Sunnybank in numbers
Houses first
At the 2021 Census, 85.8% of the suburb's occupied homes were separate houses, 13.1% townhouses or semis and just 0.7% flats.
Plenty of bedrooms
50.9% had 4 or more bedrooms, well above Queensland's 38.8%, and another 36.5% had 3.
Owners and renters
35.2% of homes were owned outright and 39.4% were rented, so many jobs here are booked by a landlord or property manager.
Part of the south side
The ABS groups Sunnybank with Sunnybank Hills, Runcorn and Kuraby, all inside Brisbane City. Our Southside page covers the wider region.
More bathrooms, more gullies
Urban Utilities says a house with several bathrooms may have more than one overflow relief gully. Each is a grated outlet in the ground, usually by the laundry, that gives a blocked sewer somewhere to spill outdoors rather than up through a shower or toilet.
Plumbing regulations set the height: at least 150 mm below the lowest drain inside the house and at least 75 mm above the ground. Only a licensed plumber should alter or install one, and keeping each gully compliant is the owner's job, as a non-compliant one may affect an insurance claim after a sewer spill. Homes built before 1976 may not have one at all unless they've been renovated.
Hot water for a bigger household
Bigger households use more hot water, so check the size before replacing like for like. Our hot water size tool gives a starting point.
Queensland requires a temperature control device on all new and replacement systems, and stored water must reach at least 60°C to control bacteria such as Legionella. Urban Utilities calls local water hard to moderately hard, which leaves scale inside hot water systems over time. The Brisbane hot water replacement page sets out the choices.
Renovating? Get the drainage plan
Brisbane City Council sells copies of house drainage plans showing the in-ground sewer drains between your fixtures and the sewer, though not the water or stormwater pipes. Adding a bathroom or moving fixtures is notifiable work: the plumber registers it with the QBCC on a Form 4, and a copy should reach you within 20 business days of registration.
What we would do
Walk around the house and find every overflow relief gully now. Make sure nothing sits on the grate and no roof or patio stormwater pipe runs into it. If one is holding water or overflowing, ring Urban Utilities before booking anyone. And size a replacement hot water system for the household you have today, not the one the old tank was bought for.
Sunnybank specialists
Choose blocked drains, hot water repairs, heat pump hot water or leak detection, and a licence-checked plumber who does that work can take the job. Nearby, see Mount Gravatt and Rochedale.