Blocked Drain Questions, Answered Honestly

Sewage backing up through indoor fixtures, an overflow relief gully spilling outside, or a home's only toilet out of action — all emergencies, all same-day priority at any hour. A slow-but-draining fixture is urgent to you but usually safe to book normally; we'll tell you honestly which one you have when you describe the symptoms.

Stop putting water down the affected drains — that includes washing machines and dishwashers on timers. Keep people and pets away from any sewage overflow. Don't pour chemical drain cleaner into a blocked line; it doesn't fix real blockages and makes the pipe hazardous to work on.

Multiple affected fixtures point to a blockage in the main sewer line rather than a single fixture's branch. That raises the urgency: everything the household drains is heading for the same blocked pipe. Minimise water use and get the main cleared as soon as possible.

That's likely your overflow relief gully doing its job — releasing waste water outside instead of through your bathroom when the main line blocks. It means the sewer needs clearing urgently, but it's also the reason the inside of your home is still dry.

Typical ranges: blocked toilets $150-$350, standard drain jetting $200-$450, sewer mains $300-$600, severe root infestations up to $900. CCTV inspections run $150-$350. These are guides — every job gets an individual quote you approve before work starts.

Our pricing is built around the quoted job, not stacked fees. You'll know the full price before any work begins — including for after-hours emergencies, which are priced on the phone before a technician is dispatched.

Because 'blocked drain' covers everything from a hair-clogged shower trap to a root mass forty metres down a sewer main. Length of run, severity, access, and what the blockage turns out to be all matter. That's exactly why we quote per job rather than advertising one teaser price that doubles on site.

An electric eel (drain snake) drills a passage through a blockage; high-pressure jetting scours the full pipe wall clean and flushes the debris away. Eels have their uses, but jetted drains stay clear far longer — which is why jetting is our standard method.

A waterproof camera travels the inside of your drain recording continuously, while a locator marks fault positions and depth at the surface. You see the footage, keep the recording, and get a written report. It's how recurring blockages get permanently solved instead of repeatedly cleared.

A resin-saturated liner is inserted into the damaged pipe and cured in place, creating a new structural pipe inside the old one — smooth, jointless and root-proof — without excavation. For Perth's root-invaded earthenware sewers it's usually the best repair available.

Yes. Pressure, nozzles and techniques are matched to the pipe's material and condition — 1950s earthenware is treated very differently to new PVC. The camera means we know what we're working with before we work on it.

The unglamorous basics work: wipe grease from pans before washing up, bin wet wipes (all of them — 'flushable' included), use hair catchers in showers, and keep a strainer over the kitchen plughole. For older properties, an occasional camera check catches root intrusion while it's still a patch repair rather than a collapse.

Chemical caustics: no — they don't fix real blockages and they make pipes hazardous to service. Enzyme treatments are gentler and can slow grease film regrowth in kitchen lines after proper jetting, but nothing poured down a drain removes roots, wipes or a bellied pipe.

Before winter, ideally every few years. Perth stormwater relies on soakwells that silt up invisibly over decades — the first sign of failure is usually a flooded courtyard during the season's first real front. An autumn check costs a fraction of one water-damaged room.