Right now, under your kitchen sink, behind your toilet, and possibly connected to your dishwasher and washing machine, there are small corrugated hoses carrying your full mains water pressure. They’re called flexi hoses, and they are the leading cause of internal water damage in Australian homes.
When one fails, they dump your entire mains water supply into your home until someone turns off the water. If you’re at work when it happens, that’s hours of flooding.
What Are Flexi Hoses?
Flexi hoses are the flexible braided stainless-steel connections used to link fixed plumbing to taps, toilets, dishwashers, and washing machines. In Melbourne homes, you’ll typically find them under bathroom vanity basins, behind toilets, under kitchen sinks, behind dishwashers, and at the back of washing machines. An average Melbourne home has 8–15 flexi hoses.
Why They Fail
Flexi hoses have a design lifespan of 5–10 years. The most common cause of failure is stress corrosion cracking — the outer steel braid corrodes from exposure to cleaning products, humidity, and toilet bowl chemicals. Once the braid cracks, the inner hose has no support and ruptures. Hoses installed 10+ years ago are living on borrowed time regardless of visible condition.
What Happens When One Fails
At Melbourne’s standard mains water pressure, a fully failed hose flows at approximately 400–600 litres per hour. In a typical insurance scenario where a hose fails while owners are at work for 8 hours, 3,200–4,800 litres of water flows through the house. Remediation cost: $20,000–$80,000. The Insurance Council of Australia identifies flexi hose failure as one of the most common and expensive home insurance claims in the country.
How to Check Your Flexi Hoses
Open the doors under every sink and check behind every toilet. Check the age (if unknown, assume they’re old), look for corrosion or brown discolouration, check fittings for moisture or mineral deposits, feel for soft spots or bulging, and check for kinks. If you can’t date them or see any warning signs: replace them.
What Replacement Costs
A full flexi hose replacement for an average Melbourne home (10–12 hoses) typically costs $400–$700 installed by a licensed plumber, including a Certificate of Compliance. Compare that to the average water damage insurance claim: $32,000.
Property Managers
Under Victorian tenancy law, landlords have an obligation to maintain rental properties safely. A failed flexi hose causing significant damage can result in compensation claims and tribunal orders. Sedcon Plumbing offers a flexi hose inspection and replacement service for Melbourne rental properties. Contact us to book an inspection →
Don’t wait for one to fail. Call 0468 013 012 to book a flexi hose inspection across Melbourne.