Residential Drainlayers for Wellington Homes
If the smell in the back yard is getting worse, or the gully trap’s overflowing every time it rains, you need a residential drainlayer who knows Wellington homes. Southern’s been doing exactly this since 1982 — old villas in Karori, 70s brick-and-tile in Johnsonville, new-builds in Paraparaumu, apartments in Te Aro.
Every residential drain job is fixed-price and backed by Your Job On Time, or It’s Free. Call 0800 484 353.
Residential Drainage — Every Job Covered
Residential drainlaying is the full scope of below-ground water and waste work around your house:
- New drain runs for extensions, sleep-outs and granny flats
- Gully trap replacement and repositioning
- Sewer line replacement (from house to boundary)
- Stormwater lines, downpipe connections and soakpits
- Sump and channel drain installation for driveways
- Septic tank installation and servicing (rural properties)
- CCTV drain inspections and blockage clearing
- Drainage for bathroom and laundry renovations
All work is certified to the NZ Building Code and signed off for council.
Signs Your Home Drains Need Attention
Most homeowners ignore drain problems until there’s sewage on the lawn. These are the early warning signs:
- Gurgling noise from toilets or showers when the washing machine drains
- Bad smells near the gully trap after rain
- Toilet flushing slower than it used to
- Shower pooling or draining slowly
- Wet patches on the lawn that never dry out
- Multiple fixtures blocking at once
- Water coming up through a floor waste during heavy rain
If you’re seeing any of these, book a CCTV inspection — it’s the cheapest way to find out what’s actually happening underground.
Older Wellington Homes — Earthenware & Clay Drains
If your house was built before 1980, the drains are almost certainly glazed earthenware with mortar joints. Those joints degrade — tree roots get in, ground movement cracks them, and the whole run slowly fails. Common in Khandallah, Karori, Island Bay, Kelburn and Thorndon villas.
The permanent fix is either excavate-and-replace with modern uPVC, or trenchless pipe relining where access is tight. We’ll CCTV the whole run and tell you which option makes sense — and quote it fixed-price.
Renovation & New-Build Drainage
Adding a bathroom? Building a sleep-out? Putting in a new kitchen? The underground work needs to be planned before the slab goes down. Because we’re a full-service plumbing and drainlaying operation, we can run the whole bathroom renovation, kitchen renovation or laundry renovation — drainage, plumbing, gasfitting, all under one fixed price.
For new builds we coordinate directly with your builder or architect on drainage layout, falls, inspection openings and council consent.
Licensed Drainlayers, Master Plumbers
Drainage work on your home has to be done by a licensed drainlayer and signed off. Southern has Certifying Drainlayers on staff — we self-certify our own work so there’s no delay waiting for an external inspector.
- Master Plumbers member 25+ years
- Certifying Plumber, Gasfitter & Drainlayer on staff
- 40+ years residential work across Wellington
- Fixed-price quotes in writing before we dig
- Your Job On Time, or It’s Free
Frequently Asked Questions
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Everything below ground — new drain runs, gully traps, sumps, stormwater, septic systems, sewer replacement, pipe relining, and connecting up fixtures for renovations. It’s a separately-licensed trade from plumbing, though we do both.