03 9888 2887
This may hit close to home more than you would imagine. One of the biggest things that can cause major damage and insurance claims throughout Melbourne is a flexible hose bursting. This causes major flooding and essentially when they do pop, there is a tap left open at full blast going all over the floor. By the time you hear the hose burst – it may be too late, these hoses can allow approx. 1500L of water per hour to pass through it.
Andrew, who works for O’Shea Plumbing in Hawthorn, came across an elderly lady from Wantirna who came home from a 2-week holiday to find her home destroyed. From the carpet to all the walls and ceilings – including the upstairs walls and ceilings, and water was still running throughout her home.
Upon arrival at the site, Andrew discovered the source of the issue: a burst flexible hose beneath the upstairs bathroom basin of the client’s property. The carpet was soaked, and the plaster appeared precarious, ready to collapse at the slightest touch. Andrew identified the issue stemmed from the hot tap. From here, Andrew looked at the hot water unit (HWU) to find a beautiful Rinnai infinity 26 continuous flow HWU.
For the client, this situation signifies a potential burst at any moment, especially when they’re away, likely during the early hours of the morning. This could lead to a continuous flow of scalding hot water flooding the entire house, causing extensive damage to the floors and spreading steam throughout the property. Moreover, during discussions with the insurance company, it was revealed that the client’s water pressure exceeded the coverage limit, as the insurer only provides coverage for pressures at or below 500KPA.
To minimise this risk there are things that you as a homeowner can do.
- Control the water pressure to your home – This can be done by any of our plumbers.
- Make sure that all taps with flexible hoses also have mini stops (this will allow you to isolate one tap only in the home when this occurs).
- Turn off the water to your property/HWU before you go away for an extended period.
- Know what is in your home – O’Shea Plumbing frequently conducts walkthroughs of their client’s homes, highlighting areas to monitor, tasks to prepare for, and recommending preventive maintenance measures.
- Regular checks of flexible hoses – these should be shiny and smooth if you start seeing, brown, green, yellow, or black stains or bulges starting to grow this is a sign that the metal braid is starting to rust and could cause frayed metal causing a small sharp pin, the water hose in the metal braid is made of a thin rubber hose.
If you remember when we are reminded to change our clocks for daylight saving to change the smoke alarm batteries, you could use this reminder to also check your flexible hoses, Temperature and Pressure Relief Valves (TPR) at the Hot Water Unit (HWU) etc. and get this fixed ASAP.
Action
If you would like an experienced maintenance plumber to attend your property and check out or provide any handy tips on the plumbing, please don’t hesitate to contact the O’Shea Plumbing office on (03) 9888 2887.
There is no cost to have our plumbers attend the site and provide a plumbing consultation quote, (a call-out fee applies for Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays, although this call-out fee is waived if any works proceed).
Maintenance is often easier, more cost-effective and way less stressful than repair or replacement.