If water pools against the house every time it rains, backs up out of a pit, or runs somewhere it should not, the stormwater system is not coping. We repair, clear and install stormwater drainage across Sydney and the Sutherland Shire.
Stormwater is the system that takes rain off your roof and your property and carries it to the street or an easement. It is completely separate from your sewer, and when it fails the water has to go somewhere, which is usually under the house or through a neighbour’s yard.
Signs your stormwater is not coping
- Water pooling near the house after rain, especially against a wall or under a window
- A pit overflowing during ordinary rain rather than a downpour
- Downpipes backing up and spilling at the top
- Gutters overflowing when they are clean, which usually means the line below is blocked
- Soggy ground that never dries out, often over the line itself
- Water tracking under the house or into a garage or subfloor
- Erosion or silt fans where water is escaping and running across the surface
What causes it
- Leaf debris: the most common one. Leaves wash off the roof, through the downpipe and into the line, where they pack down and set. Sydney’s gums and figs drop year round, so this builds up quietly.
- Tree roots: roots follow moisture. A stormwater line with an open joint is exactly what they are looking for, and once in they keep growing.
- Damaged or collapsed pipes: older stormwater is often thin walled and shallow. Ground movement, vehicle loading over a driveway, or building work above the line breaks it.
- Silt and sand: washes in over years and settles in the low points, reducing capacity until the line only just copes, and then does not.
- Undersized or badly laid lines: original drainage laid for a smaller house, or a line without enough fall. Water sits in it instead of running through.
- Things that should not be there: builders rubble, concrete washings and general rubbish, usually from work done years ago.
