Plumber in Tweed Heads, NSW
Working across Tweed Heads, from the boat harbour to the older streets
Tweed Heads is where the Tweed River meets the sea, at the very top of New South Wales, and it runs straight on into Coolangatta. The work sits in two kinds of place: the compact blocks around the town centre, Wharf Street and the Jack Evans Boat Harbour, where apartment buildings stand close together, and the older low streets behind them where houses sit on their own blocks. The ground is only about a metre above sea level, so it stays wet and the drains empty to a river that rises and falls with the tide.
Access depends on the kind of building. In an apartment block, the stop tap, the hot water unit and the drain inspection point may be in a basement car park, a cupboard on a landing or a plant room, and someone has to unlock them, so tell us who holds those keys. Parking near the town centre is worth sorting out before we turn up, so tell us where a van can stand. In the older streets the blocks are flat and the drives are short, which keeps the digging simple.
More than one home in four in Tweed Heads is an apartment, and the buildings range from small unit blocks to towers of about ten levels near the boat harbour. Back from the centre, most homes are one or two storeys, many of them older. In a block, the pipes that matter run inside walls and through floors, shared by neighbours, so a leak in one unit is often a ceiling stain in another. In an older low-set house the trouble is underground, in old drains laid in low, wet ground.
What we do here most
What a river mouth town of units and low-set homes keeps needing
Where people share walls they share pipes, and where the ground sits a metre above the sea it stays wet. These four jobs come from one or the other.
Leak Detection and Repairs
A ceiling stain in the unit below
The stain is in the lower unit, but the leak is rarely there. Water travels along the slab and down inside the wall, so the break could be in the unit above, in a shared riser, or behind a bathroom wall two rooms away. We start by shutting the water off to one unit at a time and watching the meter. Opening the wall comes last, and only at the spot the meter work points to.
Blocked Drain Clearing
Ground floor shower backing up first
In a small block of units, one drain can serve several homes, and the lowest fixture is the first to overflow. That is usually the ground floor shower or laundry, even when the blockage sits in the main line under the car park. We find the shared inspection point, clear the line from there, and run a camera to see what caused it. Then we tell you which unit's pipes are involved.
Hot Water System Repairs and Installation
Replacing a hot water unit in a cupboard
In a walk-up block or a tower, the hot water unit can sit in a cupboard, a laundry alcove or on a balcony, with little room around it. Before we touch it, we check how the old one is fixed, where its relief pipe runs and how the new one will get through the door. Getting the old tank out and the new one in is often the hardest part. Then we connect, fill and check each joint.
Drain Camera Inspections
Camera on a drain in a low-set house
An older low-set house in Tweed Heads can have an old drain in ground only a metre above sea level, so it sits in wet soil. Roots and slipped joints slow it, and the first sign is often a gurgling toilet or a damp smell near the back door. We feed the camera in from the nearest access point and watch the screen. You see the same footage we do, and we mark on the ground where the problem is.
If it is urgent
If a pipe lets go in a Tweed Heads unit or low-set house
- 1Close the stop tap for your home. In an apartment it may be inside your unit or in a shared cupboard. In a house it is at the meter by the front boundary. Switch off a leaking hot water unit at the wall.
- 2Leave the shared areas alone. Do not open the ceiling, the riser cupboard or the basement valves yourself, and do not run taps in other units to find the source. Do not stand under a ceiling that is bulging with water.
- 3Tell us the street, the building name if it has one, which floor you are on, and which floor the wet is on. Tell us who holds the keys to the shared cupboards and the car park.
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 Tweed Heads, NSW
In a town of unit blocks, shared drains and ground only a metre above the tide, every one of these services comes with the question of who else the pipe serves.
Also nearby
We work in these towns too
Local, and on the phone
Tell us about your Tweed Heads home
Tell us whether you are in a unit or a house, and if it is a unit, which floor and who holds the keys to the shared areas. That decides whether we plan for a shared stack or for a drain that serves only your house. A photo of the stain or the fitting helps.
Call a plumber now24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Not urgent? Send us the job instead