Stop the water and make the area safe before anything else. If a pipe has burst or an appliance is leaking, turn the water off at the toby — the mains valve, usually near the front boundary. If water is anywhere near power points, lights, or the switchboard, switch off the power at the board and stay clear, because water and electricity together are dangerous. Then photograph the damage before you clean anything up, since your insurer will want to see the extent, and call us so we can get the source stopped and the drying started. The faster water is removed, the less damage it does.

It depends almost entirely on how far the water reached and how long it sat. A single stained ceiling from a small roof leak is a modest repair; a flooded ground floor that soaked the framing, flooring, and insulation is a much bigger job. Because most of the damage is hidden until the property is dried out, we don't put a fixed price on the repair before that point — anyone who quotes the full job sight unseen is guessing. We make the property safe quickly, dry it out, then give you a fixed, itemised quote for the repair once the real extent is visible.

Sudden and accidental water damage — a burst pipe, a failed appliance hose, storm water getting in — is usually covered by standard house and landlord insurance in New Zealand, while gradual damage from a leak left unattended often is not. Every policy is different, so check yours or ask your insurer. What we do is give your claim the best chance of going smoothly: we act fast to limit the damage, and we document everything with photos, moisture readings, and an itemised scope. We're tradespeople rather than loss adjusters, so your insurer assesses and settles the claim itself — we just make sure it has what it needs.

For the parts of the job that involve plumbing or electrical work, yes. Repairing a burst pipe is prescribed sanitary plumbing work and must be done by a plumber registered with the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board (PGDB). Anything involving wet or damaged wiring must be made safe and repaired by an electrician registered with the Electrical Workers Registration Board (EWRB). The drying and general repair work doesn't require registration, but the plumbing and electrical does — and every tradesperson we send is registered for the work they carry out.

Making the property safe and getting the drying gear running happens fast, often the same week and sooner for an active leak. The drying itself usually takes several days to over a week depending on how saturated the structure is and how well it ventilates — rushing this stage is what leads to mould and rot later, so we monitor moisture levels until it's genuinely dry rather than working to a fixed deadline. Once it's dry, the repair timeframe depends on the scope, which we set out in the fixed quote so you know what to expect before we start.

Because water travels where you can't see it. A leak that shows as one stained patch on the ceiling has often tracked along the joists, soaked into the wall cavity, and pooled under the flooring well beyond the visible mark. Until the property is dried out, there's no honest way to know how much gib, framing, insulation, or flooring has to be replaced. Quoting the full repair before drying would mean either padding the price to cover the unknown or low-balling it and hitting you with variations later. We'd rather make it safe fast, dry it properly, then quote the repair against what's actually there.

Yes. Water left in framing, insulation, or behind linings is exactly what mould needs to take hold, and in a poorly ventilated room it can start within days. That's why proper drying matters so much — surface drying that leaves moisture in the cavity just hides the problem until the mould comes through. Where mould has already set in, we remove and replace the affected linings and timber and treat the area, rather than painting over it. For rentals, persistent damp and mould can also put you on the wrong side of the Healthy Homes standards, so it's worth dealing with properly the first time.

Most don't. Like-for-like repair — replacing damaged gib, insulation, flooring, and a section of framing to put a room back the way it was — generally falls under the exemptions in Schedule 1 of the Building Act, so no building consent is needed. Consent can be required where the repair involves significant structural work, or work affecting the weathertightness of the building envelope. We tell you which applies to your job before the repair starts, and you can check the current rules at building.govt.nz.

Yes. When a storm or a cold snap takes out several properties at once, we triage them — getting the worst made safe first — and run one scope and one point of contact across the lot. We coordinate access with your tenants directly, prioritise tenanted callouts, and give you the documentation for each property's file. If you manage a portfolio across Auckland, having one company handle the make-safe, the drying, and the repair across every affected property is a lot less to coordinate than chasing separate trades for each one.