Blocked stormwater lines
Jetted clear and camera-checked, so you know whether it was a one-off or the pipe is failing.
Blocked stormwater lines, downpipes that overflow in every storm, water pooling against the slab, and yards that never dry out — traced to the cause, then fixed.
Stormwater problems tend to show up in the worst weather. A downpipe that spills over in a storm, water running towards the house instead of away from it, or a soggy patch of lawn that never dries — most of these come back to a stormwater line that is blocked, broken or was never laid with enough fall.
Stormwater is not the same system as sewer. Roof water and surface water are carried in their own pipes to the kerb or another lawful discharge point, and connecting stormwater into the sewer is not allowed. That matters when a fix is designed, because the water has to end up somewhere it is permitted to go.
Roots, mostly. Stormwater lines are often shallow and jointed, and roots looking for water find them first. Leaves and silt washed off the roof and the yard settle in low points, and once a line is partly blocked it fills faster every storm.
Older stormwater runs are frequently earthenware or thin-wall PVC, and both crack under driveways and around tree roots. A cracked line still carries water, but it leaks into the soil around it — which is often the real cause of a wet patch beside the house.
A blocked stormwater line is jetted clear, then a drain camera shows whether the pipe is damaged. Root-damaged or cracked stormwater pipe can be relined from the inside the same way as sewer, which matters when the line runs under a driveway or garden.
Where a section has collapsed or never had enough fall, it is dug out and relaid properly. Both options are quoted before work starts.
Detail
Jetted clear and camera-checked, so you know whether it was a one-off or the pipe is failing.
Usually a blocked or undersized line below the downpipe rather than the downpipe itself. Traced and cleared or replaced.
Grated pits and surface drains where water collects in the yard or against the house, connected into the stormwater system.
Excavated and relaid with the right fall, or relined where digging would mean breaking concrete or landscaping.
Root-damaged and cracked stormwater pipe repaired from the inside with a cured-in-place liner.
New and replacement connections from downpipes into the underground line, so roof water goes into the pipe and not the garden bed.
A job Niles has done
Every photo on this site is work Brigs Plumbing has completed, not stock photography.
Completed work
Real Brigs Plumbing photos of stormwater and drainage work.
Related
If the overflow starts at the roof, the gutter or downpipe sizing may be the problem.
Gutters and downpipesRepair stormwater pipe under driveways and gardens without a trench.
Pipe reliningCollapsed and badly laid lines dug out and relaid.
Drain repairs and replacementQuestions
Usually because the underground line it drains into is partly blocked by roots or silt, so it cannot take the water as fast as the roof sends it. Sometimes the downpipe or the line is simply too small for the roof area. Clearing and checking the line comes first.
No. Stormwater has to go to the kerb, a street drain or another lawful point of discharge. Connecting it to the sewer overloads the sewer in storms and is not permitted.
Often. It may be a blocked or broken stormwater line, a downpipe that is not connected to anything, or a yard that needs surface drainage. Each is fixable; the first step is finding which one it is.
The stormwater pipes on your property are generally the owner's to maintain, up to where they discharge to the kerb or a council drain.
Yes. Cracked and root-damaged stormwater pipe relines the same way sewer pipe does, as long as the pipe still holds its shape.
Nearby
Describe the problem on the phone. If it can be sorted without a visit, it will be.
Licensed plumbing, drainage, pipe relining and roof plumbing across Brisbane and the surrounding councils — Redland, Logan, Moreton Bay and Ipswich. Based in Thorneside.
QBCC licence 15161521
Member, Master Plumbers’ Association of Queensland
ABN 44 526 011 279