Overflowing manholes, backed-up gullies and blocked main drains cleared — usually the same day, and usually on the first visit. Fixed price agreed before anything starts.
Thirty seconds on this saves you a wasted visit from the wrong trade.
If it turns out to be internal, we'll tell you — and you won't be charged for the visit.
Run the kitchen tap for a minute and watch the outside drains. If water backs up anywhere it shouldn't, or an outside gully rises, that's the main drain.
Still unsure? Call and describe it. We'd rather spend two minutes on the phone than send you the wrong trade.
Cools, hardens and coats the pipe wall until the bore narrows and everything else catches on it. The single most common cause in drains serving flats and converted houses.
"Flushable" wipes don't break down. They snag on any imperfection and build into a mass — a particular problem where one drain serves several households.
Roots find hairline cracks and old clay joints, grow into the pipe and trap everything passing through. Jetting clears them; only repair stops them returning.
Where a pipe has cracked, soil and sand wash in and build up slowly. The sign is a drain that clears easily then blocks again months later.
Old clay and pitch-fibre drains crack, sag and lose alignment. Debris catches at the fault every time — clearing is temporary, repair is the fix.
Gullies and yard grids silt up, especially in autumn. Often the quickest and cheapest of the lot, sometimes sorted on the spot.
Same service, same fixed-price approach, across the whole area.
It depends where the blockage is, what is causing it and how long it takes to clear. That is why we do not quote a figure on the phone and change it on the driveway. The engineer confirms a fixed price on site before starting, and there is no charge if you decide not to proceed.
Rods are fine for a gully you can reach. In the main drain they often push the blockage further along or dislodge a joint. Chemical unblockers rarely clear a main-drain blockage and make the work hazardous for whoever comes next.
Most straightforward blockages are cleared within an hour or two. Where the cause is root ingress or a collapsed section, clearing restores flow but a survey will tell you what needs doing to stop it recurring.
Drainage work is not clean, but clearing up is part of the job rather than an extra. We wash down afterwards and reseat covers properly.
Drains within your boundary serving only your property are generally yours. Shared drains and sewers beyond the boundary are usually the water company's. We check and tell you which applies, including when it means you should not be paying us.
Call any hour and you'll speak to someone who can book an engineer — no call-out fee, fixed price agreed before we start.