Balaclava
Blocked, burst or leaking in Balaclava?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Balaclava, from the flat buildings to the small weatherboard houses, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Balaclava
Flats, weatherboards and level ground
Victorian Places records that flats and units made up 60.1 percent of occupied dwellings here, far above the national share. A blockage or a burst often sits on a shared branch, so which lot owns the pipe, and whether an owners corporation must agree, is settled early.
eMelbourne describes streets that are a mix of flats and small detached weatherboard houses. A weatherboard on stumps usually leaves its pipes reachable from underneath, while the flat buildings beside it hide theirs in walls and shared risers.
Jobs in Balaclava
Shared risers and underfloor pipes
Blocked drains
Shared sewer lines on unit sites, traced to the lot that owns them.
Burst pipes
Old supply pipe under weatherboard floors, reached from the crawl space.
Leak detection
A hidden leak in a wall or riser of a flat building, found before anything is opened.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Balaclava questions
Slow grades and changing laneways
Why do stormwater drains run slowly here?
The suburb forms the mainly flat south-eastern section of the former City of St Kilda. Drains on level ground have little fall, so silt builds and storm water lingers, and the gradient is checked before a line is relaid.
What happens to rear drains when council sells a laneway?
Port Phillip has endorsed selling a car park and its lanes behind the main shopping strip, and will finalise access for the shops, discontinue laneways and sell the land. Lanes often carry rear drains and sewer branches, so before a job behind those shops the pipe route and rear access are confirmed with council and the water corporation.
Who approves work on a pipe shared by several units?
Usually the owners corporation, once the plumber has worked out which section is common property. A fault inside one lot stays with that lot's owner.
