24 hour plumbing in Coombs, Canberra
Coombs is the first of the Molonglo Valley suburbs, developed from 2013 on the slopes above the Molonglo River between Weston Creek and Stromlo. It is dense by Canberra standards, with townhouses and apartments on small lots, young families, and a local shopping centre that opened well after the first residents moved in.
What usually goes wrong in Coombs
- Pressure limiting valves over a decade old failing and sending mains pressure through the house
- Leaks at crimp fittings behind walls and under slabs from quick original fit-outs
- Shared sewer lines in townhouse complexes backing up into several units at once
- Settlement on deep-cut blocks cracking sewer and stormwater connections at the boundary
- Garden taps and exposed pipes on hilltop streets splitting in frost
Local notes from the plumbers
Coombs is one of the newest suburbs on the site and the calls are nothing like the ones from Woden Valley. Building started in 2013 on small lots, with townhouses, terraces and apartment blocks packed along the Molonglo River corridor. Everything is PEX and PVC, hot water is mains-pressure electric or heat pump, and the water pressure across the estate is controlled by pressure limiting valves at the meter. Those valves are now over a decade old and they are the most common cause of a sudden pressure rise, a dripping relief valve or banging pipes. The second most common call is a leak at a crimp fitting behind a wall or under a slab, usually in a house where the original fit-out was done quickly. Townhouse complexes share sewer lines, so a blockage in one unit backs up into several. Clay is present here too, and the earthworks on some blocks were deep, so settlement has cracked stormwater and sewer connections at the boundary. Frost is milder along the river but the exposed hilltop streets still lose garden taps every winter.
Housing in Coombs
Townhouses, terraces, apartment blocks and detached homes on small lots built from 2013 onwards along the Molonglo River corridor, with PEX and PVC pipework, mains-pressure hot water and pressure limiting valves at the meter.