Tips & Advice

July 2, 2015

DIY plumbing at home: Do you know the risks?

Name: Curran
Brand: Curran
Rating: 5.0 (146 reviews)

We’ve all fallen in love with DIY television, right? Us too—it makes for some entertaining stuff.

Whether it’s renovation reality shows like The Block and Reno Rumble or lifestyle shows like Grand Designs Australia, we just can’t get enough of the ‘knocking down’ and ‘building up’ of homes across Australia.

Fixing up the house on the weekends is a proud Aussie tradition, but if the job involves more than cleaning gutters or changing a tap washer, chances are you’ll need the help of a professional.

What the DIY reality shows often don’t show you is that many plumbing tasks can be dangerous if attempted by an untrained person. In fact, on most of these popular shows they’ve got a score of qualified tradies on hand to take over from contestants when the job requires it.

That doesn’t mean to say keen DIYers need to keep their hands off entirely, it’s just that most of the work we do requires Australian Standard compliance. With over 25 years’ experience in plumbing and gas fitting, we can take over when the job becomes ‘plumber-only’ territory.

Thing you could legally tackle on your own:

Changing a shower head
Replacing a tap washer or a jumper valve
Clearing out leaves from gutters

But remember, unfortunately in our experience Mondays are a plumber’s busiest time—rescuing DIYers from botched weekend plumbing work. While it is legal to change old washers and shower heads on your own, older taps, showers and plumbing can be difficult to work with, posing a real risk to the health and safety of yourself and your family.

Things you’ll need a qualified plumber for:

In NSW only licensed plumbers are allowed to do work in the areas of water supply, gas fitting, drainage, roofing, mechanical services, sanitary and fire protection. The law protects people from hurting themselves as even experienced plumbers have been known to have serious accidents.

DIY jobs can be great learning experiences and one of the best ways to put a little extra pride into your home. Before starting any DIY project, however, make sure you’re working within the law.

Not sure what plumbing you can tackle safely? Why not check out our handy guide below.

There would be nothing worse than not being covered by law if you need to make an insurance claim for damage to your home.

Don’t risk it, contact Curran for assistance.

Same day service

We will be available when you need us.

Serving The Community For 35 Years

Serving Wollongong, Shoalhaven, Illawarra and Sutherland Shire.

Award Winning Family Owned Business

We have earned countless awards of excellence from within our industry and from highly respected consumer groups.

Rated 4.9 Stars

Rated 4.9 Stars with 350+ reviews, Curran is a name you can trust.

What Our Customers Say

Testimonials from our satisfied customers

Highly Rated

4.9

Out of 5

★★★★★ 4.9/5

Overall rating of 549
1st-party reviews

Excellent customer service- Josh went to great lengths to assist my mum who is vision impaired. Great job Josh!!

Very impressed with the fast service! Josh and Nathan highly efficient and are both fantastic ambassadors for Curran! Thanks again, great job!

What a great company! Our plumbing problem was fixed in less than 24 hours by a super friendly plumber, backed up by an extraordinarily professional team of managers and admins. Based on this first experience with Curran, we didn't hesitate to sign up to their partnership plan, confident in the knowledge that we now have a reliable team of plumbers, electricians and other service technicians when we need them. Highly recommended!

Very professional service. Jake came to quote me for the job and was the plumber who eventually did my plumbing. A beautiful person who was both extremely polite and respectful as well as being very skilled and so helpful. He cleaned up after the job and made sure I was happy with everything he did. I will definitely use Curran’s for my future plumbing needs.

From time placed call last night to the time technician arrived was good service and kept informed. Early morning phone call to get more info and see how was the tap going under the sink . Will who attended our place very nice guy . As have had Currans plumbing in the past for jobs. Now they have more different things do in the business which is great Renewed our membership We were happy and didn't realise our tap was still covered when was installed in just over a year ago. Always hold upfront what job will cost

Josh was very informative and took the time to ensure I understood exactly what he was doing and what the options were. Lovely fella. Even offered to take the bins out

A very efficient service. Knowing what you pay upfront was great, it certainly eased my anxiety about receiving a blown out bill. The service was fantastic. Very polite, courteous and respectful of my time. No hesitation In using Curran again. Grist job. Julie S

Super responsive, prompt and professional. Very impressed.

Ryan was very friendly & helpful. Provided great customer service during the appointment for my quote.

Excellent service! Super helpful & informative! Allowing extra time to teach and explain each step of the works carried out. :)

Very good service. The plumber was polite and gave a good explanation of what the problem was with the blocked drain. I was very suprised with the low price. He got us out of a problem so we can continue to use our sink and dishwasher.

Jake checked out my drainage problem and was extremely helpful in providing some solutions. He was very knowledgeable and very informative. A lovely young man who was a pleasure to talk too . Highly recommend this local family owned business

Great service. Same day. Good advice. Explains everything really well

Billy and Sam were both friendly and supportive of the project. They managed to mitigate the problem with the drainage and completed the maintenance issue professionally. Billy installed the hot water system to my satisfaction and I was very impressed with the quality of the work and the cleanup work done. I would recommend Curran plumbing to my friends, neighbours and family. Thanks Billy and Sam for your services.

Really helpful, guys explained everything clearly and were very thorough.

Dylan and Jake provided great service. They were professional and respectful. Communications of the job at quote time and during the job cannot be faulted.

Great, friendly, professional service. I was kept informed at every point, even receiving updated info on the Sunday of a long weekend, about my upcoming appointment. Thank you Andrew, Jake and Josh!

Great service and the young guy Isaac was very friendly and super informative.

Prompt reply to initial enquiry. Date and time to suit. Wonderful customer service from trades and helpful polite and skilled. Love the service partner plan

Lovely people to talk to and so helpful. A very professional service and the tradies are all very friendly I would highly recommend Curran to anyone who is looking for a fairly priced plumbing solution 😊

Great service. On time, explained everything thoroughly, very friendly and job done professionally. Highly recommend.

Prompt efficient service to our house in Jamberoo, happy to recommend.

Professional prompt and good workmanship!

I found staff excellent and helpful they explained everything clearly

Reliable and efficient - great service 😊

Curran plumbing were on time every time we were booked in, the young men that came to our house were efficient and very friendly. I would recommend them to anyone.

Arrived on time, fully explained what needed to be done then quoted up front. Completed the job and cleaned up afterwards. I will be using them again for future plumbing jobs.

Thank you Curran . Once again excellent customer service. Prompt notification of when the technicians would arrive and honest opinion on our options.

Excellent customer service and the quality of the work done is perfect. Very professional.

I have nothing but praise for the guys (Josh, Hunter & Bailey) that visited my house recently to undertake several electrical jobs and an air conditioner service. They were all very polite, professional & answered all of my questions. Also you can’t beat an interest free payment plan to help with the expense at this time of the year. Thank you

The team were on time, very professional and I was informed of all that was to be done before and during and then a summary at the end of the job. We were very impressed. Thank you also for replacing our old gas hot water system so quickly

Excellent professional service and work completed quickly and without any incidence. All work was carried out in a timely and expedient manner and workmen were very courteous

Good service by courteous efficient and helpful tradesmen!

Curran were out within an hour of my call. I was fully advised by the person on the end of the phone of their procedures and they communicated with me by text and email during my wait. The technician gave me 25 mins notice of his arrival. He advised me what he would be doing, the price, and when he was about to turn the power off. Fixed the problem in 20 mins. I was very impressed with their customer service.

Same day service a bonus. On time and presented well. Explained everything well. Very happy with the service. I have used them in the past and will continue to use and recommend.

I was very pleased & impressed with the quick service & politeness of this young men & also the way they cleaned up & put everything back the way it was ,I would definitely recommend Currans Plumbing to anyone.

I have no hesitation in recommending Curran's to anyone needing repairs or installations in their homes. Top service and attention to detail; tradesmen are all polite, courteous and respectful. At every stage of the job they checked before going ahead if problems were discovered. Great work Currans!

Excellent and friendly service by experienced personnel who knew exactly what to do, and do it well, and expeditiously. Very happy!

Shout out to the team at Curran's for the quick response and top-quality service!

Great service from Jake and CJ. Professional, punctual, efficient, great in communications the technical aspect of the job. Well done!

Explained the job. Professional and friendly. Great after sales service.

Guys did a great job in not so easy circumstances and short notice, very polite and professional. Answered any questions I had and kept us updated all the way. No problem recommending Curran for any plumbing work.

Levi was informative, did the job in a timely fashion and was a pleasure to have here.

These guys never disappoint.professional, courteous and transparent.I wish more tradies used this business model.

We had a blocked sewer. Communication with the organisation wad easy. I was kept informed about the job. Nathan was polite, well presented and had a great attitude. He explained what he would do and why. The job was done well, he explained what he did and what the result of his work was. He did a great job. Thanks

Very professional service would recommend highly

They were on time. They rung before coming as they said they would. They explained what they were doing before they started doing the work. They show me what they did and made sure everything was working efficiently before leaving.

I found the guys at Curran and Plumbing to be great, they were open really friendly and helpful. They did the job on time with no mess. I also found them to be honest. I thought I had to replace two lights in the bathroom however while installing the new ones we found another switch so I did not need them replaced after all and the quote was adjusted to reflect this.

I found the work that was completed was to an excellent quality. The workers were professional in their responses to questions and they were always on time.

Excellent work from Josh & Hunter. Very professional, polite & great work. Greatly appreciated. Thank you

very professional service and friendly, knowledgeable staff. tidy workers that kept the business clean as they were working throughout the job. highly recommend !

Very efficient and friendly service. I highly recommend these guys.

The contractors (both electrical and plumbing tradespeople) were personable and professional. It was great service, they arrived on time, checked each decision with me and worked hard. They were clean and tidy and treated my place respectfully.

Quick service and helpful staff both on the phone speaking to office staff and the young plumber who came to do the job

They assessed the job clearly, told us what was needed, and explained how they would work. They turned up on time, were polite, and did the work with a minimum of fuss.

Curran were able to come to me at short notice after a sewer disaster. They kept me informed of timing and Jake the plumber was clearly knowledgeable and passionate about his trade. He was efficient, thorough and happy to answer questions and tell me why and what he was doing offering a practical solution to our ageing property’s plumbing needs. Thank you. I’ll be in touch

Fast and efficient service with everything explained before the job was commenced. Professional and friendly which was very nice.

Very helpful people, happy to talk through what they were doing and why.

We use Curran's for any plumbing requirement we have. They communicate well and are conscious of the importance of everyone's time. I totally recommend their services.

My mother who's in her 80's needed her toilet fixed. Curran and Electrical did everything perfectly. Service was fast, plumber did a great job after informing me of the several options I had. He was also polite, well mannered and friendly, taking the time to ensure I understood everything he did. Service was perfect and I highly recommend Curran and Electrical

Curran recently installed a new pump on my rainwater tank. I am very pleased with their work and also that they were able to do it within a few days of getting their quote. I also appreciated that when the quote was done that a video was taken of what needed to be done, so that whoever did the work knew what needed to be done.

Had a new toilet installed and 6 taps replaced with ‘quarter turn’ taps to aid my arthritic fingers. Perfectly happy with the work and the very professional and friendly tradesmen. Gold stars to Luke, Josh and Jake

Jake arrived on time, we talked thru our issue and he checked out our storm water problem. He was easily able to pinpoint our blockage and put together 2 quote options to rectify the fault. Jake is a good representative for the business👍

Well done team. Great to finally meet a professional company. You guys responded quickly, found the problem, gave a respectable quote (unheard-of nowadays) and got the job done. This is the place to go if you have any electrical or plumbing needs. Thanks again Curran

Sam was excellent. He was on time, polite, and did a fantastic and thorough job. He gave us detailed options for the job and we appreciated his honest and professional opinion. We will 100% use Curran plumbing again.

Sam was bang on time and fixed our septic issue very quickly. He also sent a camera up the pipes to ensure everything else was fine before leaving. We've enjoyed our ongoing relationship with Curran after they did some major works for us last year and our membership is well worth it.

The people doing the work were friendly, professional and informative and the work was carried out in a timely manner. You should be proud of the plumbing and electrical people who completed this work

Currans supplied us with constant updating of the project and when completed arranged for an inspection of the completed works.

From the first phone call Curran plumbing services were professional, showed up on time for scheduled quote , then me updated when the job was going to be completed . On the day of install all of the staff were well trained , well spoken and installed my new instantaneous gas hot water system like they were installing it in their own home . The quality in detail to make sure I was satisfied didn’t go unnoticed. At the end of the day I feel like I have gained a plumber for life . 100% recommend.

Luke was a Complete Gentleman and he explained every detail to my wife and i!! On this basis we excepted his Quote on the Spot and told him to go ahead and install our Brand New Australian made Hot Water System!! It was all Done that afternoon with Expert Precision d we had Hot water by 4pm!! Absolutely Marvellous Well Done! Sid you should be Very Proud of the Workmanship that Luke Performed!!

From my first contact with your company to completion of the job was only a few days tree roots in the sewer pipes gone, big thanks to your team.

Hi it's Dave from Dapto for Block drain problem, Part of Sewer drain renewal and ground was leveled nice & looks good, kitchen drain came apart and was reconnected all services where friendly and good communication excellent work. Thank you

I found Josh from Curren Plumbing to be very honest and trustworthy in the work he carried out at my home. Josh communicated everything he was going to do and the results of these actions in a manner I was able to understand. I was happy with the work Josh did at my home.

Plumbing, Electrical, Heating & Air

Wollongong, Shoalhaven, Illawarra and Sutherland Shire

Tips & Advice

DIY plumbing at home: Do you know the risks?

We’ve all fallen in love with DIY television, right? Us too—it makes for some entertaining stuff.

Same day service

Serving The Community For 35 Years

Award Winning Family Owned Business

Rated 4.9 Stars

What Our Customers Say

Testimonials from our satisfied customers

Highly Rated

Plumbing, Electrical, Heating & Air

Services

Curran

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