Wyndham Vale
Blocked, burst or leaking in Wyndham Vale?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Wyndham Vale, from the Werribee boundary to the Lollypop Creek, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Wyndham Vale
Eighties estates on reactive clay
Just west of Werribee, the suburb's residential development began in the early 1980s, so even its oldest houses are likely to have PVC drains rather than earthenware. Faults there tend to be joints that have moved or let roots in, more than broken clay.
Wyndham City Council says many homes in the municipality sit on reactive clay, and that leaking or disconnected stormwater pipes can flood the soil close to a building. When cracks or soggy ground show up beside a house, the stormwater line is tested and repaired before anything else.
Homes backing onto the linear park along the Lollypop Creek, with lakes and a walking trail, drain toward the creek corridor. When a stormwater line backs up in a storm, the outfall and the creek level are checked before a downpipe is blamed.
Jobs in Wyndham Vale
Moving joints and wet footings
Leak detection
A stormwater line tested where reactive clay beside the footings has turned soggy.
Blocked drains
Roots and shifted joints in eighties PVC house drains.
Gutters and downpipes
Downpipes reconnected so roof water stops soaking the clay under a house.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Wyndham Vale questions
Young street trees, separate houses and a heritage site
Where do roots in an estate drain come from?
Usually young street and garden trees. The National Trust lists one river red gum here as an example of a large tree that Wyndham is lacking due to soil type and rainfall, so old giants are rare. A camera finds the entry point before any tree is blamed.
Is a blocked sewer likely to be shared with neighbours?
Seldom. Of the homes counted at the last Census, only fifteen were flats or apartments, so nearly every house has its own drain, traced from its inspection shaft to Greater Western Water's main.
Can a drain trench go near the old sheep wash?
Only with care. The remains of an old sheep wash in the suburb are on the Victorian Heritage Inventory, so a drain trench or new connection near it is likely to need Heritage Victoria consent before the ground is opened.
