Blocked Drains

Not a problem for Upkeep Plumbing

Blocked drains? We love ’em. The reason we do this job is so that you won’t have to. Who would want to clean someone else’s blocked drain? Us! That’s what we do.

Signs you’ve got a blocked drain

• your drains smell unpleasant
• your sink, shower or bath drains water slowly
• the toilet water level has noticeably changed
• your toilet or sink is overflowing
• your property is flooding with sewage (an obvious one)
• waste water comes up through your pipes and drains

We clear and repair internal and external blocked drains as soon as we find the source. A blocked drain can lead to bigger problems, burst pipes included, so act quickly.

While you wait for us

• Stop running water into the blocked fixture. More water just makes the overflow worse.
• If a toilet is close to the rim, don’t flush it again.
• Keep kids and pets away from any sewage that has come up.

Commercial or domestic drains

“Dear Lord. I’ll kill him. Who shaves over the kitchen sink?”

Let us clear your drains

Upkeep Plumbing is available for plumbing work on both domestic and commercial properties. There is no drain that we can’t clear.

We can also look into:

• blocked manholes
• burst pipes
• blocked kitchen sinks
• other drainage services
• waste water services

Types of blocked drains

Sewer drains

Stormwater and sewer drains are installed separately to prevent cross-contamination. In your home, your drains connect to the sewerage system through what is called a “lateral line”. It’s a pipe roughly 100–150 mm in diameter, laid on a slope so waste water can flow away.

These drains carry waste from your bathroom, kitchen sink and toilet. You’ll know if there’s a problem here because of the obvious smell.

Stormwater drains

Stormwater drains usually block when there’s a lot of rain. They’re designed to carry excess rain and groundwater away from streets, car parks, footpaths and roofs.

There’s no smell if these get blocked, but a blocked public stormwater drain might stop you getting your car out of the driveway, or block access to your house. Blocked public stormwater drains are usually a council issue. If the blockage is on your own property, give us a call.

Blocked toilets

If water is rising to the rim of the bowl, or water is escaping through the overflow in your sink, it’s time to call Upkeep! Glenn is called back to the same primary school every couple of months for toilet blockages. The most recent culprit was a school hat, and the time before that, a tennis ball. You can read about it in a week in the life of a maintenance plumber.

Blocked sinks

Do you shave in the sink? Did you have a massive beard? Hair can quickly build up over time. It hooks into all the imperfect ridges and micro-corners of pipes, and eventually that build-up can result in a burst pipe (read more about burst pipes).

Your kitchen sink is prone to oil, grease, soap, food scraps and other build-up over time. It might be time to find that sink strainer. If you already have a plug cover, make sure it’s catching most of the hair and debris. You may just need a better one.

What causes blocked drains?

Hint: usually people. But nature is a big one too. Tree roots are the usual suspects. Roots lift bricks, pavers and tiles, and can even grow through the wall of your home in search of water. We have to remove tree or garden roots before clearing and then repairing and replacing damaged pipes and drains. After we’ve solved the problem, we work out how to stop it happening again.

The most common culprits we see:

• Hair. Human or pet. Pick it up and put it in the bin. It’s disgusting, but over time it builds up and causes blockages.
• Fats, grease and oil. Cooking fat congeals and hardens in pipes. Always bin it.
• Food scraps. Bread and rice expand in water. Scrape plates into the bin or the compost before they go in the sink or dishwasher.
• Wipes and hygiene products. See below.
• Paint, car oil, glue and toxic chemicals. None of it belongs down a drain.

The biggest culprit of all: wipes

The bane (and bane-ette) of a plumber’s existence.

Tough materials like baby wipes (often used to remove make-up) don’t degrade easily. They’re often flushed down toilets and, because of their strength, tend NOT to break up. Wipes get caught in pipes and cracks and are pretty much invincible. Sanitary napkins do tend to break down, but chucking a load of them down the toilet is a recipe for disaster.

Even if the packet says “flushable”, Glenn still recommends you don’t flush them. They have a tendency to get stuck and cause blockages. Feminine hygiene products shouldn’t be flushed either, so make sure everyone in the house knows. See his longer list in What NOT to put down your drain.

How we unblock drains

Some blockages are easy. A drain snake goes down, the drain clears in an instant, and that’s that. For the tougher ones, Upkeep Plumbing uses the Rothenberger R750 drain cleaning machine.

The reported benefits of the Rothenberger system may include:

• efficient transfer of power, so the job is done faster
• easy to clean
• very little maintenance required
• if a spiral breaks, it’s easily retrievable because the cable is sectional rather than one continuous length
• suitable for clearing heavy-duty blockages
• very little chance of debris and grime building up inside the unit, as sectional drain cleaners don’t use drum-style cable holders

Source: Rothenberger pipe tool technology at work, 2012/13.

Unblocking drains is probably one of the smellier and messier jobs a plumber will complete, but we do our very best to keep the inconvenience to you minimal.

Blocked drain questions

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