Cromer's 24/7 Emergency Plumber

This suburb used to be called Dee Why West. The name changed in 1940, borrowed from the golf links that still sit on the eastern edge, right by the lagoon.

Most of what's here now went up through the post-war decades and into the 1960s and 70s. The ground itself is a ridge of sandstone, tipping gradually toward Narrabeen Lagoon at the suburb's edge, and brick-veneer, fibro cottages fill most of the blocks on the way down.

That timing matters more than it sounds. A lot of original hot water systems are reaching end of life at roughly the same time, because they all went in within a decade or two of each other.

When one fails, it's rarely a surprise to us, even if it is to the household calling at 6am. We've seen the pattern often enough to know what's usually behind it before we even open the panel.

The ridge itself adds a second layer to the problem. Pipes here fight a steep natural drop toward the lagoon, and grading that was fine in the 1960s doesn't always keep pace once the rain sets in properly.

Fisher Road North and Cromer Road run through the oldest part of the suburb, where the original pipework has had the longest to wear out. Hot water failures tend to happen without much notice, and usually on the coldest morning of the week.

Three problems account for most of the calls that come in once the sun's gone down.

Stormwater surcharge tops the list. It sits in the Narrabeen Lagoon catchment, and low-lying parts of the suburb see drains surcharge fast once a storm settles over the ridge for more than an hour, filling gutters faster than they can empty.

Burst flexi hoses come a close second. Kitchens and bathrooms that haven't been renovated since the 1970s still run on the original flexible connectors, and they let go with no notice at all, usually under a sink nobody's checked in years.

Blocked mains cause the after-hours dread. Root-affected earthenware drains under the suburb's older streets can block the main line entirely, backing a house up with zero warning and nowhere for the water to go but back inside.

1. Call (02) 9134 9064. A licensed plumber picks up and asks what's going on.
2. Tell us the problem. We roll out with gear this kind of job usually needs.
3. Get a price. Agreed before any work starts, plain and simple.
4. Job done, warranty on. Every repair is covered from the moment we leave.

A dead hot water system or a backed-up drain won't fix itself overnight, and leaving it rarely makes the job smaller by morning.

Call (02) 9134 9064 for a licensed plumber and a price agreed before we start, any hour you need one.