I'd planned a relaxing day with some time for photographic pursuits. After going walking with our dog I wandered off for a brief look at ipernity. Not more than half an hour later, I wandered back through the house and found myself standing in water - warm water!

A quick investigation of the source led me to the hot water plumbing connection under the handbasin in the bathroom. It had failed in a big way, with water blasting out. I turned off the hot water system and mains water and commenced the clean-up while waiting for the plumber to arrive to fix the pipe.


I asked the plumber about the coupling that had given way and flooded much of the house. He told me that although all plumbing once was solid pipe, in recent years it has been found cheaper and faster to end the plumbing near the fittings, then add these flexible connectors. As I've shown, they are a rubber inner with stainless steel mesh surrounding. Apparently (in Australia at least) they have a design warranty of ten years and, although they may last four or five years longer, they will eventually fail - as I found out. And this is the point of this article: if you have flexible couplings as part of your plumbing system, at the very least check them for corrosion. If they have been in place for a lengthy but unknown time, it may be prudent to replace them.

Needless to say, there has had to be considerable movement of furniture and fittings, a time consuming process resulting in total chaos in the rest of the house. And all that, my friends, is my excuse for being less involved here than usual for a while. But do check your plumbing connections for any of these "designed to fail" devices!