Case Study – Why use a Licensed Master Plumber?

Recently, we had a booking from a residential home in Melbourne who was having trouble with their bathroom drainage system. The home was newly purchased so they had no history, but the shower, basin and bath were all draining very slowly. They had tried to plunge the shower and basin with a cup plunger but were having no luck in clearing the blocked drain.

On Arrival

Our Master Plumber inspected all other fixtures in the home and noted that the blockage was isolated to the bathroom only. She then ran water down all the fixtures in the bathroom and the water quickly backed up into the bath. Our plumber suspected there was a little more to this blockage than the usual build-up of hair and soap scum, this is because the shower drain would occasionally run freely and then become blocked again.

Detective Work

Our plumber decided to do some investigative work prior to using any mechanical unblocking tools, so she went for a crawl under the house to have a look at the suspended drainage system and specifically the drainage system servicing the bathroom.

Our plumber noted that the drainage system servicing the rest of the home (kitchen, laundry and ensuite) all looked OK but the drainage system servicing the bathroom had been modified at some stage. This drainage system was using incorrect pipework, fittings and drains, which led her to believe these works had not been carried out by a licensed master plumber.

There was no certificate of compliance for the work that were completed and, as the owners had just purchased the house, there was no knowledge of whom or when the work had been completed.

Photos were taken to assist in explaining to the customer what our plumber had found, and a quote was provided to repair all the non-compliant plumbing work. It was explained that, on completion, we would provide a certificate of compliance giving them the security of a 6-year VBA workmanship guarantee against any of the work carried out. It was also explained that Essendon Plumbing Services supplies all its customers with a lifetime guarantee against workmanship. The quote was accepted, and the works were carried out and completed on the day.

Repair Work

Firstly, our plumber cut out and removed the pipework and new pipework was installed to the regulations. All removed materials were taken out from under the house and shown to the owners before taking them from site. Our plumber then carried out another drainage test in the bathroom by running the bath, basin and shower again and found all drains were running freely. She also completed another quick inspection under the house to make sure there were no leaks.

As you can see, this issue and cost would have been avoided if the previous owners had used a licensed master plumber to complete the bathroom renovation in the first place.

Contact Us

Essendon Plumbing Services has an experienced team of Master Plumbers, we are licensed plumbing professionals ready to find and fix your plumbing problems. Whatever your issue, call us 24/7 on 1300 193 298 for a fast and reliable master plumber, we’re ready to help.