Ten years of residential development has given Coburg’s streets a whole new look & feel. Townhouses have popped up on what used to be big postwar blocks, apartment conversions have chopped up the original family homes into smaller units, and household numbers have ballooned. But down at pipe level, things have not kept up. Much of Coburg’s drainage system was put in place back in the 50s and 60s sized and configured for a fraction of the people who live there now. Year by year the gap is getting bigger between what the suburb is throwing at the system and what those ageing pipes can actually handle.
A Suburb in Transition with Infrastructure Stuck in the Past
Along Sydney Road and Bell Street, you still see those old heritage homes with original clay pipes running right beneath the roots of the big old elm and plane trees. Those trees were planted when the pipes were new, and now the roots have found all sorts of weaknesses in the old pipes every tiny crack and joint separation. Root damage in Coburg’s older streets isn’t just something that happens now and then it’s built right into the way the suburb’s trees and pipes have been looking after each other for decades.
Newer townhouse developments use the latest in modern PVC drainage, but they still connect to the old sewer system at the property boundary where the original clay pipes are still in use. That’s where the problems tend to start the new bit works fine, but the old bit beside it is shot.
What Coburg Homeowners Get Wrong About Plumbing?
A dripping tap might seem like no big deal but its actual hidden costs add up in a hurry. For instance, a single tap that’s dripping away can waste tens of thousands of litres of water in a year, and in a house with a few dodgy fittings to boot, the savings from fixing the issue can pay for itself long before the next water bill comes out.
And then there are slow drains people often think they’ll be okay if they just sit tight and wait for the next thing to go wrong. Newsflash: blocked drains don’t just magically fix themselves. Over time, roots inside old pipes just keep growing, and grease in the kitchen lines gets thicker and thicker until it’s too hard for even the strongest cleaners to shift. So what do you do? You wait, and the eventual full blockage ends up costing a lot more to clear, and can even cause damage to the pipes themselves.
Finally, let’s get one thing straight if you just pick up the phone and dial any old plumber without checking if they’re local or have the best knowledge of the area you’re in, you might end up calling them back a few weeks later because the problem isn’t really fixed. A plumber who doesn’t know the local terrain, i.e., the age and condition of the pipes might clear out the obvious blockage, but leave the real problem to fester so you end up calling them back again. A proper diagnosis upfront can save you a whole heap of hassle in the long run.
The Heritage Home Plumbing Problem
Coburg’s Edwardian and interwar housing stock was built with a nasty little problem: supply pipes that gradually corrode from the inside out over time. Back in the day, the suburb’s older residential streets were lined with original cast iron and galvanised steel water mains which are still in many properties where the internal plumbing got a bit neglected. Don’t be surprised if you see discoloured water coming out of the hot and cold taps and showerheads or reduced flow this is often a sign that the pipes have got to the point where they start to corrode, rather than a problem with the mains supply.
When it comes to replacing these pipes in heritage homes, the plumber Coburg you choose needs to be a mate who knows his way around restricted access. Working with original brickwork, period timber flooring, and narrow wall cavities is a challenge it affects how pipes can be routed and replaced. That’s why it makes sense to pick a plumber with experience in Coburg’s specific housing conditions they’ll know how to do the job without causing any damage to the heritage fabric that’s so hard to fix if it gets bashed.
Emergency Plumbing: What to Do While Waiting?
When a pipe goes kaput inside a Coburg home, the length of time between the disaster and the plumber turning up is the bit that really makes a difference. This is when a bit of planning can save a lot of hassle.
First of all, turn the water supply off at the stopcock pronto. In older Coburg homes, this is usually near the front of the property, or under the kitchen sink. Take a minute to figure out where it is now and take a photo so you know exactly where it is when the time comes. Photograph the damage before you start cleaning up. Insurance claims aren’t just about getting the plumber in, but also about documenting what happened at the time. Keep an eye on the affected area and don’t use any electrical gear in that room until a licensed plumber has given the all-clear you don’t want to make things worse by adding water and electricity to the mix. These steps won’t fix the problem, but they sure do help narrow down what needs fixing.
