Mooroolbark
Blocked, burst or leaking in Mooroolbark?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Mooroolbark, from Brushy Creek to Bickleigh Vale, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Mooroolbark
Dairy farms turned sixties streets
Settlement was slow until after the war, then in the sixties the small dairy farmers sold their land for housing subdivision, Victorian Places says. Much of the suburb dates from those years, and original earthenware or early PVC drains with cracked joints and tree roots are the likely cause of a blockage that returns.
Close to the station and shops, a council housing strategy picked Mooroolbark as a centre where medium and higher density residential development were encouraged. Unit sites there often share one sewer branch or stormwater line, so who owns it, and whether an owners corporation has to agree, comes before the work.
Brushy Creek rises and falls quickly. The council's summary of the SES flood guide notes the mix of hilly and flat ground, where sudden intense rainfall can lead to episodes of flash flooding. A yard pit that overflows in a downpour on the flat may be the creek or the street drains surcharging, not a blocked property line.
Jobs in Mooroolbark
Sixties lines, unit branches and storm overflow
Blocked drains
Earthenware and early PVC drains from the dairy farm subdivisions, and shared branches on unit sites.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to separate a root problem from a creek that is running high.
Gutters and downpipes
Downpipes and pits that overflow when a storm drops a lot of rain at once.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Mooroolbark questions
Bickleigh Vale, its pines and registered gardens
Does a drain job inside Bickleigh Vale need a heritage permit?
Often. The Victorian Heritage Register describes a landscaped village of approximately 10ha created in the 1920s by Edna Walling, with stone walls, ponds and gravel drives. A trench that would disturb those is likely to need a Heritage Victoria permit or exemption first, which adds lead time and limits where a new pipe can run.
Why do old drains block near the village's pines?
The register lists numerous Monterey pines along the roads and throughout the estate, among elms, poplars and gums. Their roots are a likely source of intrusion at old joints, and because the planting is part of a registered landscape, camera work and relining come ahead of digging.
Who has to agree before a shared unit drain is opened?
Where one branch serves several units, the owners corporation usually needs to agree, and the cost falls on the owners that branch serves rather than on one household.
