outdoor shower, and the sand goes down the drain with them. Over a season it settles at the first bend and water starts to back up around the grate. We lift the grate, clear the sand out by hand or with a cable, and flush the line through. Then we look at the fall of the pipe, because a drain that keeps holding sand needs its slope checked.
Hot Water System Repairs and Installation
Salt on a hot water unit near the beach
A hot water system on an outside wall near the beach collects salt on its casing and its pipe fittings. The first signs are rust at a joint, or a steady weep from the relief valve pipe. We check the tank, the valves and the connections, and tell you which parts are worn and which are sound. If the tank itself has rusted through, we say so plainly before anyone talks about replacing it.
If it is urgent
If a pipe lets go in a Cabarita Beach cottage or holiday apartment
- 1Close the stop tap where water enters the building. In an apartment, look for the stop tap inside the unit and close that. Switch off any leaking hot water system at the wall.
- 2Leave wet power points and lights alone, and do not pull down ceiling linings or lift tiles yourself. If water is dripping into the unit below, do not run taps or flush until we have spoken.
- 3When you ring, tell us the street, whether it is a cottage, a unit or a holiday apartment, which floor it is on, and who holds the key if you are not the one staying there.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Which areas do you cover?
We work across Byron Bay and the Northern Rivers, from Ewingsdale and Bangalow through to Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah. There are sixteen places on the service areas page. If your town is not on the list, give us a call and ask.
How do I get in touch?
Use the call and email buttons on any page, or the contact form. There are two phone numbers and two email addresses, and you choose which one to use. For anything urgent, call rather than write.
What should I have ready when I call?
Your town, what is happening and when it started. If you can, take a photo or a short video of the problem, and note the age of the house and where the water main is. It helps us bring the right parts.
Do you do small jobs?
Yes. A dripping tap, a running toilet or a slow drain is a normal job for us. Describe what you can see when you call.
Can you clear a blocked drain without digging?
Often the first step is to clear it from the nearest access point, then run a camera through to see what caused it. If the pipe is cracked, roots have grown in or a section has dropped, clearing only buys time, and the footage shows you what is going on.
What should I do if a pipe bursts?
Close the main tap, open a tap at the lowest point to drain the line, and switch off a leaking hot water system at the wall. Move anything electrical out of the water's path, then call us.
Can you find a leak I cannot see?
Hidden leaks often show up as damp patches, a water meter that moves when everything is turned off, or a bill that suddenly jumps. We trace the pipework to find the source before anything is opened up.
Do you repair hot water systems as well as replace them?
Yes, we do both. Whether a repair or a replacement makes sense depends on what has failed, and we explain what we find so you can decide.
What should I do if I smell gas?
Leave the area straight away and do not switch anything on or off, including lights. Ring 000 from outside, then call us once you are safe.
Do you do gas fitting?
Yes. Gas fitting and gas plumbing is one of our services, from connecting appliances to running pipework. Describe the job when you call.
Do you install septic systems?
Yes, septic system installation is one of our services. The job depends on the block, so tell us about your property and what you have now when you call.
Do you do bathroom and kitchen plumbing for renovations?
Yes, the plumbing side: moving and connecting taps, basins, toilets, showers, sinks and waste. Tiling and building are for other trades.
Everything we do here
Services in Cabarita Beach, NSW
From 1960s cottage bathrooms to holiday apartments and outdoor showers full of sand, the work in Cabarita Beach follows the sand, the salt and the visitors.
Also nearby
We work in these towns too
Local, and on the phone
Tell us about your place in Cabarita Beach
Tell us whether it is a cottage, a unit or a holiday apartment, and who holds the key if it is let to guests. That decides how we plan access and when the place is empty enough to work in.
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