Before paying anyone to find a leak, spend ten minutes proving you have one. Your water meter will tell you for free.
No obligation. Takes 30 seconds.
Rapid Plumbing Ipswich connects Ipswich and the Ipswich region property owners with qualified, connects Ipswich property owners with licensed local plumbers for leak detection. Tell us your suburb and what is happening and we will pass it to a licensed plumber who covers your area. Firm price from them after they have seen it.
Turn off every tap and water-using appliance in the house. Go to the meter and note the reading, including the small dial. Wait thirty minutes without using any water, then read it again.
If it has moved, water is going somewhere. If it has not, you do not have a hidden leak and you have just saved yourself a call-out.
Acoustic gear listens for the sound of water escaping under pressure through slab or soil. Thermal imaging finds temperature differences where warm water is running where it should not be. Pressure testing isolates which section of pipework has failed.
The point of all of it is to open up one square metre instead of ten.
Finding the leak is the skilled work; fixing it once found is often straightforward. A plumber charging $250 to $450 to locate a slab leak is charging for the equipment and the experience to use it, and it is money well spent against jackhammering on a hunch.
Ipswich.
Where this job typically sits. Access is usually a bigger cost driver than size.
| Job | Indicative price | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard call-out and first hour | $150 – $300 | Business hours. Most plumbers charge a call-out that includes some labour. |
| After hours or emergency call-out | $250 – $500 | Nights, weekends and public holidays carry a premium. Ask before you agree. |
| Clear a blocked drain (machine) | $250 – $600 | Depends on access and how far down the blockage sits. |
| Drain camera inspection | $250 – $450 | Often the difference between guessing and knowing. Sometimes bundled with a clear. |
| Replace a hot water system | $1,500 – $3,500 | Electric storage at the lower end. Gas and heat pump run higher, plus any compliance work. |
| Repair a hot water system | $200 – $700 | Elements, thermostats and valves are usually worth repairing. A rusted tank is not. |
| Burst pipe repair | $300 – $900 | Accessible pipework at the lower end. Under a slab is a different job entirely. |
| Pipe relining, per metre | $400 – $900 | More than a clear-out up front, less than excavation, and it lasts. |
| Replace a tap or mixer | $150 – $400 | Plus the tapware. A dripping tap is often just a washer. |
Prices here are indicative only. What a plumbing job costs depends on what is actually wrong, how accessible the pipework is, whether it is after hours, and what has to be replaced rather than repaired. You get a firm price from the plumber after they have seen it.
Water escaping, no water at all, or sewage backing up — the calls that cannot wait.
Read more →Machine clearing and camera inspection — and knowing which one you actually need.
Read more →Repair, replace, and the decision between them.
Read more →Gas appliance installation and leaks — licensed work, no exceptions.
Read more →Tell us your suburb and what is happening and we will get it to the right person.
Call 0485 010 530