From cleaning the gutters to plunging the toilet and even swapping out a washer for a leaky tap, you’ve got your home maintenance tasks down pat. But how familiar are you with the care and maintenance of your property’s overflow relief gully?
Wait, the overflow what now? Picture a drainage pipe top with a plastic grate, usually located outdoors, likely on the opposite side of your bathroom wall. This seemingly simple device is ingeniously designed to ensure that if your sewage waste gets blocked, the gully drain’s top will pop out, directing any excess waste away from your pristine home and cherished family.
Similar to how your gutters require cleaning and your sink occasionally needs plunging, understanding how to maintain your drainage gully in excellent condition is also crucial. This ensures it functions effectively when it’s most needed.
1. Visibility matters
If your overflow gully is not visible, whatever is blocking your view could also hinder its ability to relieve waste or pressure when it’s most critically needed. Believe it or not, we’ve come across homes where the owner has placed a paver and pot plant atop it for aesthetic purposes. But if that grate can’t pop off instantly, you could soon be wading through raw sewage in your bathroom.
2. Cleanliness and clarity
Beyond pot plants and pavers, you also need to ensure nothing else is meddling with this crucial component of your property’s plumbing. Why? Because an overflow relief gully blocked or interfered with in any way, whether by landscaping, stormwater drainage or even pool backwash, can have the same effect – or even worse – as welding it shut.
3. Regular checks
Keep in mind that a vital feature of the gully drain is its top’s ability to ‘pop off’ during a hazardous overflow situation. If it’s unable to do so, it won’t be able to perform its essential function. Therefore, it’s a good idea to give it a quick inspection to ensure it’s working as intended.
4. Your responsibility
Across Australia, almost every council jurisdiction makes it abundantly clear that you, as the landowner, are solely responsible for ensuring as many properly certified and well-maintained overflow relief gullies as are necessary are working properly.
5. Location, location, location
When you hire a highly skilled drainage plumber to install your overflow gully drain, you can have confidence in their expertise about its proper placement. However, the installation method of the drainage gully is even more crucial than its location. If you find that your current overflow gully is positioned higher than the lowest waste outlet in your house, there’s a high chance it might not function correctly in times of need. Also, it’s essential for the drain to be situated above the ground level to prevent surrounding water from seeping into the sewer system.
Trust only the best tradies for your overflow relief gully
Are you confident that your overflow relief gully is in the right place, installed correctly and will function seamlessly when your sewer system needs to relieve pressure & waste? It’s not something you want to gamble with, so why not ask one of Australia’s best plumbers for advice and professional help? Tradie Near Me operates Australia’s most trusted network of the most positively reviewed and highly recommended local tradies near you – all you need to do is drop us a message and we’ll do the rest!
