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Emergency Plumber Shortland

Shortland Plumbing Co takes emergency plumbing calls in Shortland at any time: burst pipes, surcharging sewers, dead hot water units and gas faults that cannot wait. Describe the fault on the phone, hear a fixed price before the plumber starts, and we lock in the visit before you hang up.

Call (02) 4063 1093 Request a quote

Licensed plumbers and gas fitters · NSW Lic. 359278C

Last updated October 2026

Plumber running a drain camera from beside the car
Plumbing ute parked on a residential street

Which Faults Cannot Wait Until Morning?

Water you cannot stop

A split line in the subfloor of a fibro house, a pipe failing in the roof space, or a galvanised supply that has finally rusted through can soak floors and walls in a short time. If the water keeps coming after you close the meter tap, ring straight away.

Sewage or stormwater rising

Shortland is flat estuary land, and after a big storm the soil stays saturated. A sewer that coped all week can push up through a yard gully once that ground is full.

A house with no hot water

Ageing units in the postwar homes here can stop overnight, and a family with small children or an elderly parent should not be left without hot water through a cold weekend.

Any smell of gas

Get everyone outside, leave light switches alone, and ring from the street. The steps that follow are set out on our gas leak page.

Burst Pipe? First Moves Before We Arrive

Close the meter tap

The main tap sits beside the water meter. Turn it clockwise until it stops.

Bleed the line

Run an outdoor tap that sits lower than the burst so the remaining water drains into the yard instead of the hallway.

Stay clear of power

Water around outlets or appliances can be live. Keep out of it.

Lift what you can

Rugs, cardboard boxes and anything on the floor are worth moving while you wait for the van.
Clearing a blocked kitchen sink with a plunger

How an After-Hours Visit Runs

  1. 01

    Ring or send the form

    Call (02) 4063 1093 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

    Loaded for the fault you described

    A burst line means pipe, couplings and a pressure test; a backed-up sewer means the jetter or eel, then the camera through the cleared pipe.

  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 Moves the Price of an Urgent Visit?

We provide up-front, honest quotes that will always match the final price, should you decide to go ahead.

Four inputs set the price of an urgent job:

  • The hour Nights, weekends and public holidays are after-hours work, and that is part of the figure you agree to.
  • The failure Swapping a split section of poly above ground is quicker than cutting out corroded galvanised under a floor.
  • The crawl Low subfloors in the commission-era houses slow down any repair that sits beneath the boards.
  • Anything found later If the camera shows a cracked sewer after the clear, relining or a dig-up is priced separately, and you decide on it in daylight.
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Flat Ground, Storm Cells and Old Steel

The floodplain sheds water slowly

Shortland sits low beside the Hunter Estuary Wetlands, its soil is alluvial with reactive clay through it, and the high water table leaves little room for rain to soak away. In a summer storm cell, gullies and stormwater pits fill faster than they can drain, and water ponds across yards until the ground gives it up.

Mid-century pipe fails all at once

Many of these fibro and brick houses kept the galvanised steel supply they were built with. That steel thins from within, and when the wall goes it tends to go suddenly, sometimes while nobody is home.

Old hot water units quit without a warning sign

A temporary hot water tank can be fitted until the new system is sorted, so a cold shower does not stretch into a cold week.
Plumber working from the ute drawers

When We're Not the Right Call

If the burst is in the main under the footpath, or sewage is coming up because the shared main further along is choked, Hunter Water repairs it and you report it to their faults line. We can confirm which side of the meter the problem is on before you ring them.

Where Urgent Work Routes Next

An emergency is often the first sign of a bigger repair. These pages take it from there:

  • Blocked drains A slow line that finally surcharged, opened with the jetter and checked by camera.
  • Hot water The unit that died overnight, and whether it gets repaired or replaced.
  • Gas leaks That rotten-egg smell, found and fixed by a licensed gas fitter.
  • Water leak detection The damp patch that remains once the burst is capped and the floor has dried.
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What Customers Say

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

Questions People Raise About Urgent Calls

Do you attend emergencies in Shortland overnight and on weekends?

Yes. We are Available 24/7, Christmas and long weekends included. Night and weekend jobs are charged as after-hours work, and the plumber states the full price for the repair before a spanner turns, so nothing is agreed blind.

Is a sewer backing up into a Shortland yard an emergency?

Yes. Raw sewage pooling on soaked floodplain soil is a health hazard, and every flush adds to it. Stop running taps, the washing machine and the dishwasher, keep kids and the dog well back from the gully, and ring rather than hoping the ground will take it.

What can I safely do about a burst pipe before help arrives?

Close the main tap at the water meter by turning it clockwise, then run an outdoor tap at the lowest point of the yard to bleed off the water still sitting in the pipe. If water is near outlets or an appliance, stay out of it and leave the power to an electrician.

Whose problem is a burst pipe on the street side of my Shortland property?

Pipe under the nature strip or the roadway is owned by Hunter Water, who fix it after you report the leak. From the meter into your house the pipe is your own, and that section is what we fix and price.

Need a plumber? Call or send the form

Call (02) 4063 1093 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.

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