South Yarra
Blocked, burst or leaking in South Yarra?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in South Yarra, from the Tivoli streets on the hill to the apartment blocks, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in South Yarra
A suburb of apartments over Victorian drains
At the last Census about four in five of South Yarra's occupied private dwellings were flats or apartments, more than six times the state's share. Most drain jobs are in apartment buildings, where the stack, common sewer branch and basement pumps belong to the owners corporation, so access, the building manager and who pays are settled up front.
The Tivoli heritage area is a densely settled Victorian locality resulting from the subdivision of the Tivoli estate, with small timber houses low on the hill and two storey terraces toward the crest. Victorian houses are likely to keep earthenware drains and old galvanised water services, and on a slope the falls are checked and root entry at clay joints expected before a quote.
Jobs in South Yarra
Apartment stacks and hillside clay
Blocked drains
Stacks and common branches in apartment buildings, with the owners corporation first.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera through earthenware on the Tivoli hill, checking falls as it goes.
Pipe relining
A lining near protected street trees where digging is not wanted.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
South Yarra questions
Rebuilt streets, tree pits and the heritage review
Why does my drain back up beside a newly rebuilt street?
Where Stonnington closed an intersection and delivered a new stormwater drainage system with bluestone paving, the council pipes are new, so a property drain that backs up is likely a private fault. Lifting that bluestone needs council consent and reinstatement in kind.
Can a stormwater pipe join the kerb anywhere near tree pits?
Not always. One South Yarra street was rebuilt with drainage designed to allow passive irrigation of the street trees, feeding water to the tree pits. That changes where a property line may join at the kerb, so council's connection point is confirmed before a pipe is relaid.
Does the South Yarra heritage review affect downpipes?
It may. The review, the fourth suburb-by-suburb review in Stonnington, would apply the heritage overlay to new places and precincts, and submissions have gone to an independent panel. Before visible downpipes, gutters or external pipework are replaced, the amendment's current status is checked with council.
