Plumber Jarrahdale

Jarrahdale WA 6124, Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale. About 45 km south-east of the Perth CBD.

Jarrahdale sits about forty-five kilometres south-east of the Perth CBD in the Darling Range, a historic timber town in the Gooralong valley with a heritage precinct managed by the National Trust. Buildings here range from nineteenth-century mill cottages to modern bush homes. For a plumber that means very old plumbing in some properties, tanks and septic systems rather than mains services, rock and roots under every trench, and heritage constraints on what can be altered.

• Genuinely old buildingsSome Jarrahdale properties date from the mill era, and their plumbing has been added to piecemeal for a century. Work on those houses starts with finding out what is actually there rather than assuming a standard layout behind the wall.
• Heritage constraints on what can changeIn the heritage precinct you cannot simply run a new pipe wherever it suits. Replacing a hot water unit or a bathroom there means finding a solution that works without altering the fabric, and that is a planning job as much as a plumbing one.
• Steep valley ground with rock and rootsThe Gooralong valley is steep, rocky and full of jarrah roots, so any trench for a water line, a drain or a soak well is slow work. We assess the ground before quoting rather than pricing it like a suburban block.
• Tanks and septic systems instead of mainsMost properties here run rainwater tanks with a pump and a septic system for waste. There is no mains supply to fall back on, so pump servicing, filtration and scheduled septic pump-outs are what keep a house liveable.