Plumber Maylands

Maylands WA 6051, City of Bayswater. About 5 km north-east of the Perth CBD.

Maylands is a riverside inner suburb about five kilometres north-east of the Perth CBD in the City of Bayswater, on the northern bank of the Swan River. It was developed from the 1890s, so the older housing runs services well past a century old, and the suburb carries a higher proportion of flats and apartments than most of its neighbours. Part of it sits on ground that was once clay pits for the Maylands Brickworks, which is worth knowing before anyone quotes drainage work here.

• Former brickworks clay pits under part of the suburbClay was dug here for brick and tile making and the pits were later filled and built over. Clay ground drains very differently to sand: soak wells perform poorly in it and excavation is heavier work, so we establish what is actually under a property before pricing any drainage job rather than assuming Perth sand.
• Housing developed from the 1890sThe oldest Maylands homes run galvanised supply and earthenware sewer laid well over a century ago. The galvanised narrows internally until pressure drops away and the earthenware joints open up and let roots in, and both are at the end of their life across whole streets rather than house by house.
• A high proportion of flats and apartmentsMore of Maylands is strata than most suburbs nearby, and in a block of flats a leak reported in one unit frequently originates in another or in shared pipework. Establishing whether the fault sits in the lot or in common property is what decides who pays, so we document it in writing.
• Large old houses divided into flatsWhere a big Federation house has been split into several dwellings, the water service and hot water unit were sized for one household and now serve three or four. That is why tenants run out of hot water here, and the fix is upgrading the service rather than replacing the unit like for like.