Maintenance
Tap Maintenance: Stop Drips Before They Start
A dripping tap wastes about 20,000 litres a year and usually needs a part that costs a few dollars. Here's how to keep taps working and when to stop turning them harder.
· 3 min read
Blocked Drain Plumbers — Hills District & Hornsby
Toilet backing up, shower filling with water, or a gurgling drain that keeps coming back? We find the actual cause with a drain camera and clear it the same day.
- No call-out fee
- Fixed price before we start
- Lifetime labour warranty
Get a fixed price
No call-out fee. We’ll call you straight back.
Available 24/7
Burst pipe, no water or sewage backing up?
Don’t wait for business hours. We run emergency call-outs across the Hills, Hornsby and the Upper North Shore, 24 hours a day.
Sound familiar?
What we get called out for
If any of these describe what’s happening at your place, we can help — usually the same day.
Toilet rising then draining slowly
Usually a partial blockage further down the sewer line, not in the pan. Plunging moves it along; it will come back within weeks.
Gurgling sounds from drains
Air being forced past a blockage. It often shows up in a different fixture to the one that’s actually blocked.
Water pooling in the shower
Hair and soap build-up in the trap, or a fall problem in the waste line. We’ll tell you which before we quote.
Sewage smell in the yard or bathroom
A cracked or displaced pipe letting gas escape. This needs a camera inspection, not a plunger.
Multiple fixtures blocked at once
The blockage is in the main sewer line. Everything downstream will back up until it’s cleared.
Overflow gully spilling outside
The relief gully is doing its job — protecting the inside of your house. That’s a main-line blockage and it’s urgent.
We find the cause, not just the symptom
Most blocked drain call-outs are cleared with a jetter and the plumber leaves. Six weeks later the drain blocks again, because nobody looked at why it blocked in the first place.
We run a drain camera through the line before and after clearing it. Before, so we know what we’re dealing with and can give you a fixed price. After, so we can show you the pipe is actually clear and tell you whether there’s a root intrusion, a crack, or a belly in the line that’s going to cause the same problem again.
You get the footage. If the pipe is damaged, we’ll show you exactly where and how deep, and quote the repair separately — you’re never pressured into it on the spot.
What we clear
Blocked toilets, showers, sinks, basins and floor wastes. Blocked main sewer lines and stormwater drains. Tree root intrusions — extremely common across the Hills District and Hornsby Shire, where mature gums and camphor laurels sit right over old earthenware sewer lines.
We carry a high-pressure water jetter, electric eels for tight internal lines, and a CCTV drain camera with a sonde locator so we can mark the exact position and depth of a problem on the surface.
Tree roots and older pipes in this area
A lot of housing stock across Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, Beecroft, Pennant Hills and the Upper North Shore was built when sewer lines were laid in vitrified clay, joined every 600mm. Those joints are the single most common failure point in the region — roots find the joint, work in, and form a mat that catches everything.
Clearing roots buys you 12 to 24 months. Relining the section permanently seals the joints and stops it happening again. We’ll always tell you which of the two you actually need.
How it works
Our blocked drains process
- 1
Call us and describe what’s happening
We’ll tell you over the phone whether it sounds urgent and what it’s likely to cost.
- 2
We locate the blockage
Drain camera through the line, blockage located and marked. No guessing.
- 3
Fixed price before we start
You approve the price first. It doesn’t change once we’re working.
- 4
Cleared and verified on camera
We jet or cut the blockage out and re-run the camera so you can see the line is clear.
Customer reviews
What people say about our work
“I would like to thank Rohan & the team for coming to my home in Castle Hill. They did a fantastic job replacing my old hot water system, and they gave me a great deal on other plumbing options. The best thing was, they were neat and tidy compared to most other tradies I would highly recommend Precision Pipes”
Read all reviewsErin Poolevia Google“We recently used Ben from Precision Pipes and couldn’t be happier with the service. Ben was punctual, transparent, and kept us informed every step of the way. He went above and beyond to explain what was happening and made the whole process stress-free. If you’re looking for an honest, reliable plumber in the Hills District, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Ben and the team at Precision Pipes.”
Read all reviewsMatt Francisvia Google“I’ve been using Precision Plumbing for the past year for both reactive and preventative plumbing maintenance. Rohan and his team have consistently been reliable, punctual, and professional, delivering high-quality workmanship on every job. I highly recommend Precision Plumbing to anyone looking for a trustworthy and dependable plumbing service.”
Read all reviewsMichael Joseph Carringtonvia Google
Where we work
Blocked Drains across the Hills, Hornsby & the North Shore
Based in Castle Hill and covering the whole of the north-west and upper north shore.
The Hills District
Hornsby Shire
- Arcadia
- Asquith
- Beecroft
- Berowra
- Cheltenham
- Cherrybrook
- Galston
- Hornsby
- Hornsby Heights
- Normanhurst
- Pennant Hills
- Thornleigh
- Waitara
- Westleigh
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Upper North Shore
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Common questions
Blocked Drains questions, answered
It depends on what is actually blocking the line and how hard it is to reach. Clearing a single fixture is at the cheap end; a main sewer line needing high-pressure jetting is more, and tree roots more again because the line usually needs cutting and then a camera run to verify. Depth and access matter too. Tell us what is happening on the phone and we’ll give you a realistic range there and then — we don’t charge a call-out fee, and you get a fixed price before we start work.
Yes, in most cases. Blocked drains are treated as priority work because a blocked main line can back sewage up into the house. Call us in the morning and we’ll almost always be there the same day across the Hills District, Hornsby Shire and the Upper North Shore.
If a drain blocks again within a few months, the underlying cause was never fixed. The three usual culprits are tree roots at a pipe joint, a crack or collapse in the line, or a section of pipe that has sunk and now holds water. A drain camera identifies which one it is in about fifteen minutes.
We’d rather you didn’t. Caustic drain cleaners rarely shift a real blockage, they damage older pipework and seals, and they make the job hazardous for whoever opens the line up afterwards. If a plunger hasn’t fixed it in a couple of goes, the blockage is beyond where a chemical will reach.
Yes. Blocked stormwater is common here after heavy rain — usually leaf litter in the pit or roots in the line. It matters more than people think, because stormwater that can’t get away ends up under the slab or against the footings.
No. There is no call-out fee and no charge to quote. You’ll know the full price before we start.
Advice
Worth a read first
- Leaks & Emergencies
How to Find Your Water Meter (and Why You Should Do It Today)
In a burst-pipe emergency, the single most useful thing you can do is turn the water off at the meter. Here's how to find yours, before you need it.
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- Maintenance
How to Clean Your Kitchen Pipes (and Stop the Sink Blocking)
Kitchen drains block more than any other in the house, and it's almost always the same cause. Here's how to clean them properly and keep them clear.
· 4 min read
Need blocked drains sorted?
No call-out fee, a fixed price before we start, and a lifetime labour warranty on everything we do.