Blocked Drain? What Works, What Makes It Worse
Plunger, rods, enzyme cleaners, and the two "fixes" that turn a blockage into an excavation.
Start at the right end
One slow fixture is a local blockage, trap and waste arm, usually clearable yourself. Several fixtures backing up together, or water rising in an outside gully, means the shared run is blocked and home methods are done: that's rods or jetting.
What actually works
A plunger with the overflow blocked off. A drain snake through the trap. Enzyme cleaners overnight for grease. Pulling the trap off under a sink and emptying it, undignified, free, effective.
What makes it worse
Caustic soda poured into standing water creates a hot caustic pond an engineer then has to work through, most drain firms charge extra once chemicals are involved. And rodding blind into a clay run can punch through a weakened joint, turning a £150 clear into a £2,000 repair. If rods meet a hard stop, that's a survey, not more force.
Whose drain is it?
Since 2011, shared drains beyond your boundary generally belong to the water company, which means their problem, their bill. Before paying anyone to clear a shared run, check whether the blockage sits past the point where your neighbour's waste joins.