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.

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 do not 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 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 are tradespeople rather than loss adjusters, so your insurer assesses and settles the claim itself.

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 does not 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 is genuinely dry rather than working to a fixed deadline. Once it is dry, the repair timeframe depends on the scope, which we set out in the fixed quote.

Because water travels where you cannot 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 is 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 make it safe fast, dry it properly, then quote the repair against what is 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 is 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.

Most do not. 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 file. 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.