Sunshine
Blocked, burst or leaking in Sunshine?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Sunshine, from the Railway Station Estate to the McKay Housing Estate, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Sunshine
Boom era allotments, concrete walls and munitions housing
Sunshine's Railway Station Estate was first sold in the land boom, and its few remaining early houses are amongst the oldest in the district. Drains under houses that old are often early earthenware, or a patchwork of sections laid at different times, so cracked joints are expected and a camera is booked before any repair is priced.
The estate's allotments were narrow, and in some cases two houses were built on one allotment. A sewer branch on a split lot may be shared or may cross next door's land, so the property sewerage plan is read before a blockage is chased. Some of the old rear lanes still let a jetter in from behind.
One small court of houses is known for the early and rare use of concrete, in the walls and in the road itself. Breaking through concrete is slow and costly, so locating the pipe and lining it from a pit can beat digging.
Jobs in Sunshine
Split lots, concrete and corrugated iron
Blocked drains
Shared branches on split allotments, and early earthenware under the oldest estate houses.
CCTV drain inspection
A camera to trace a pipe around concrete walls before anything is broken out.
Gutters and downpipes
Profiles matched on corrugated iron roofs in the heritage estates.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Sunshine questions
Maisonettes, precinct permits and deep setbacks
Who owns the drain under a maisonette?
In the Commonwealth Munitions Housing Estate many houses are brick, most of them semi-detached residences or maisonettes. The two halves may share a sewer branch or a stormwater line, so which run belongs to whom is settled before either neighbour is billed for clearing it.
Does a heritage precinct change gutter or downpipe work?
In that munitions estate, yes. Brimbank Council's design guidelines say that before any works begin on a heritage site, a planning permit is required, so new external pipework, gutters or roof plumbing there allow lead time and follow the original style.
Why are sewer runs longer in the McKay estate?
Its houses have steep corrugated iron roofs, weatherboard cladding and timber trimmed verandahs, on generous allotments with deep setbacks. A deep setback means a longer private sewer line out to the front, and replacement gutters on those roofs should match the original profile.
