Niddrie
Blocked, burst or leaking in Niddrie?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Niddrie, from the tram line to Steele Creek, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Niddrie
Owner-built postwar homes and a creek boundary
The tram reached the suburb during the war, and Niddrie was settled residentially from the early 1950s. Houses of that age are likely to have clay sewers with mortar joints and galvanised steel water pipe, both near the end of their working life, so roots and corroded supply lines come up often.
Among the first builders were recipients of war service home loans and eastern European migrants, and many put up their own houses. Drains laid by owners, then extended for later additions, can turn up junctions that appear on no plan, so the line is traced with a camera before a price is given.
Jobs in Niddrie
Mortar joints, steel pipe and shared lines
Blocked drains
Shared branches behind townhouses, which make up nearly a third of homes, and roots in early fifties mortar joints.
Burst pipes
Galvanised steel water pipe from the first houses, rusting through from the inside.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to find junctions that owner-built extensions added without a plan.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Niddrie questions
Townhouse lots, creek flooding and old supply lines
Who pays for a blocked drain on a townhouse lot?
Often more than one owner. At the last Census, townhouses and semi-detached or row houses made up nearly a third of the suburb's homes, more than twice the Victorian share. A shared sewer branch may be owners corporation property, so ownership is settled before the work starts.
Why does my yard flood near the western edge?
The suburb ends at Steele Creek and wetlands, and the low ground beside them is the last to drain. In a downpour a stormwater pipe there can back up because its outlet is full rather than blocked, so the plumber checks the outlet before jetting.
Is old galvanised water pipe worth replacing?
Usually, once it starts leaking. Steel pipe rusts from inside, so the pressure falls and pinhole leaks spread along the run, and patching one spot rarely holds for long.
