Guide
Korean phrases for plumbing problems — copy, paste, send
When water is on the floor is a bad time to be composing a sentence in a second language. Copy the line you need from this page, paste it into KakaoTalk or a text message, and send it. Every phrase is written the way a Korean plumber, landlord or building office actually expects to receive it.
Describing the problem
Start with what is happening, in one sentence. Tap the copy button on the line that matches, paste it, and add a photo if you can — a photo removes most of the remaining ambiguity.
The drain in my bathroom is blocked.
화장실 배수구가 막혔어요.
hwajangsil baesugu-ga makyeosseoyo
The toilet is blocked and the water is rising.
변기가 막혀서 물이 차올라요.
byeongi-ga makyeoseo muri chaollayo
The kitchen sink is not draining.
싱크대 물이 안 내려가요.
singkeudae muri an naeryeogayo
Water is coming back up from the floor drain.
바닥 배수구에서 물이 역류해요.
badak baesugu-eseo muri yeongnyuhaeyo
There is a sewer smell in the bathroom.
화장실에서 하수구 냄새가 나요.
hwajangsil-eseo hasugu naemsae-ga nayo
There is a water leak.
누수가 있어요.
nusu-ga isseoyo
There's no hot water.
온수가 안 나와요.
onsu-ga an nawayo
I think it's a problem with the shared pipe.
공용 배관 문제인 것 같아요.
gongyong baegwan munje-in geot gatayo
The last line is worth knowing even if you are not sure. If several fixtures are slow at once, or your floor drain backs up when a neighbour uses water, saying you suspect the shared pipe moves the conversation towards the building rather than towards your own bill.
Arranging the visit, the estimate and the receipt
Could you please contact the building management office?
관리사무소에 연락해 주실 수 있나요?
gwallisamuso-e yeollakae jusil su innayo
Who pays for this repair — the tenant or the landlord?
이 수리비는 세입자가 내나요, 집주인이 내나요?
i suribi-neun seipja-ga naenayo, jipjuin-i naenayo
Please send me a written estimate before you start.
작업 전에 견적서를 보내 주세요.
jageop jeone gyeonjeokseo-reul bonae juseyo
How much will it cost?
비용이 얼마나 나올까요?
biyong-i eolmana naolkkayo
When can you come?
언제 오실 수 있나요?
eonje osil su innayo
I don't speak Korean well. Can we text instead?
한국어를 잘 못해요. 문자로 해도 될까요?
hangugeo-reul jal motaeyo. munjaro haedo doelkkayo
Please give me a receipt.
영수증 주세요.
yeongsujeung juseyo
My address is ___.
제 주소는 ___ 입니다.
je juso-neun ___ imnida
For the address line, paste your address in Korean rather than romanised. The fastest way to get it is to copy it from your lease, from a delivery app, or by dropping a pin in a map app and sharing the location in the chat — a shared pin is better than any sentence.
A message template for your landlord or agent
Report in writing before you arrange anything. A KakaoTalk message takes thirty seconds and creates a record of what you reported and when — which is exactly what decides a disagreement about the bill later. Copy this, replace the bracketed parts, attach photos, send.
Copy and send to your landlord or agent
안녕하세요. [주소] 세입자입니다. [화장실 배수구가 막혀서 물이 내려가지 않습니다.] 사진 첨부합니다. 확인 부탁드립니다. 수리 진행 방법과 비용 부담에 대해 안내해 주시면 감사하겠습니다.
The first bracket is your address. The second bracket is the description of the problem — swap in whichever sentence from the tables above matches your situation, and the message still reads correctly. The last line asks how they want the repair handled and who is bearing the cost, which is the answer you actually need before anyone starts work.
If they approve the work in that chat, keep the thread. Together with photos and, where relevant, camera footage of the inside of the pipe, that is what settles who pays. Our guide on tenant and landlord responsibility goes through the whole sequence.
Vocabulary you will hear on the phone
You do not need to speak Korean to recognise these. Hearing 공용 배관 in a reply, for example, tells you the conversation has moved to the shared pipe and therefore to the building.
| 한국어 | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 배수구 | baesugu | drain |
| 변기 | byeongi | toilet |
| 싱크대 | singkeudae | kitchen sink |
| 세면대 | semyeondae | washbasin |
| 누수 | nusu | water leak |
| 역류 | yeongnyu | backflow |
| 공용 배관 | gongyong baegwan | shared pipe |
| 관리사무소 | gwallisamuso | building management office |
| 집주인 | jipjuin | landlord |
| 세입자 | seipja | tenant |
| 견적 | gyeonjeok | estimate |
| 출장 | chuljang | call-out visit |
Or skip all of it and message us in English
The phrases above exist because you will sometimes have to deal with a landlord, an agent or a building office who works in Korean. For the plumbing itself, you do not need any of it: message us on KakaoTalk or WhatsApp in English, send a photo or a short video of the problem, drop your location pin, and we will tell you what it looks like and what it should cost before anyone comes out.
- Send a photo or a ten-second video rather than a description — it is faster and more accurate than either language
- Share your location pin instead of typing an address
- Ask for the written estimate in the chat; you approve it before work starts
- Ask for the bilingual report if you will need to forward it to a landlord or a management office
Phone calls are handled in Korean, so if you would rather not speak Korean, use the chat. It is available around the clock, same as the callout.
Frequently asked
I don't speak any Korean. Can I still book a plumber?
Yes. Message us on KakaoTalk or WhatsApp in English with a photo of the problem and your location pin, and the whole booking happens in text. Phone calls are answered in Korean, which is why we recommend chat for English speakers — nothing else about the service changes.
My landlord only replies in Korean. What do I do?
Send your message in Korean using the template on this page, then run their reply through a translation app — reading a reply is much easier than composing a request. If the reply concerns who pays, the useful thing to send back is evidence rather than argument: photos, and where relevant the endoscope footage and our bilingual English-Korean report showing where the blockage actually was.
Isn't a translation app enough on its own?
For a general conversation, usually. For plumbing, machine translation often turns specific words into vague ones — the distinction between a floor drain, a trap and the shared stack tends to collapse into 'drain', and that is the distinction that decides both the repair and the bill. That is why the phrases here are written out rather than generated: each one names the specific fixture.