Stopped first, then located with equipment rather than by opening new walls. And photographed before anything is replaced, because in a house this age that record matters.
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A leak in a hundred-year-old house is a material reaching the end of its life. In a house built in the last few years it is something else entirely: a fault in how it was put together.
A fitting not fully tightened. A nail or screw through a pipe during fit-out. A connection never properly tested. A component that failed early. Construction is done fast by many trades in sequence, and a small proportion of connections always end up imperfect.
That is not a scandal, it is normal, and it is precisely the category that statutory warranties exist for. Building work in NSW carries them under the Home Building Act 1989, broadly six years for a major defect and two for others, from completion.
So we stop the water, then photograph the failed component and the damage before anything is replaced or dried out. You keep those images. Repair first and the record is gone, and water damage in a new home is not a small conversation to be having from memory.
The water, the damage, and where it is coming from. Once it is repaired and dried, the record is whatever you took at the time.
Nothing in a house this new has worn out. What fails is a connection that was not quite right when it was made.
A fitting under-tightened, a fastener through a pipe at fit-out, a line never properly tested. All normal, all fixable, all somebody's work.
Under the Home Building Act 1989, broadly six years for a major defect and two years for others, running from completion.
Water damage tends to be taken seriously. For your own circumstances, ask NSW Fair Trading. We are plumbers, not lawyers.
That order is the whole thing. Once a wall is opened, a part replaced and a carpet dried, there is very little left to show anyone.
We photograph the failed component before removing it and hand you the images regardless of what you decide to do.
Acoustic, pressure and thermal testing narrow a leak to a point without touching the building.
In a house where every surface is a few years old, opening the wrong wall is an expensive way to look.
Not for age, but for installation: kinked behind a vanity, over-tightened, or slightly too short and under strain.
Those fail early rather than at end of life, and it is a two-minute look under a sink.
Water follows the fall of a joist, the back of a stud or the top of a slab, and it appears wherever it finally escapes. In a new house that means a stain in fresh plaster metres from the fitting that failed.
So the wet spot is a clue rather than an address, and cutting into it is frequently the wrong first move, particularly when the finish is under a year old.
This is the argument for locating before opening anything, and on a new build it is a stronger argument than anywhere else.
Acoustic listening picks up the noise a pressurised leak makes through slab, soil and wall. Thermal imaging finds the heat signature a hot water leak leaves behind a surface.
Pressure testing isolates sections until the one losing water gives itself away. Between the three, most leaks get located to a small area before anything is cut.
It also produces a record of where the fault was, which is worth considerably more on a house under warranty than a repaired hole is.
Close everything, including the machine and the dishwasher, and watch the smallest dial on the meter for a couple of minutes. Movement means water is genuinely leaving the property.
Then close the valve on the inlet to the hot water unit and watch again. Still moving is the cold side. Stopped is the unit or the hot line past it.
Two minutes of that halves the search area, and on a new house it also tells you immediately whether you are dealing with a leak or with usage.
What a burst costs is decided in the minutes between the failure and somebody closing the water. Everything after that is a repair. Everything during it is new flooring and new cabinetry.
On a new house the meter and its tap are usually easy to find and usually turn freely, which is one genuine advantage you have over an older property.
Learn the isolating valves indoors as well. Closing one of those stops a specific problem without taking water off the whole house.
The domestic ceiling is 500 kPa static at any outlet. New estates are sometimes supplied at well above that, and the pressure limiting valve is what holds the property below it.
A valve set wrongly at build, or one that was never fitted, produces early failures across everything at once: dripping taps, water hammer, and appliance inlet valves going before their time.
It is a gauge and two minutes, and on a house where several small things have failed early it is the first thing worth checking.
That order is the whole of it. Once a wall is opened, a part replaced and a carpet dried, the evidence of what actually failed has gone with it.
Photograph the fitting, the wet area and the surrounding finishes, and note the date and the time. It takes two minutes and it is the only version of this that can be raised with anybody afterwards.
Getting the water off comes first. Nothing on this page is worth a minute of additional flooding.
Not for age, because nothing in a house this new has worn out, but for installation. Kinked behind a vanity, over-tightened at the crimp, or slightly cross-threaded are all faults that were there from day one.
A hose installed under strain fails early, and it fails all at once at full mains pressure, frequently while nobody is home.
They are the cheapest thing on a new house to have looked at properly, and the most expensive thing to have fail.
Acoustic, pressure and thermal testing narrow a leak to a point without touching the building. On a house where every finish is under a year old, that is worth considerably more than it would be on an old one.
It also produces a record of where the fault was, which matters if a conversation with a builder follows the repair.
The cost of locating properly is almost always less than the cost of opening the wrong wall once.
Agreed in writing before work starts. These are indicative 2026 ranges. Documentation of what failed is included, because on a new house it is often worth more than the repair itself.
Isolated and stopped, any hour, before anything else is discussed.
Acoustic, pressure and thermal, so nothing new gets opened on a guess.
Once located. Access moves this figure more than the pipe does.
Cheap, and on a new house usually about how it was fitted rather than its age.
The failed component and the damage, captured before anything is replaced.
On the phone if we can, then properly on arrival. Damage stops before anything else is discussed.
The failed component and the damage photographed while both still exist.
Acoustic and pressure testing to a point, so a new wall gets opened in one place rather than searched.
Pressure tested before closing up, and the images and findings are yours.
Shut it off at the meter if you can reach it, then ring. Take a photo while you wait if it is safe to, because that record only exists if somebody makes it.
Call 1300 381 569Nothing that is unusual, and nothing to do with wear. A leak in a house this age is an installation fault: a fitting not fully tightened, a nail or screw through a pipe during fit-out, a connection that was never properly tested, or a component that failed early. Construction is done fast by many trades in sequence and a small proportion of connections always end up imperfect. It is exactly the category of thing statutory warranties exist for.
Worth establishing before anyone invoices you. Residential building work in NSW carries statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989, broadly six years for a major defect and two years for other defects, from completion. A leak causing damage is often taken seriously, and water damage in a new home is not a small thing. We are plumbers rather than lawyers, so for your own situation NSW Fair Trading is who to ask, and it is free.
Stop the water, then photograph everything before anything is repaired or dried out. That order is the whole game. Take pictures of the water, the damage and where it is coming from, and note the time. Once a wall is opened, a fitting replaced and a carpet dried, the evidence is largely gone. We photograph the failed component before we remove it and give you the images, whether or not you intend to do anything with them.
Certainly, and arguably more easily, because nobody is looking for it. Water follows the fall of a slab and emerges wherever it can, which in a new home with sealed finishes may be nowhere at all for a long time. The meter test is the reliable check: shut every tap and appliance and watch it for fifteen minutes. Movement with nothing running means water is escaping.
Not usually from age, since they last five to ten years, but they are worth a look anyway. The failures we see on new homes are installation related: a hose kinked behind a vanity, over-tightened, or under strain because it was slightly too short for the run. Those fail early rather than at end of life, and a two-minute look under the sink is worth doing.
Acoustic equipment listens for escaping water through the structure, pressure testing isolates which line has lost integrity, and thermal imaging finds the temperature difference a hot water leak leaves. None of it touches the building. In a house where every finish is under a few years old, opening the wrong wall is a genuinely expensive mistake.
An emergency make-safe is $250 to $500. Leak detection is $300 to $600. Repair once located is $400 to $1,200 for most jobs. Photographic and written documentation of what failed is included, because on a house this new that is frequently worth more than the repair.
Tell us how old the house is and whether anything has been damaged. On a newer build both answers change what we do and in what order.
Made safe first, photographed before anything is replaced, and located without opening walls on a guess.
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