Tips
Spring storm season: five minutes that stop a flooded garage
Every spring we get the same calls after the first big storm: water through the garage, a courtyard that turned into a pond, a downpipe that split at the join. Most of them were avoidable with a quick walk around the house in dry weather.
Check these before the rain
- Gutters and downpipes. Leaves, tennis balls and the odd bird’s nest. If water sheets over the edge of the gutter in a storm, it isn’t reaching the downpipe, and it’s probably going into the wall or the footings instead.
- Downpipe outlets at ground level. Where does the water go? Into a stormwater pit or pipe is good. Onto the path, or into a garden bed against the house, is not.
- Grates and pits. Lift the grate on any surface drain or pit you can see. Silt, leaves and roots build up and the pit stops draining. Clear what you can reach.
- Overflow relief gully. That grated fitting in the ground near the kitchen or laundry, usually about 10 cm across, is the overflow for your sewer. It should sit lower than the floor and be clear of paving and pot plants.
- The low point. Stand in the yard and find the lowest spot. If it’s against the house, water will pool there. Sometimes the answer is a new grated drain; sometimes it’s just moving a garden bed.
When to call us
If a drain gurgles, drains slowly, or backs up in heavy rain, that’s usually tree roots or a collapsed section of pipe, and no amount of clearing the grate fixes it. We put a camera down the line, find the problem, and quote the repair before we start.
We also clear and jet blocked stormwater lines, replace cracked downpipes, and put in new stormwater drainage and pits where the original was never adequate. The job in the photo is a full stormwater system on a commercial site, laid in gravel-bedded trenches so it will drain for decades.
Water where it shouldn’t be? Call 0409 971 476, any hour. If it’s not urgent, send us a message and we’ll book a time.
