Yarraville
Blocked, burst or leaking in Yarraville?
Blocked drains, burst pipes and leaks in Yarraville, from the Victorian township streets to Yarraville Gardens, passed to a licensed plumber day and night.
Plumbing in Yarraville
Bluestone ground and narrow township lots
Yarraville is situated on basaltic land, and bluestone was once quarried here as ballast for ships on the river and the bay. Rock close to the surface makes a sewer trench slow and may need breaking gear, so a camera survey and a lining are usually the gentler answer.
Most houses in the old township streets came before the motor car, with no provision originally for on-site vehicle parking on their narrow frontages. Without a driveway, a jetter trailer or small digger cannot reach the back yard, so expect long hose runs from the street and hand digging beside the house.
Yarraville West was developed in the 1920s by meat king William Angliss and boomed after the war. Interwar and postwar houses there likely drain through earthenware with mortar joints, where cracked collars and root entry are the faults to look for first.
Jobs in Yarraville
Rock, elms and tight access
Blocked drains
Earthenware joints under front gardens lined with mature elm street tree planting.
Pipe relining
A lining where basalt makes an open trench slow and costly.
Gutters and downpipes
Matching profiles on Victorian and Edwardian weatherboards in the heritage area.
What it costs: hot water replacement cost, gutter replacement cost, toilet installation cost
Yarraville questions
Elm roots, heritage gutters and the old mill site
Why does the same drain keep blocking in the old streets?
The residential precinct is valued in part for its mature elm street tree planting from the Victorian era. Old elms send roots into the joints of earthenware house drains under front gardens, so a repeat blockage is likely roots, and a camera inspection is the place to start.
Do gutters on a heritage weatherboard need a permit to replace?
They may. The Yarraville Residential Heritage Area protects small Victorian and Edwardian single storey houses, mainly weatherboard with corrugated iron roofs and front verandahs. New gutters, downpipes or roof plumbing on the street face may need a heritage permit and matching profiles, so that is checked first.
Who has to agree before a drain is opened at Yarraville Gardens?
The former Bradmill cotton mill site became a new precinct dubbed Yarraville Gardens, with houses and a neighbourhood centre. Homes on an estate like that are likely to share private drains and common property under an owners corporation, so its consent and the estate drainage plans come before a branch is opened.
