Home Design Guides: Plumbing

We all know what a bathtub is, but you might not realise how many different types and styles there are to choose from. Find out more about bathtubs.

Everyone knows plumbers work with pipes - but most people don't realise just how many pipes there are hidden around their houses, and how important their functions are to so many things.

Plumbing is much more than just fixing leaky taps. Find out what sorts of things plumbing involves, and what aspects of your home require a plumber.

Find out what steps are required to install the plumbing in your home - from the design stage all the way through to testing and compliance certificates.

Find out more about what plumbers actually do, why it's important to use a plumber, what kind of work plumbing involves and what plumbing's needed for new homes and renovation projects.

Need some help with plumbing? Got a leak and not sure what to do? Don't panic - here's some quick how to handle various different sorts of plumbing emergencies.

A gas leak is serious business - and is extremely dangerous anywhere in your home. Find out what steps to take if you suspect there is a gas leak inside your home.

Depending on the work you need done, you may need to give a little thought to who's going to do plumbing or gasfitting work in your home. Read our guide on how to choose the right plumber.

Most of the time, if a tap in your home is leaky, dripping or hard to close it's the result of a broken washer. While it's possible that your leaking tap's a 'washerless' tap (i.e. one with a ball, cartridge or ceramic disc mechanism - see the 'Types of taps' article linked below), it's a lot less likely that these taps will be leaking like this. You can usually tell if you have a ceramic disc type tap because it'll only need a quarter or half turn to fully open the tap.

A well designed plumbing system can offer significant water and energ

Getting the right hot water system for your particular needs is impor

In most plumbing setups, it takes a while for hot water to reach the hot tap when it's turned on. Cold water diverters recycle the cold water which would otherwise pour down the drain in this time.

Bore water may be a huge convenience in remote locations with unreliable rainfall, but it can also cause damage to plumbing systems. See what needs to be taken into account.

Also called drains and plugholes, wastes are the grills through which water is drained as it leaves your bathroom. Find out what variations exist for wastes.

The business end of the shower. Shower heads are often the most decorative aspect of a shower, as well as being vitally important to the shower's functionality.

Taps can come in matching bathroom sets, but can also be mixed and matched to great effect.

Blocked drains in your kitchen are no fun - but thankfully they're not too difficult to deal with. Read our guide on how to unblock a drain and save yourself from a watery disaster.

They're not common in Australia, but bidets are very popular in some parts of the world. Find out how a bidet works, what it's used for and how to have one installed in your home.

Despite the fact that 95% of toilets seem to look the same, there are a surprising number of different bowl and seat options.

A blocked toilet can be an awful thing, and knowing the right way to unblock one can prevent a bad situation from becoming much, much worse...