Travancore
Blocked, burst or leaking in Travancore?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Travancore, from Flemington Hill to the Moonee Ponds Creek, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Travancore
Apartment drains, back lanes and an olive tree
About three in four homes in the suburb are flats and apartments, against about one in eight across Victoria. Apartment buildings usually share their drains, so a blockage can sit in a common sewer branch, and who owns and pays for that pipe is worked out with the owners corporation before a quote.
Most houses and flats date from the inter-war period, built in two waves in the twenties and the later thirties. That points to earthenware sewers with rigid joints in most streets, likely patched since in other materials, so root and joint faults are expected and a camera survey is planned.
Most of the seven streets have rear laneways, which give a way to the back of a property for a camera or a jetter without crossing a front garden. The lanes are narrow, so the size of the truck is checked and the ground is protected.
Jobs in Travancore
Common branches and old earthenware
Blocked drains
Common sewer branches under apartment buildings, sorted with the owners corporation.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera from the back lane along earthenware laid in two inter-war waves.
Gutters and downpipes
Visible downpipes on houses and flats inside the heritage precinct, cleared with council first.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Travancore questions
Creek edge flooding, heritage downpipes and a listed tree
Why does a drain near the park back up in a storm?
Travancore Park runs beside the Moonee Ponds Creek, and council has said a path close to the channel, where the embankment is shallower, would carry a significant flooding risk. Near that edge a backup may be overland water from the creek, so the plumber checks its route before assuming a blocked pipe.
Does the heritage overlay affect replacing downpipes?
Usually. The estate sits in Moonee Valley's Heritage Overlay as a precinct of local significance, so visible downpipes, roof plumbing and outside pipework need council consent before they change.
Can roots from the corner olive be cut out of a drain?
Only with care. The common olive on one of the estate's corners is on the Local Tree Register, and council protection may rule out heavy root cutting. Relining the drain is often the way around it.
