Forest Hill
Blocked, burst or leaking in Forest Hill?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Forest Hill, from the postwar grid to the Forest Ridge estate, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Forest Hill
Orchards to a grid, then a television site
Lying well south of the railway, Forest Hill was unaffected by early land-subdivision schemes, and the orchards near Nunawading were cut up for housing only after the war. Prewar houses are rare, so sewer drains are likely late earthenware or early plastic rather than the older pipe nearer the line.
Victorian Places says the residential form was complete by about the end of the sixties, laid out as a grid street design before planners began steering traffic away from houses. Drains of a similar age and material run under most streets, so a failure found on one job is a fair guide to the next.
Whitehorse is staging new housing around the former ATV studios as the Forest Ridge estate. Recent plastic drains there often share sewer and stormwater branches under an owners corporation, so who owns a common line is settled before a price.
Jobs in Forest Hill
One generation of pipe and a new estate
Blocked drains
Roots in late postwar joints across the grid, and shared branches on the Forest Ridge estate.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to confirm the pipe material before relining or digging.
Gutters and downpipes
Roof plumbing on the studio buildings, with the heritage overlay checked first.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Forest Hill questions
Studio heritage, common branches and drain age
Does heritage control affect pipework on the old studio buildings?
Yes. Whitehorse reduced the overlay to the main buildings, the administrative block, studio block, scenery store and the transmission tower, so visible roof plumbing, downpipes or external pipes on those may need a heritage permit first. The new houses around them sit outside it.
Who pays for a blocked branch shared by several new homes?
Usually the owners corporation, where the branch is common property. The plan of subdivision shows which section belongs to whom.
When is a dig up better than a lining?
When one joint has failed in an otherwise sound pipe, a short dig can replace it. Roots at many joints along the run usually make a lining the better answer, and it leaves the garden alone.
