Ageing Hot Water in 1970s Endeavour Hills Homes

A tight path and a twenty-year-old tank

Plenty of original Endeavour Hills houses still run a gas storage unit on the downhill side of the house, hard against a fence or a retaining wall. Those units do a lot of quiet work until a relief valve weeps, a pilot will not hold, or the tank itself starts to leak. Access is often the awkward part: a narrow path, a drop beside a wall, or a gate that will not let a cylinder through.

A dripping relief valve is not always a dead tank. We test before we condemn the unit. A leaking cylinder, repeated lockouts or heavy corrosion usually mean a changeover is the honest advice.

Repair versus replacement

Valves, thermostats and pilots can be worth repairing when the tank is otherwise sound. A short-term repair that gets you through a weekend can also be the right call, as long as it is described that way. When we recommend a replacement, the quote includes getting the old unit out — sometimes down the front steps — the new unit, the required valves, and the certificate.

Do not keep relighting a pilot that will not stay alight, and do not ignore a wet path under the unit. Call 03 8658 7175 and we will talk you through the safe checks before we arrive.

Choosing the next unit

Like-for-like gas storage, a heat pump on a level plinth with airflow, or, in some houses, a continuous-flow unit: the right choice depends on the gas or electrical supply, the space and the way you use hot water. The slope of the block is part of that choice, because a heat pump needs air and a level pad, not a closed stairwell.

Endeavour Hills pipes at a glance

Endeavour Hills was built through the 1970s and 1980s on rising ground between Dandenong and the Lysterfield hills, postcode 3802, in the City of Casey. A lot of the original brick veneer is still on the block it was built on, often with a steep drive, a sleeper or concrete retaining wall and a stormwater pit at the low corner. Water services may be copper, with patches of later poly, and many sewers are still earthenware with tree roots from street and backyard plantings. Hot water is often a gas storage unit squeezed onto a narrow side path, which is why a replacement sometimes has to come down the front steps.

We use cameras, locators, pressure tests and acoustic leak detection so we can see the pipework before anyone cuts a wall or opens a trench on a slope.

Related services

• Emergency plumbing
• Blocked drains
• Hot water
• Gas fitting
• Hot water replacement
• Heat pumps
• Leaking taps
• Burst pipes
• Toilets
• Leak detection
• Pipe relining
• Stormwater
• Roof and gutters
• Bathrooms
• Commercial plumbing
• Backflow and maintenance

More guides

• Stormwater on sloping blocks
• Retaining walls and ag drains
• Ageing hot water in 1970s homes
• Tree roots in hillside sewers
• Choosing a plumber
• No hot water checklist
• Burst pipe, first minutes
• Leaking tap, when to call
• Gas heater safety
• Finding your meter on a slope
• Water pressure on the hills
• Hot water for split-level homes