On the upland it is usually the perimeter drain, and the reason it shows on the wall rather than on the lawn is the ground. The Point Grey upland is roughly three metres of soil over permeable diamicton, then about 45 metres of Quadra Sand. Rain soaks straight down instead of sheeting off, so it arrives at the footing. A camera on the perimeter tells you whether the tile is still carrying water.

Jetting clears the root mass you have now. It does not close the crack that let them in, so they come back. Lining seals the pipe from the inside and pipe bursting replaces it through the existing path. Which one is right depends on what the camera shows, and on a street where the elms average 73.8 cm at the trunk it is worth doing properly once.

There is a good chance. 598 of the 1,978 sewer main segments inside Dunbar-Southlands are still combined, which is 30.2% against 24.3% for Vancouver as a whole. We can tell you what runs under your block before we come out.

Vancouver is working toward the Province’s goal of ending sewage overflows by 2050. As the City replaces a combined main, the properties on that street need separated systems too, and the City says private connections are typically separated when a property redevelops or does a major renovation. In practice that means getting roof and foundation drains off the sanitary line.

Almost everything. Two thirds of Southlands is in the Fraser River floodplain, there is no contiguous dike system, and the City’s RA-1 bulletin says development sites usually need to be pre-loaded because the native soil has low bearing capacity. Streets have ditches instead of curbs. Runoff has to be dealt with on site with ditches and swales and must not cross a property boundary. Some lots still run septic fields. We design for that rather than for a generic city lot.

Yes. In the designated flood plain the underside of a wood or steel floor system, or the top of a concrete slab, cannot sit lower than 4.6 metres from GVRD datum for any building used for habitation, business or storage. There is also a 30 metre setback from the natural boundary of the Fraser River, and the Building By-law requires every pipe, wire and conduit penetration to be water stopped and sealed.

The Province’s own record on that creek says sediment infilling has affected the stormwater infrastructure and is making the flooding worse, and that homes in the area flood during typical annual rainstorms rather than rare events. The creek runs from headwaters in the Endowment Lands and Pacific Spirit Regional Park down through the City and Musqueam IR2 to a tide gate on the Fraser. Developed parts of that watershed drain through storm sewers, culverts and two enclosed sections of creek.

Often. Pipe bursting pulls a new line through the existing path with two small access pits rather than a trench down the whole run. Lining works where the host pipe still holds its shape. The camera decides, and on a Dunbar lot with mature planting that decision is worth making carefully.

No travel surcharge. Dunbar, Southlands, Kerrisdale, West Point Grey and Arbutus Ridge are all the same pricing as anywhere else in Vancouver.

All of Vancouver plus Burnaby, New Westminster and the North Shore. The neighbourhoods that actually border Dunbar-Southlands are West Point Grey, Arbutus Ridge, Kerrisdale and Kitsilano across West 16th, with the University Endowment Lands and Pacific Spirit Regional Park to the west.