24 hour plumbing in Gordon, Canberra
Gordon is as far south as suburban Canberra goes. It borders Conder and Banks, sits close to Lanyon Marketplace for shopping, and backs onto the Murrumbidgee River at Point Hut. The houses are newer and the pipework is in better shape than the northern valley, but the cold is harder and the distance from the rest of the city is real.
What usually goes wrong in Gordon
- Split garden taps, relief lines and evaporative cooler pipes on the coldest mornings of the year
- Early 1990s replacement hot water systems now reaching the end of their own life
- Pressure limiting valves fitted with mains-pressure hot water failing and dropping flow
- Tree roots in sewer lines on the streets closest to Point Hut Pond and the river corridor
- Blocked stormwater and gutters flooding garages on the sloping blocks above Tharwa Drive
Local notes from the plumbers
Gordon is one of the last suburbs built in the valley, mostly from 1991 onwards, and it sits at the southern end near Point Hut Crossing where the cold air pools on winter nights. Frost is the story here. Garden taps, hot water relief lines and the pipes feeding evaporative coolers on the roof split on the coldest mornings, usually the week the temperature drops below minus four. The houses are brick veneer on slabs with PVC drainage and copper or early plastic water lines, so the pipework is generally sound; it is the equipment that fails. Original hot water systems from the early 1990s have now been replaced once, and those replacements are themselves reaching the end of their life. Pressure limiting valves installed with mains-pressure hot water are common failure points. Gordon is a long way from the rest of Canberra, and travel time down Drakeford Drive and Tharwa Drive is part of any honest arrival estimate. Point Hut Pond and the Murrumbidgee corridor mean tree roots are on the move in the streets closest to the river.
Housing in Gordon
One of the newest valley suburbs, built from 1991 at the southern end near Point Hut Crossing: brick veneer homes on concrete slabs, many two-storey, with PVC drainage, mains-pressure hot water and larger blocks along the Murrumbidgee corridor and Point Hut Pond.