How to Clear a Blocked Drain
It is inevitable that most households will at some point or another experience drain blockage. In many cases, the problem might be relatively innocuous and a quick-fix. However, if this plumbing problem is significant, or it continues to persist, then it can cause significant problems - to your home and your personal health.
With a crew of
blocked drain plumbing specialists on tap (pardon the pun!), we share all the information we can to help you identify the problem and determine the best plan of action. It’s important to fix a blocked drain quickly and thoroughly before it escalates into a full-blown
plumbing emergency.
How to clear blocked drains
If you do want to try DIYing the problem, consider the following:
- Pour hot water down the drain followed quickly by a cup of baking soda and a cup of white vinegar. Leave this be for ten minutes or so before pouring more hot water down as a chaser. You can try just hot water as an alternative.
- Plungers might also help. You can buy these from any hardware store. Simply suction the plunger over the drain and pump several times. Be prepared for contaminated water and debris coming up as a result.
You may want to try a DIY plumbing snake - inserting a long wire (like a deconstructed coat hanger) down the drain. We don’t recommend this as it could create bigger problems than it solves. As we've said earlier, no matter what you do it’s best to contact a blocked drain plumber in Sydney. You want to be sure that this problem has not created bigger, invisible issues. Moreover, bringing in a professional will help minimise the chances of recurring blockages.
How do plumbers clear blocked drains
Rose Bay Plumbing will arrive in your home with CCTV drain camera equipment. We use this to detect and diagnose the problem before relying on the latest drain clearing technologies. Our work is fast, efficient and provides an excellent solution. We know this can be a nasty sensory experience and we do everything to get your home back into ship-shape order. It’s important to note that our team is fastidious - we treat your property as if it's your own. We don’t leave you with a messy work area to clean up afterwards.
Blocked drains health risk
Don’t dismiss this issue as just a bad smell or temporary inconvenience - it can actually be harmful to your health. The smell alone is an indication of bacteria build-up. It could very likely be raw sewerage. Not only is that revolting, it can potentially lead to serious illness. Water-borne diseases may carry threatening pathogens that can cause anything from skin infections to gastroenteritis.
Moreover, any form of blockage compromises the water flow and filtration. A build-up of dirt and grime can encourage all manner of nasties, including cockroaches, mosquitoes and rodents. These unwelcome house guests can spread their own set of germs.
Food contamination is also a risk. If you have bacterial residue seeping up and around your sink plughole, and you use this area for food preparation, you can see the potential problem.
Blocked pipes can cause significant damage to your home
We’ve seen the health risks posed to you, but what about your home? It can end up a lot worse for wear as well. Flooding is one of the most common outcomes. We’re not talking clean Sydney water spreading across your tiles or carpet, either. It’s more like dirty water contaminated by raw sewerage and/or other nasties. The clean-up requires more than just a little elbow grease. Once you clear drain blockage and stem the waterflow, you will want to sterilise everything. This is no small job.
But it doesn’t end there. Blocked drains can also create structural damage within the home. Water is unbelievably powerful. If it can’t flow as intended, it will force its way in all sorts of directions. The problem here is that this will likely happen very covertly. By the time you identify damage, it might well be the tip of the iceberg.
It’s important to call a
blocked drain plumber not matter how innocuous your blockage appears.
Signs of blocked drains
OK - some good news! It’s actually quite easy to identify when your drains are blocked. Common signs include:
- Bad to terrible smells
- Gurgling sounds coming from the pipes
- Water pooling or not going down the drain efficiently
- The toilet takes longer to flush
- Waste comes up the drain
What causes blocked drains?
Ok, so we’ve identified the potential risks involved, now let’s find out what actually causes a
blocked sewer pipe
(or any kind of drain in the home). Turns out there are plenty of suspects.
Foreign objects down the loo
Toilet paper and human waste should be flushed down a toilet, nothing else. Sadly, for homes (and for the environment), some people seem to look at the toilet like a rubbish bin in the bathroom. Sanitary items, wet cloths, used condoms, even disposable nappies cause blocked drains in Sydney. A blocked drains plumber will often find all sorts of items jammed up toilet pipes - you wouldn’t believe it if we told you! Alas, toilet drains (and sewerage systems) are not built to handle such objects, and the results can be spectacular for all the wrong reasons.
Cooking fat and grease
It seems harmless, right? Tipping a bit of excess frying fat down the kitchen sink, washing greasy BBQ utensils. Fat and water don’t mix. Just because you no longer see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Fat can build up in areas you won’t ever see, creating ‘fatbergs’ that look as terrible as they sound.
Fat alone is not the problem. Food waste can also play a part in wreaking havoc on drains.
Leaves, twigs and other outdoor debris
That’s right - blockages don’t just happen from the inside. Outdoor gutters can amass all kinds of build-up that clog drains and cause water overflow. It’s important to keep these areas clean - especially during Autumn when a lot of leaves fall. Doing so protects your pipes and also helps keep your home fire-ready during bushfire season.
Importantly, trees can wreak damage in underground pipes as well. Tree roots in Sydney stubbornly go looking for water wherever they can find it. If that means bursting into some of your underground pipes, so be it. We provide a
tree root analysis service that uses cutting-edge CCTV cameras to assess and identify any such problem before it explodes into a major burst pipe disaster.
Hair and soap build-up
We think of soap as a good guy, right? Not always. Soap suds can be a little like fatbergs, developing over time into something that looks like an alien life form. Hair is also problematic. You might think of it as a strand here and a strand there, but across a period of months that could equate to something like a ball of wall. Indeed, if you’ve ever had to lift hair and soap out of a drain you will know what we’re talking about. It really does resemble a dead animal - not pleasant at all! Even worse to think it’s been lurking down the drains the whole time, creating a build-up of water that you might have been standing in shower after shower.
Perhaps one of the biggest learning points here is to consider the bigger picture. As isolated, one-off occurrences, none of the above seems a big deal at all. And it’s not. The problem occurs gradually, when there is time for a build-up to develop. Sometimes, by the time
Contact a blocked drain plumber near me
Don’t put up with blocked drains. It’s not worth it - for you or your home! Instead, give our friendly customer service team a call and explain the problem. We’ll provide you with a cost and organise a professional local plumber to get to you as soon as possible. Available Sydney-wide, we have a 24/7 emergency plumber response team, as well. So if you need us during the small hours of the night, we’re here to help.
