Plumbers can repair drainage problems to avoid disputes.
A lot of people living in Sydney think that plumbers are only able to change daps, unblock drains or clear blocked toilets. Although we can do so many more things that relate to all the plumbing at your property including the bathroom plumbing. Basically we can help repair, replace or install anything related to your property’s plumbing from the connection to the street.
One of the things Nu-Trend’s plumbing team receives calls for is repairing drainage problems on a property. This is especially common for homes that have been built on sloping ground or are positioned below other homes but are in direction of water run off pathways. Depending on the landscaping around each property, whether retaining walls have been put in place or if there is the correct stormwater drainage installed the volume of water that can be managed may not be sufficient.
Our team of plumbers can assess a site & provide advice as well as recommendations to resolve this type of situation.
Why is repairing stormwater drainage problems so important for house owners?
Depending on the situation having stormwater drainage problems can create all sorts of damage to either your own property or the ones around you. In 80% of cases you may get away with it as average rainfall levels have been decreasing year on year for the last 20 years. Although since 2020 there has been really unusual weather patterns with flooding in Queensland, New South Wales and Melbourne. Heavy downpours, even in the suburbs of Sydney, can lead to an overflowing stormwater system that can cause all kinds of property damage.
Some of the potential damage could be;
- Water can build up and flood lower levels of a property that has living spaces or a garage.
- Water can wash off into a neighbours property.
- Water can damage house footings, building foundations and cause other types of unseen damage that isn’t immediately obvious.
There are also the legal obligations to consider where any property must have the ability to disperse water correctly. Nu-Trend is a Sydney plumber that can be contracted to inspect your stormwater drainage system to see potentially how efficient it is.
What caused the dispute about stormwater drainage at this property?
The house owner had to deal with two different issues relating to the stormwater drainage for this property.
a) It was about to be put on the market to be sold. So any existing problems or damage needed to be repaired to make sure it was suitable for sale & to achieve the highest selling price possible.
b) There was an ongoing dispute with the neighbour about where and how the stormwater was flowing between the properties. There was high volumes of concentrated water filling the neighbour’s yard during periods of heavy rain. This was caused by insufficient stormwater drainage installed that wasn’t capturing the water and flowing it away from either of the dwellings.
How much does it cost to fix a stormwater drainage problems?
No stormwater problem is the same as another, therefore it is impossible to quote a fixed price to repair these types of plumbing problems. Simple issues could be related to a blocked stormwater pit that needs cleaning but the other end of the spectrum could be the need to install new drainage systems, retaining walls and piping.
For this property in Sydney it turned out to be a job for our plumbers that took one and a half days to complete, costing around $2,500 ex gst to correct the drainage issues for this house. It wasn’t as simple as grabbing a few PVC pipes and joining them together, as licensed plumbers in Sydney we follow the correct procedures according to the latest Australian Standards;
- Identify the source and path of the stormwater flow using our CCTV Camera Inspection tools to look through all all the downpipes and storm water drains to the property.
- Confirm there were no blockages or other underlying issues preventing the correct water flow to occur.
- Using both the CCTV and Locator Tools we found the outlets in the ground that were directing the water flow into the neighbour’s yard.
- Run water tests to make sure what we could see was actually causing the problems.
- Determine a solution for the problem without excessive cost due to the property about to go to market.
- Install and test the new solution.
This was a cost effective solution to solve the drainage issues even though the piping was visible. All the piping we used was made of strong PVC with a mix of 90 and 45 degree bends to reach the appropriate locations.
What was an alternative solution to solve this drainage problem?
For every site that Nu-Trend attends we always give the house owner a few choices to solve their plumbing problems. In lots of cases there will be a simple way to repair something & then a longer term solution that fully corrects the underlying issue.
In this situation the more costly, but longer term, solution would have been to do a complete dig to correct the underground piping and create a new redirection. This would have been a visually more appealing outcome as the piping would have been under the group and this would have reduced the risk of the above ground piping getting damaged.
In this scenario the Client was under time and financial pressure to sell the property quickly, so they opted for the exterior piping option.
Why do you have to solve stormwater drainage problems?
Depending on the situation having stormwater drainage problems can create all sorts of damage to either your own property or the ones around you. In 80% of cases you may get away with it as average rainfall levels drop year on year. Although in the situations where there is heavy downpours an overflowing stormwater system can cause all kinds of havoc.
Water can build up and flood lower levels of a property, rooms, garages or wash off into a neighbours property. Water can damage house footings, building foundations and cause other types of unseen damage.
There are also the legal obligations to consider where any property must have the ability to disperse water correctly.
Who is responsible for stormwater runoff?
In New South Wales, local councils have the responsibility to manage stormwater drains and systems from public land (for example, roads and parks), private land that pays council rates or other land like Department of Housing properties. Where it can become a grey area is when water is running off a building or structure from one property into another one. This is where it is important to consider your neighbours to make sure they are not being adversely effected.
Where does stormwater drain off to?
If the stormwater isn’t channeled correctly from a property it can flow into neighbouring houses into people’s backyards, swimming pools or even outdoor rooms.
Does stormwater cause environmental problems?
Stormwater runoff can cause a number of environmental problems if it isn’t managed correctly.
The fast-moving stormwater runoff can erode stream banks, damaging hundreds of miles of aquatic habitat.
Stormwater runoff can push excess nutrients from fertilizers, pet waste and other sources into rivers and streams.
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Local | Licensed | Insured
Local Sydney contractors.
FULLY LICENCED 217859C
A qualified and licensed renovator.
INSURED $20,000,000
Public liability insurance for peace of mind.
Drainer | gas fitter | plumber | renovator
Nu-Trend is a Sydney company with more than 15 years experience completing bathroom renovations & solving plumbing problems. he Directors Rob and Rick are hands-on, and provide a personalised service.
STANDARDS AUSTRALIA AS/NZS3500:2018 Compliant
All the work carried out by Nu-Trend is AS/NZ3500:2018 compliant. It is the Australian Standard for Plumbing and Drainage in NSW as set down by Standards Australia and the Australian Building Codes Board. They give the plumbing industry technical direction to enable compliance with required regulatory frameworks.
15 years experience with a written commitment.
Rick and Rob are the hands-on directors for Nu-Trend. Rather than hire sub-contractors and manage their business from a distant office, they are on the tools, at your site & working towards delivering your bathroom renovation or plumbing service. It means you are talking directly to the owners of the business, the guys who are accountable and responsible rather than via email or through customer service teams.
It is why they are able to provide a written guarantee that demonstrates their confidence in standing by the quality of their workmanship and the service they deliver to every single client.
They have a very single minded commitment to deliver a high level of professionalism and quality, they’ve been doing renovation contracting in Sydney for 15+ years.