Blocked Drain in London? Emergency Drain Unblocking, 24/7
One slow sink is a nuisance. An outside gully overflowing, several fittings backing up at once, or sewage rising in the bath means the main run is blocked, and every flush makes it worse. Call 07861 933265: we answer at any hour, there is no call-out fee, and we usually arrive within 60 minutes anywhere in London.
Do this now: Stop running water: no washing machine, no dishwasher, as little flushing as possible. Lift the grid on any outside gully and clear leaves and silt by hand if that is the problem. Do not pour caustic drain chemicals into standing water, and do not force rods past a hard stop, which can be a broken section. Note which fittings back up and when; it tells us where the blockage is.
What we do on the visit
- Find it. Lifting the drain covers shows which chamber is full and which is empty, and that tells us which length of pipe is blocked.
- Clear it. Rods for most blockages; high-pressure jetting, with a cutting or descaling head, for fat, wipes, roots and silt.
- Check it. Where a drain has blocked before or the cause is not obvious, the camera goes down the cleared pipe to show whether it is damaged.
- Tell you whose it is. If the blockage is on a sewer shared with neighbours, it is the water company’s to deal with, and we say so.
What blocks London’s drains
- Fat, oil and grease. It sets in the pipe like candle wax and narrows it until wipes finish the job.
- Wipes. Nothing sold as flushable breaks down like toilet paper; wipes mat together and build a plug.
- Roots. Tree roots find the joints in old clay drains, common under London’s Victorian streets.
- Damaged pipe. A collapsed, displaced or dipped section blocks again and again until it is repaired.
When it is not a blockage
Much of London still drains into old combined sewers that carry rainwater and waste together. In a heavy storm they can fill and push water back up through the lowest gully, toilet or shower in a building, even when your own drain is clear. That is a different problem with a different answer, often a non-return valve rather than jetting, and telling the two apart is the first thing we do. For drains that still run but slowly, see drain cleaning.
Where we work in London
Wherever you are in the list below, the price is the same. Open your area for what tends to go wrong there.
Questions people ask
Is the blocked drain mine or the water company's?
Inside your boundary, a drain that serves only your property is yours. Thames Water says it is responsible for sewers shared with neighbours, even when they run under your garden or driveway. If the blockage turns out to be on the shared length, we tell you and show you how to report it.
Rods or jetting, which do I need?
Most blockages clear with rods from the nearest drain cover. Compacted fat, root mats and silt need high-pressure jetting, which scours the pipe wall instead of punching a hole through the blockage. We use the simplest method that will actually clear it.
Will jetting damage an old clay drain?
Not when the pressure and the jetting head are matched to the pipe. Old clay runs have joints every couple of feet, so on a Victorian drain we look with the camera first and set the pressure for what we can see.
Sewage is coming up in the bath or shower. What do I do?
Stop using water anywhere in the building, because every flush upstream is adding to it. Keep children and pets away, do not try to bail it into another drain, and call us. It means the main run below the building is blocked.
Why does the same drain keep blocking?
A drain that blocks in the same place again and again has a physical cause, such as a dropped joint, roots at a clay joint, scale, or a dip in the pipe that holds water. A camera survey finds it.
What does emergency drain unblocking cost in London?
There is no call-out charge. It is £110 for the first hour, then £45 for each additional half hour, plus the cost of parts, and the same at any hour of the day or night.
Sources
- Sewer pipe responsibility, Thames Water