East Melbourne
Blocked, burst or leaking in East Melbourne?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in East Melbourne, from Jolimont to the Fitzroy Gardens, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in East Melbourne
Victorian mansions, later flats and elm roots
Victorian Places records that East Melbourne's housing was mature by the 1890s Depression, so most houses are well over a century old. Expect earthenware house drains and water lines that have been patched or partly replaced, and a camera before any repair is priced.
Through the first half of the twentieth century many big houses became boarding houses or were subdivided into flats. A converted mansion may share one old sewer branch and one water service between several homes, so who owns which length is agreed before work starts.
Council's felling of some mature elm street trees is what first brought residents together as the East Melbourne Group. Elms of that size are likely still lining some streets, and their roots go looking for the joints of old clay drains, so a slow or repeat blockage gets a camera first.
Jobs in East Melbourne
Shared branches, old joints and root entry
Blocked drains
Root entry in old clay joints, and branches shared by flats in a converted house.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to show whose length of a shared sewer branch holds the fault.
Gutters and downpipes
Replacement on registered and precinct buildings, with heritage approval allowed for.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
East Melbourne questions
Registered buildings, rail yard housing and storm runoff
Does heritage registration change how gutters and downpipes are replaced?
On many buildings, yes. Over 70 buildings and structures in East Melbourne are on the Victorian Heritage Register, and nearly the whole suburb was once listed as a historic precinct. Visible downpipes, gutters and external pipework there may need heritage approval, which adds lead time and limits materials.
Are the newer homes near Jolimont plumbed differently?
Usually. When the rail stabling was withdrawn, part of the old yards west of Jolimont was sold for private-sector housing. Those homes are recent, so PVC drains are more likely than clay, and faults tend to be at joints and fittings rather than roots.
Why does stormwater pond in heavy rain when the drain is clear?
City of Melbourne says the depot site at Fitzroy Gardens is the natural low point for the surrounding catchment, and runoff heads that way. In a downpour the street pits and the property's stormwater connection are checked before a private drain is blamed.
