The step beyond clearing a blockage: fixing the pipe that keeps letting the roots back in.
No obligation. Takes 30 seconds.
Emergency Plumber Geelong connects Geelong and the Geelong and Bellarine region property owners with qualified, connects Geelong and Bellarine property owners with licensed local plumbers for sewer repairs. Tell us what's happening and whether water is still running, and we'll match it to a licensed plumber covering your suburb. Firm price before work starts.
Pre-war housing across Geelong West, Newtown, Herne Hill and East Geelong sits on original earthenware sewer lines. The pipes themselves are durable; the mortared joints between them are not.
Established street trees find those joints because that's where the moisture is. Over decades the roots widen them, and eventually a section cracks or a joint drops out of alignment altogether.
A CCTV inspection at $150 to $400 is not optional before a sewer repair — it establishes where the damage is, how long the affected section is, and whether it's one joint or a collapsed run.
Anyone quoting sewer excavation without having put a camera down the line is guessing with your money. Ask to see the footage; it's routinely provided.
**Relining** installs a resin liner inside the existing pipe and cures it in place. No digging, the joints are sealed against roots, and it suits a line that's damaged but structurally present.
**Excavation** replaces the section outright. Necessary where the pipe has collapsed or dropped, more disruptive, and the only option in some cases.
Relining is often but not always cheaper. Get both quoted where both are viable.
You're responsible for the sewer line on your property up to the connection point. Beyond that it's Barwon Water's.
If a sewer is spilling in a public area, that's their call on 1300 656 007 and it costs you nothing. Establishing which side of the boundary the problem sits on before engaging anyone privately is worth the phone call.
Geelong.
Where this job typically sits. Access is usually a bigger cost driver than size.
| Job | Indicative price | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency call-out, business hours | $120 – $250 | Attending and diagnosing. Some credit it against the work; ask, because not all do. |
| After hours, weekend or public holiday | $180 – $400 | The call-out premium. Confirm it on the phone before anyone is dispatched. |
| Burst pipe — isolate and repair | $250 – $900 | Depends heavily on access. A pipe in a wall or under a slab costs multiples of one in a roof space. |
| Blocked drain — machine clear | $200 – $550 | Electric eel or high-pressure jet. Root-bound lines take longer. |
| CCTV drain camera inspection | $150 – $400 | Usually the sensible next step after a second blockage in the same line. |
| Blocked toilet | $150 – $400 | Cheaper if it's the pan, more if the blockage is out in the sewer line. |
| Hot water unit repair | $180 – $600 | Elements, thermostats, valves and thermocouples. Worth trying before replacement. |
| Hot water unit replacement | $1,200 – $3,500 | Electric storage at the lower end; continuous-flow gas and heat pump at the upper. |
| Leak detection, non-invasive | $250 – $600 | Acoustic and thermal tracing to find a leak without opening walls or slab. |
| Gas leak — make safe and repair | $250 – $800 | Gasfitting licence class. Never a job to defer or attempt. |
| Tap or mixer replacement | $150 – $400 | Per tap, plus the fitting. Often bundled if several are done at once. |
| Sewer or stormwater repair | from $900 | Excavation dependent. A camera inspection first tells you what you're actually buying. |
Prices are indicative only. What a job costs depends on the fault, how long it takes to find, whether parts are needed and whether it's after hours. You get a firm price before any work starts.
Something has gone wrong now — water running, gas smell, or sewage inside.
Water escaping and not stopping. The one where minutes genuinely count.
Slow, gurgling or backing up — and why the same drain keeps doing it.
No hot water, not enough, or a unit leaking — and repair versus replace.
A gas smell is a life-safety situation, not a plumbing inconvenience.
Rising, not flushing, or overflowing — and whether it's the pan or the sewer.
Tell us the suburb and what's happening and we'll get it to the right person.
Call 0483 963 438