Oakleigh
Blocked, burst or leaking in Oakleigh?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Oakleigh, from the station to Scotchmans Creek, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Oakleigh
Pan collection, brick pits and the first sewers
Oakleigh ran on a pan collection system until the 1920s. The western parts of the town were connected to the sewer first, and the eastern side stayed on pans or septic tanks for years after. Earthenware drains with cement joints are likely in the older western streets, with later pipe further east.
Brickworks once dug clay out of the ground south of Scotchmans Creek, and the holes they left were later filled by tipping. Filled ground keeps settling, so a drain laid across it can sag or crack at a joint. A camera shows the fall of the pipe before anyone chooses between a patch, a lining or a new run.
Near the centre, the State Government has approved a tall building with apartments, ground-floor shops and four levels of basement parking. Basements that deep sit below the street sewer and rely on pumps and backflow protection, and the water corporation's consent process sets the timing for connections nearby.
Jobs in Oakleigh
Earthenware sewers and settling fill
Blocked drains
Old earthenware lines in the western streets, and cracked joints in settling ground near Scotchmans Creek.
Commercial plumbing
Pumped sumps and backflow protection for sites with ground-floor shops and four levels of basement parking.
Pipe relining
A lining for house drains under nature strips replanted with Acer platanoides (Norway Maple).
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Oakleigh questions
Maple roots, discharge permits and heritage roofs
Why do maple roots get into drains under the nature strip?
Council has nominated some Oakleigh trees for renewal with Acer platanoides (Norway Maple), a shallow, fibrous rooted species. As they grow, those roots look for the joints of house drains and stormwater pipes, so a repeat blockage is cut back and checked with a camera rather than cleared blind.
What paperwork comes before a new stormwater connection?
Monash requires a Stormwater Connection Permit before anyone connects to or alters its drains, pits or kerb and channel. The application carries a copy of the council's Legal Point of Discharge Report, so that report is ordered first and the permit lodged ahead of the connection day.
Does a heritage overlay stop downpipes being replaced?
Not if they match. In Monash a heritage overlay property needs a planning permit for externally altering a building by structural work, but repairs and routine maintenance using the same details and materials do not. A gutter or downpipe in a new profile may need that permit and its lead time.
