O'Shea Plumbing has worked out of Melbourne's east since 1978 – more than 48 years of repairs, replacements and maintenance across 42,000+ local homes. When you need a plumber in the eastern suburbs, you're calling a family-owned business that's serviced the area for close to five decades, with licensed plumbers, electricians, roofers and carpenters available through one point of contact.
We cover the eastern and south eastern suburbs seven days a week – Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell and Balwyn through Box Hill, Doncaster and Glen Waverley, out to Ringwood and Croydon. Every job starts with a proper look at the problem. We explain what we find, give you options and a fixed price before any work begins, and back the finished job with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.
O'Shea Plumbing has worked out of Melbourne's east since 1978 – more than 48 years of repairs, replacements and maintenance across 42,000+ local homes. When you need a plumber in the eastern suburbs, you're calling a family-owned business that's serviced the area for close to five decades, with licensed plumbers, electricians, roofers and carpenters available through one point of contact.
We cover the eastern and south eastern suburbs seven days a week – Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell and Balwyn through Box Hill, Doncaster and Glen Waverley, out to Ringwood and Croydon. Every job starts with a proper look at the problem. We explain what we find, give you options and a fixed price before any work begins, and back the finished job with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.
Why Eastern Suburbs Homeowners Call O'Shea
Plenty of plumbing businesses list the eastern suburbs on a service page. Fewer have actually been based out here since the seventies.
Local, family owned, since 1978
In 2025 the Quality Business Awards named O'Shea the best plumbing business in the City of Boroondara, and we've been a member of the Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association of Australia for over 40 years. Product Review also named us one of the best plumbers in Australia in 2024 and 2026, based on verified reviews from homeowners who've used us.
Licensed and certified properly
All plumbing and gasfitting work is carried out by tradespeople licensed and registered with the Victorian Building Authority. Plumbing meets or exceeds AS/NZS 3500, gas work meets AS/NZS 5601, and compliance certificates are issued where they're required.
Fixed pricing before anyone starts
You'll hear what's causing the problem, what your realistic options are, and exactly what each one costs before a tool comes out of the van. No call-out fee on jobs that proceed, so you're not paying for a quote.
Seven days a week
We have plumbers on call every weekend of the year, so a Saturday hot water failure doesn't have to sit until Monday. Urgent jobs get triaged ahead of routine work.
More than one trade
Hot water swaps, ducted heating and bathroom work often need an electrician or a carpenter alongside the plumber. Our team can cover both, so the sequencing gets managed by one business rather than by you.
Plumbing Services We Provide Across the Eastern Suburbs
The full scope of what our eastern suburbs plumbers handle, across houses, units, townhouses and apartments.
Water and drainage
Blocked drains, sinks, toilets and sewer lines, with CCTV camera inspection to find the cause
Leaking taps, mixers and failed flexi hoses
Leaking showers and waterproofing failures
Water leak detection, including underground mains and slab leaks
Water hammer and water pressure problems
Burst and corroded pipe replacement, and pipe relining
Hot water and heating
Hot water repairs, servicing and replacement across gas, electric, heat pump and continuous flow units
Ducted heating repairs and servicing
Gas heater servicing, carbon monoxide testing and new installations
Gas
Gas fitting, appliance connections and pipework alterations
Gas leak detection and repair
Roofing, stormwater and renovations
Roof leak repairs, gutters, downpipes and stormwater drainage
Kitchen and bathroom renovations
Dishwasher, washing machine and fridge water connections
Hot Water Repairs Eastern Suburbs Melbourne
Hot water is one of the most common reasons people ring a plumber, and it rarely gives much notice. Most hot water repairs in eastern suburbs homes come down to a handful of faults.
What usually goes wrong
No hot water at all. Pilot or ignition failure on a gas unit, a tripped circuit, or a failed thermostat or element on an electric one.
Warm, then cold. An ageing or undersized storage unit that can't recover, or a continuous flow burner that's struggling.
Water pooling around the unit. A weeping temperature and pressure relief valve is often repairable. A leak from the tank body itself isn't.
Bathroom taps running too hot or barely warm. Usually the tempering valve, which is what keeps bathroom outlets at a safe maximum of 50°C.
Rumbling, or discoloured water. Sediment in the bottom of the tank, or a sacrificial anode that's reached the end of its life.
Repair or replace?
If a unit is still inside its warranty period and the fault is a valve, thermostat or element, repairing it is normally the sensible spend. Once a storage unit is past warranty and needs a major component – or the tank itself is leaking – replacement usually costs less over the next few years than a run of repairs.
Our plumber will tell you which situation you're in on site, along with what a like-for-like swap costs versus changing to a different system. Older eastern suburbs homes on natural gas often have more options than owners expect, and we'll walk you through them rather than just quoting whatever's on the van.
Hot Water Gone Cold? Call O'Shea Today
Book a plumber in the eastern suburbs seven days a week. We'll diagnose the fault, tell you whether it's a repair or a replacement, and give you a fixed price to approve before we start – with no call-out fee on jobs that proceed.
The east has some of Melbourne's most mixed housing stock, and that changes what a plumber walks into.
Period homes in the inner east
Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell, Canterbury and Balwyn are full of pre-1970s homes still running original earthenware sewer drains, joined in short mortared lengths. Add the mature street trees the area is known for and root intrusion at those joints becomes the single most common cause of recurring blockages. Galvanised steel and ageing copper pipework in these homes is often near the end of its service life too.
Post-war brick veneer
Box Hill, Blackburn, Burwood, Mount Waverley and Doncaster bring concealed pipework in wall cavities and under slabs, storage hot water units well past their warranty, and ducted heating installed in the nineties and early 2000s that's now overdue for a service.
Townhouses, units and apartments
Newer builds across Glen Waverley, Ringwood, Blackburn and Oakleigh run PEX and PVC systems, continuous flow hot water units in tight service cupboards, and owners corporation rules that decide who's responsible for shared services. On apartment jobs, one of the first things we establish is whether the fault sits inside your lot or in common property, because that determines who pays.
Two different water authorities
Most of the eastern and north eastern suburbs sit with Yarra Valley Water, while the south eastern suburbs sit with South East Water. Either way, the authority's responsibility stops close to your boundary – everything on your side of the connection point is yours to maintain. We camera and locate the fault before quoting, so if it turns out to be in the authority's main, we'll say so.
The plumber who turns up knows the area
We're a Melbourne-based, family-owned business, so the plumber who arrives already knows local conditions, council requirements and where to source parts the same day – whether that's a Federation home in Camberwell or a new townhouse in Glen Waverley.
Not on the list? Give us a call and we'll confirm coverage for your street.
What Happens When You Book
1You call and we book a timeOur office team asks enough questions to send the right plumber with the right equipment, then gives you a booking window that works around your day.
2We assess on siteThe plumber inspects the problem properly rather than guessing, using leak detection, camera or pressure testing gear where the cause isn't visible.
3You get options and fixed pricingWhat's wrong, what your choices are, and what each one costs – before any work starts.
4We complete the work and clean upCarried out to Australian Standards, compliance certificates issued where required, and covered by our 10-year workmanship guarantee.
Book a Plumber in Melbourne's Eastern Suburbs
Tell us what's happening at your place and we'll get a licensed plumber out to assess it, explain your options and quote a fixed price before any work starts. Seven days a week, no call-out fee on jobs that proceed – the plumber Melbourne's eastern suburbs have relied on since 1978.
Which suburbs do your eastern suburbs plumbers service?
We cover the inner east through to the outer east and the south eastern suburbs – Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell and Balwyn, out through Box Hill, Doncaster, Blackburn and Glen Waverley, to Ringwood, Croydon and Bayswater.
If your suburb isn't listed above, it's still worth a call. We've worked across Melbourne's east since 1978 and our service area is broader than any list we can fit on a page.
How quickly can you get a plumber out in the eastern suburbs?
We work seven days a week with plumbers on call, so you're not waiting until Monday. Urgent jobs – burst pipes, gas leaks, no hot water, sewage overflows – are triaged ahead of routine work and we'll aim to get someone to you the same day where we can.
For non-urgent work, we'll book a time that suits your schedule and give you a window rather than making you wait around all day.
Can you do hot water repairs in the eastern suburbs on a weekend?
Yes. Hot water failures are one of the more common weekend callouts, and we have plumbers rostered on Saturdays and Sundays year round.
We'll diagnose the fault on site and tell you honestly whether it's a repair, a part that needs ordering, or a replacement. If it's a replacement, we'll quote a like-for-like swap and any alternatives worth considering before you commit.
Do you charge a call-out fee?
There's no call-out fee on jobs that proceed, so you're not paying separately for someone to come and look. You'll get a fixed price to approve before any work starts.
If you'd rather not go ahead after hearing the quote, that's your call – no pressure either way.