Wahroonga is a short drive up the line from Gordon, where Peter lives. Blocked drains, hot water, leaks, gas and 24/7 emergencies for the big heritage homes and the grounds around them, from the plumber who answers the phone and turns up at your door.
Wahroonga is where the Upper North Shore’s houses get biggest. Heritage homes on extensive grounds, long driveways, mature gardens and trees that have been there for a century. It sits at the northern end of Ku-ring-gai, with bushland close on more than one side. Peter has been coming up the highway to Wahroonga for years.
Big properties mean long runs of everything. Sewer lines from the back of the house to the street can be forty or fifty metres of original clay pipe, with a joint every metre for roots to find. Water pipe runs a long way too, and in a heritage home a fair amount of it is still the galvanised steel it was built with. Garden drainage across large grounds is a job in its own right.
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Blocked, leaking, cold or smelling of gas, you don’t need to know the name of the problem to call. Tell Peter what you can see, hear or smell, or send a photo. You’ll get a straight answer on what’s likely going on, what your options are, and what it’ll cost before any work starts.
Extensive grounds mean long original clay sewer runs, and Wahroonga’s old trees have had a century to get into the joints.
Stormwater across big, often sloping blocks, with gutters, downpipes and pits full of leaves after every storm.
Original fixtures, galvanised pipe and hot water that need a careful call, not a reflex replacement.
Nearly all of our Wahroonga work is in people’s homes, many of them large and old. We also look after the townhouses and unit blocks near the station and the rental properties managed from offices along the highway.
Tell us what’s happening. A photo often tells us most of what we need.
Wahroonga sits at the northern end of the North Shore rail line and the Pacific Highway, in Ku-ring-gai Council, between Turramurra and Hornsby. It’s known for its large heritage properties, its gardens and its trees, and it has bushland on its doorstep. That makes it one of the most pleasant places to live in Sydney, and it keeps a maintenance plumber busy.
The heritage homes that give Wahroonga its character were plumbed with clay sewer pipe and galvanised steel water pipe. Both have lasted far longer than anyone expected, and both are now well past the age they were designed for. On grounds this size, a sewer run can be fifty metres long, which is a lot of joints for roots to work into. The galvanised pipe corrodes from the inside, so pressure fades over years and the first sign of a leak is often a damp patch a long way from the pipe.
With heritage homes the question is rarely whether something can be fixed. It’s whether it should be, or whether it’s time to reline a drain or replace a run of pipe and stop paying for the same repair. We put a camera down the sewer, show you the footage, and lay out the options with the costs beside them.
Grounds this size need their own drainage. Gutters, downpipes and stormwater pits fill with leaves after every storm, and on sloping blocks surface water needs somewhere to go. A lot of our rain-week calls in Wahroonga are about stormwater rather than sewer.
Hot water in these houses is often a long way from the bathrooms it serves, and many systems were sized for a different household decades ago. We’ll tell you if yours is worth repairing, and size the replacement for the people living there now.
A toilet backing up, a slow kitchen sink, or the same blockage returning every few months. Blocked drains are the job we’re called to most in Wahroonga, and on these big properties the cause is nearly always roots in a long run of original clay sewer pipe. We clear it, then put a camera down the line to show you where the roots are getting in and whether relining would stop it for good.
We ask what’s been happening and check where the blockage sits before we start. Flushing the toilet and seeing water come up in the shower or an outside gully tells us the main line is blocked, not just one fixture.
Depending on the blockage, that’s an electric drain machine or a high-pressure jetter that scours the pipe walls clean, roots included.
A CCTV drain camera shows what caused it: roots, a cracked pipe, a sag, or just years of build-up. You see the footage too.
If the pipe is damaged, we explain your options, including pipe relining where it suits, so you’re not paying for the same clear every few months.
Why does my drain keep blocking?
In Wahroonga it’s almost always tree roots in a long run of original clay sewer line, and there can be several entry points. Sometimes it’s a cracked or sagging section instead. A camera inspection shows exactly where, so we fix the cause rather than clearing the same blockage again.
Can you clear it without digging up the garden?
Nearly always. Jetting and the drain machine work from the existing access points, and relining repairs a damaged section from the inside without a trench.
Are supermarket drain chemicals worth trying?
We’d skip them. They rarely clear a real blockage, they can damage older pipes, and they make the drain unsafe to work on when we arrive.
No hot water, not enough of it for a big house, or a tank that’s started to leak. We repair and install gas, electric and solar hot water systems across Wahroonga, and because Peter is a licensed gas fitter as well as a plumber, there’s no second trade to book for a gas unit. We’ll tell you straight whether yours is worth fixing.
Age, condition, what’s failed and what’s likely to fail next. Have the brand and model handy, or send a photo of the sticker.
A thermostat, element, valve or thermocouple on a sound tank is usually worth fixing. A leaking tank isn’t; tanks can’t be patched.
The right type and capacity for your household, not just a like-for-like swap. Old unit removed, new one fitted tidily, area cleaned up.
Is a leaking hot water system urgent?
A small drip from the relief valve usually isn’t. Water pooling around the base of the tank is, because it won’t get better and can cause water damage. If it’s leaking heavily, turn the cold water off at the isolation valve on the inlet pipe and call us.
Storage or continuous flow?
It depends on what utilities are available and what matters more to you: efficiency, which favours continuous flow, or hot water that keeps coming if the power fails, which favours storage. Peter will talk you through both before you decide.
Do you install gas hot water?
Yes. Storage and continuous flow, repairs, servicing and replacement, all by a licensed gas fitter.
Burst pipe, sewage coming up, water through the ceiling, a smell of gas. Call 0403 404 307 any time, day or night, weekends and public holidays, and you’ll speak to Peter, the plumber who’ll come out. Wahroonga is a short drive up the highway from Gordon, where Peter lives, and we’ll tell you honestly how long that’ll take when you call.
Usually in a box near the front boundary. On a long Wahroonga driveway it can be a fair way from the house and hidden under leaf litter or a hedge, so it’s worth finding before you need it. Turn clockwise until it stops.
Electric: switch it off at the switchboard. Gas: turn the unit to off or pilot.
If water is near power points or lights, switch off at the switchboard if it’s safe to reach. Don’t touch anything wet.
Don’t use switches or flames. Turn off the gas at the meter if you can, get everyone outside, and call. If the smell is strong, call 000 first.
When a genuine emergency comes in, it goes to the front of the queue. If that means moving a booked job, the customer affected gets a straight phone call about it, not silence. We’ll tell you honestly when we can get to you.
Peter Pan Plumbing is one licensed plumber and gas fitter, based in Gordon and working across the Upper and Lower North Shore. Peter has done his share of construction work, but maintenance is where he wants to be: the drain that keeps blocking, the leak nobody can find, the hot water that’s given up on a Sunday. He likes working out what’s actually going on and fixing it properly.
When you call, you get Peter. He’ll talk you through it, give you a straight answer, and he’s the one who turns up and finishes the job.
Wahroonga is a short drive up the line from our base in Gordon. We cover the whole suburb and the suburbs between here and Gordon along the line and the highway.
All of it. If you’re in Wahroonga, we come to you.
Call 0403 404 307 or send a photo. Most jobs can be quoted before we arrive.
Most jobs can be quoted over the phone or from a photo, and phone quotes are free, so you know the price before any work starts.
Yes. We’re open 24 hours, 7 days, including weekends and public holidays. For a burst pipe, sewage backing up or a smell of gas, call 0403 404 307 straight away.
Peter. The person who answers the phone is the plumber who comes out and finishes the job. No call centre and no handovers.
Yes. Peter holds NSW licence 464374C, which covers plumbing, drainage, gas fitting and roofing, with public liability insurance. Gas and water work is done by the same person.
Tree roots in long runs of original clay sewer pipe, nearly every time. Sometimes a cracked or sagging section. A camera inspection tells us which, so we fix the cause instead of clearing the same blockage again.
Yes. Strata managers get a fixed quote before work starts and a written job report. Property managers get photos and an invoice they can forward straight to the owner.
Call Peter and you’ll get a straight answer about what’s wrong and what it’ll take to fix. No call centre, no runaround, and no one trying to sell you more than you need. Most jobs can be quoted over the phone or from a photo, so you’re not waiting on a site visit just to get a price.