Drainage and plumbing, Coal Harbour
Drainage and Plumbing in Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour has no yards, no lawns and no drain tile. The former CPR waterfront lands were redeveloped between 1994 and 2010, and every drain in the neighbourhood is one of four things. An in-suite branch, a concrete tower stack, a building main with restaurant and hotel grease on it, or a parkade sump.
That narrows the diagnosis a long way before we arrive. We still camera the line before anybody quotes a number.
The street pipe here is not usually your problem
Vancouver’s sewer separation policy started in the early 1970s, and Council started it in the West End and Downtown to cut combined sewer overflows. Coal Harbour sits on the downtown peninsula, and the local network under it was laid new during the 1994 to 2010 rebuild of the CPR lands. So while most of the city is still working through a one per cent a year replacement programme aimed at eliminating overflows by 2050, the storm and the sanitary under these streets have been on their way apart for decades.
Practically, that means when a Coal Harbour building backs up it is very rarely the City main. It is the building main, the stack, or a branch inside a suite. Which is good news, because all three of those are things somebody can put a camera on today rather than wait for a capital plan.
The receiving water is right there past the seawall. The City names False Creek, the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet as where overflows go, and Burrard Inlet is the one Coal Harbour fronts.
One City rule matters if you are renovating or building here. Most new buildings have to provide on site rainwater management, and anything exceeding 1.0 FSR or over 1,000 square metres follows the engineered pathway, which is every tower in this neighbourhood.
A neighbourhood of towers, and what actually goes wrong in one
Coal Harbour is the stretch of Burrard Inlet between the downtown peninsula and Brockton Point in Stanley Park. 10,441 people live in 0.573 square kilometres of it, which works out to 18,222 per square kilometre. That is the whole shape of the problem. Everything is stacked.
The towers are new by Vancouver standards. On the verified build list the oldest is Avila on Cardero at 1997 and Bauhinia on Nicola at 1998, running forward through Shaw Tower on West Cordova in 2006 to Three Harbour Green on Thurlow in 2012. We are not going to tell you what pipe is inside any one of them, because nothing published says, and we are not in the business of guessing about a building we have not been inside.
What those build years do settle is one common worry. Polybutylene was made from 1978 to the middle of 1995 and production stopped in the middle of 1996. The oldest tower here went up in 1997. Poly-B is not a Coal Harbour problem. It is a problem in older low rise stock elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, and if you own one of those we do that work too.
What does bite here is water travelling downward through a stacked building. Plumbing leaks and failures have been reported as roughly 46 per cent of the total strata claim amount in British Columbia since 2017. A failed connection in your suite is not your ceiling, it is somebody else’s.
Signs worth acting on in a Coal Harbour building
In a tower the early symptoms show up somewhere other than where the fault is. These are the ones that want a camera on them rather than another wait.
- A water stain on the ceiling below a bathroom or a kitchen
- Slow drains on more than one fixture in the same suite
- A sewer smell in a lower floor unit or in the parkade
- The toilet gurgles when another fixture drains
- A drip at the angle stop under a sink
- Banging in the pipes when a tap shuts off
- The parkade sump running long after the rain has stopped
- Grease standing in a restaurant floor drain between services
What Vancouver customers say
Ryan was great! My landlord called him to fix my blocked kitchen sink. He showed up the same day (on a Sunday) and fixed the problem. He even cleaned the sink and dried up all the water that had leaked before he got there. And he was very careful coming in and out of the house so my cat wouldn’t get out. I’d definitely recommend him.
Ryan is INCREDIBLE. He has been responding to all of us (four houses and families!) affected by a sewage back up. This is all on Boxing Day and beyond, in terrible weather full of ice, cold and rain. He is so knowledgeable, and knew what was needed right away. Just the top of his field I am sure. As well as that, he is incredibly calm, respectful, kind and fair. I am truly amazed by this person's capacity and competence in combination with his noble, calm presence in the face of a real mess. Thank you Ryan, so very much!
I had very positive experience with Mamba Services, Ryan was amazing to work with and took care of my drain issues in no time. He arrived on time, was very professional and efficient in carrying out the work. What impressed me was how honest he was in recommending needed repair. He was very patient in explaining the different options. I will certainly call them for future projects.
Had an excellent experience. Ryan was fantastic, it was an after hours call late in the evening and he showed up exactly in the time frame he gave. Took care of the kitchen sink issue within minutes all systems were running like new. Pricing was extremely reasonable, Ryan was patient and explained everything to me while fixing my problem. I would highly recommend this company for any plumbing work.
Ryan was efficient, experienced, and knowledgeable. He was able to squeeze me into his schedule with short notice and wasted no time with my appointment. He arrived on site inspected the issue, and was quickly at work with resolving the problem. I am very pleased with his service and honesty. He provided recommendations that will help assist me in future occurrences.
Six things worth knowing about Coal Harbour plumbing
- Your grease interceptor is on a 90 day clock. Metro Vancouver’s Food Sector Grease Interceptor Bylaw 365 says pump it out when fats, oils, grease and solids reach 25 per cent of the total liquid depth or every 90 days, whichever happens first, and keep two years of cleanout records on hand for inspection. In a neighbourhood this dense with restaurants and hotels, that is the rule behind most commercial calls here.
- A detention tank does not always drain by gravity. The City puts typical storm connection depth of cover at about 1.52 metres for low density and up to 2.4 metres for complex buildings, and says that in some cases this prevents gravity drainage of a detention tank. You can request a deeper storm invert from the City instead of engineering around it.
- Poly-B is not your problem here. Polybutylene was manufactured from 1978 to the middle of 1995 and production stopped in the middle of 1996. The oldest tower on the verified Coal Harbour list is Avila on Cardero at 1997. If somebody is selling you a Poly-B inspection on a Coal Harbour tower, ask them which building on the list predates 1996.
- Water damage is what strata insurance is really about. Plumbing leaks and failures have been reported as roughly 46 per cent of the total strata claim amount in British Columbia since 2017, and 56 per cent in 2018 alone. That is the reason we photograph and write up every leak we trace, whether or not anyone has asked for a file yet.
- Float homes and marinas are exempt from the rainwater rules. The City’s on site rainwater management requirements list float homes and marinas among the exemptions, and Coal Harbour has both, including the marina where residents hold guaranteed space on extended leases. Almost nobody writing about Vancouver drainage knows this applies here.
- The catch basin at the end of your block drains to the inlet. The City names Burrard Inlet as one of the receiving waters, and runs an adopt a catch basin programme asking people to clear debris and litter out before a rainfall. Coal Harbour fronts that inlet.
24/7 emergency dispatch
Water coming through a Coal Harbour ceiling?
Ryan picks up. Live dispatch, and you get a real arrival window on the call. We camera the line before anybody quotes a number, and everything gets photographed for the strata file.
Coal Harbour drainage and plumbing FAQ
Council started Vancouver’s separation programme in the West End and Downtown areas in the early 1970s, and Coal Harbour is on the downtown peninsula with a local network laid new during the 1994 to 2010 redevelopment. The rest of the city is still working through a one per cent a year replacement programme aimed at eliminating overflows by 2050. Around here, a backup is almost always on your side of the property line rather than the City’s.
No. Polybutylene was made from 1978 to the middle of 1995, and production stopped in the middle of 1996. The oldest tower on the verified Coal Harbour build list is Avila on Cardero, completed in 1997. We do plenty of Poly-B replacement, but it is in older low rise stock elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, not here.
We will not tell you that from a desk. Nothing published states the drain or supply materials in any particular Coal Harbour tower, and guessing about a building we have not been inside is how people pay for the wrong repair. We scope it from the cleanout, you watch the monitor, then we price the work.
Photographs of what we found, the camera footage where a line was scoped, and a written scope of what was repaired. Plumbing leaks and failures have been reported as roughly 46 per cent of the total strata claim amount in British Columbia since 2017, so the file matters as much as the fix. Strata councils get the same record we keep.
Metro Vancouver’s Bylaw 365 sets it at every 90 days, or sooner if fats, oils, grease and solids reach 25 per cent of the total liquid depth, whichever comes first. You also have to keep two years of cleanout records on hand and available for inspection. We do the pump out and leave you the paperwork.
Yes, and it is a City process rather than an engineering rebuild. Depth of cover on a storm connection is typically around 1.52 metres for low density and can reach 2.4 metres for complex buildings, and the City acknowledges that this can prevent gravity drainage of a detention tank. You can request a deeper storm invert from the City’s stormwater permits desk.
There is none to do. This is concrete towers and podiums over parkades. No yards, no lawns, no drain tile. If a company is quoting you perimeter drainage on a Coal Harbour address, they are working off a template rather than off your building.
Usually. We do stack and building main work overnight and on weekends for occupied towers, coordinated through the building manager or the concierge.
To the inlet. The City names False Creek, the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet as the receiving waters, and Burrard Inlet is the one this neighbourhood fronts. The City’s adopt a catch basin programme asks people to clear the nearest basin of debris and litter before a rainfall for exactly that reason.
All of Vancouver, plus Burnaby, New Westminster and the North Shore. The West End, Downtown, Gastown, Yaletown, Kitsilano and North Vancouver are the closest to this one and we are in them constantly.
24/7 EMERGENCY DISPATCH
Water where it should not be?
Ryan picks up. Live dispatch, and you get a real arrival window on the call.