Planning a landscaping, construction or renovation project? Keen to avoid damaging your home’s vital plumbing infrastructure? Struggling to identify a stormwater blockage or issue to implement repairs? There are plenty of reasons why you might be asking the question: How do I find stormwater pipes on my property?
How to find stormwater pipe infrastructure
At first glance, it can sound strange that a homeowner can’t find their own stormwater pipes. After all, they’re an integral part of your property’s infrastructure, managing and directing potentially devastating runoff to prevent flooding, water damage and erosion and keeping your neighbourhood and community safe.
But if you can’t find yours, it’s actually not as silly as it sounds. Stormwater pipes can be buried, inaccessible and practically invisible to a property owner, and the records you have may be incomplete, outdated or lost. Perhaps landscaping or renovations have obscured those pipes in the fog; maybe the pipe routing patterns are unusual; it’s even possible changes in property boundaries have left some pipes in a neighbouring location!
How to locate stormwater pipes – Your easy guide
So how’s it done, then? If you’re new to plumbing and stormwater drainage systems, or you simply need some extra help to locate those elusive pipes, our stormwater pipe locator guide is all you need:
1. Got the documents?
The best place to start is with the paperwork – your map to the hidden treasures of your property. Check the property documents you have in your records, including building or site plans, and you should be able to figure out the lay of the land when it comes to your critical stormwater system.
2. Can you see a visible indicator?
You know those pipes are out there somewhere, so it’s time to take a stroll around your property with your eyes peeled. If you find drainage grates, downpipes or plumber access points, you’re certainly getting close! And if you’re even wondering how to find storm water drains on your property, you’re looking for a metal or plastic grate – because the pipe infrastructure lays beneath.
3. What are your property’s boundaries?
Are you sure you know what and where the boundaries of your property are – exactly? Sure, it’s just logical that your stormwater pipes are in there somewhere, but what you may be forgetting about are any potential encroachments or easements that may affect the pipe locations.
4. Follow your roof gutters
When a drop of rain hits the roof, it dribbles into the gutters and then into the downpipes. The likely next destination, of course, is the mysterious stormwater pipes. Eureka!
5. Follow the slope
Hardly any land is dead-flat, but if the natural slopes and contours of your property are particularly clear, you’re now getting into the minds of the people who laid your stormwater pipes. That’s because those pipes normally follow the natural flow of gravity, so look out in the direction of the downward slope or where water tends to collect.
6. Use a probing tool
It’s at this point that we need to caution that poking and prodding into the ground might be something you want to leave to the Brisbane drain plumbing professionals – because these are pipes that are all too easy to damage or destroy. But if you’ve got some basic surveying experience, you could take your knowledge of where you think those pipes probably are and a probing tool to do some ‘fishing’ for those pipes. Once you feel resistance, you may just have found that missing pipe.
Drain Masters – The ultimate stormwater pipe locator
But remember, if you’re not confident, or you simply can’t find those hidden stormwater pipes despite your best efforts, it’s time to get the true drain masters on the case. And Brisbane’s most trusted drain masters, of course, are Ashgrove-based Drain Masters Plumbing – a family-owned team of plumbing & drainage specialists with all the equipment and know-how you could ever need for even the most complex of hidden pipes. Get in touch with Drain Masters Plumbing today.
