Blocked drains cleared fast
Sinks that will not empty, showers standing in water and outside gullies backing up onto the path. Jamie clears blocked drains across Shefford, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the Cambridge area.
The check worth doing before you call anyone
Before you pay anybody to clear a drain it is worth finding out whether the blockage is even yours. Lift the inspection chamber nearest your boundary and look. If it is standing full, the blockage is somewhere downstream of that point. If it is empty and flowing, the problem is back up in your own pipework between the house and the chamber.
The other quick test costs nothing. Ask the neighbours. If two or three houses on the same run are all struggling at once, the blockage is almost certainly in the shared drain rather than in your pipes. That one is the water company's to clear rather than yours to pay for.
Told when it is not your bill
If the blockage sits in a shared or lateral drain, Jamie will tell you to ring the water company rather than charging you to find that out.
Cleared at the cause
Traps stripped and cleaned properly rather than a plunger and a hopeful flush. A blockage pushed along the pipe comes back.
Straight about the limits
A collapsed pipe or roots in a joint is a drainage contractor job. You will be told that plainly rather than sold repeat visits.
How a blockage gets cleared
Clearing a drain is mostly about working out where the blockage sits before touching anything. This is the order the job goes in.
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1
Work out how far the problem reaches
One slow sink is a trap. Every fixture in the house draining badly is further down the line. Which appliances are affected narrows the blockage down to a section of pipe before anything gets opened up.
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2
Check the chambers and the gullies
Inspection chambers and outside gullies get lifted and looked at. A chamber standing full tells you the blockage is downstream. An empty one puts it back inside, which is a very different job.
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3
Strip the trap or rod the run
Internal blockages usually mean taking the trap off over a bucket and clearing it out by hand. Blockages further along get rodded from the nearest access point rather than forced through from the fixture end.
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4
Flush it through and check the flow
Clearing the obstruction is not the end of it. The run gets flushed properly and watched to make sure it is draining at full bore rather than just moving again.
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5
Tell you why it happened
Fat, hair, wipes or a defect in the pipe itself. You get told what came out and what to do differently, because a blockage that keeps returning is a sign of something structural rather than bad luck.
The blockages Jamie clears
Everything from the plughole to the gully at the back door.
Kitchen sinks
Fat and grease that has cooled and set solid in the trap or the waste run. The most common blockage in any house and the most preventable.
Showers and baths
Hair bound up with soap and product in the trap under the tray, which is the reason almost every shower ends up standing in water eventually.
Blocked toilets
Pans that will not clear with a plunger, usually wipes rather than anything else. Cistern faults are a different problem, covered on toilet repairs and installation.
Outside gullies and grids
Leaves, silt and kitchen waste packed into the gully at the back door until it overflows across the path every time the sink empties.
Basins and utility wastes
Bottle traps, washing machine and dishwasher standpipes and the long waste runs behind units that nobody can reach.
Smells and slow drains
Dried out traps, partial blockages and waste runs laid at the wrong fall that never quite empty. Often found during a bathroom installation and renovation.
Something not draining?
Tell Jamie which fixtures are affected and whether the outside chamber is full. That is usually enough to know what he is walking into.
Whose drain is it
This is the question that decides whether you are paying anything at all. Most people get it wrong in the direction that costs them money.
Private drains
The pipework inside your house and the drain running from it out to your boundary serves only your property. That section is yours to maintain and yours to clear. Blockages caused by what has gone down the sink or the toilet sit squarely here.
Shared and lateral drains
Once your drain joins pipework serving another property or crosses your boundary towards the sewer, it generally became the water and sewerage company's responsibility under the changes brought in during 2011. If the blockage is in that section, ring them rather than paying a private contractor to clear it.
How to tell which one you have
Neighbours with the same symptoms at the same time point to a shared run. A single property struggling on its own points to private pipework. Your water company holds the sewer maps and will confirm it. Jamie will tell you if what he finds is not your responsibility rather than clearing it and invoicing you anyway.
Leave the caustic drain cleaner on the shelf
Supermarket drain unblockers are aggressive stuff. They can attack older waste pipes and seals, they rarely shift a solid fat blockage and if they do not work you have left a trap full of caustic liquid for whoever takes it apart next. Hot water and a plunger first, then a plumber.
Wipes are the biggest single cause
Wipes sold as flushable do not break down the way paper does. They catch on anything slightly rough in the pipe and everything else builds up behind them. Nothing but paper down the toilet and fat into a jar rather than the sink will prevent most of what gets cleared on this page.
When it keeps coming back
A drain that blocks repeatedly in the same place is usually telling you about a defect rather than about your habits. A dip in the pipe, roots at a joint or a collapsed section all need investigating with a camera and repairing, which is specialist drainage work rather than a clearance. You will be told that straight rather than sold another clearance every few months.
What it costs
Every job is priced and agreed before work starts with nothing added afterwards and no hidden charges. Say which fixtures are affected when you get in touch and Jamie will tell you what he is likely walking into.
Where Jamie works
Drain clearance runs across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and into the Cambridge area from the Shefford base. You can check your own town on the areas we cover page, which lists every part of Beds, Herts, Bucks and Cambridgeshire Jamie travels to.
Not sure if Jamie covers your village?
The coverage hub lists every area across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the Cambridge area.
Related plumbing work
Drainage problems often arrive attached to something else. These are the pages that come up alongside most often.
Toilet repairs and installation
Cistern faults and running toilets, which are a different problem to a blocked pan. Read more about toilet repairs and installation.
Emergency call outs
Waste backing up into the house when it cannot wait until morning. Read more about the emergency plumber service.
General plumbing
The everyday repairs around the rest of the house. Read more about general plumbing services.
Where a trap or a waste connection has been leaking as well as blocking, that sits under burst pipe repair and leak detection. A basin that drips as well as draining slowly is two separate faults. The dripping side is covered on leaking tap repairs.
Blocked drain questions
How do I know if the blockage is mine or the water company's?
Lift the inspection chamber nearest your boundary. If it is standing full the blockage is downstream of it. If neighbours on the same run are also affected, it is almost certainly a shared drain and the water company's to clear. A single property struggling alone points to your own pipework.
Why does my kitchen sink keep blocking?
Fat and cooking oil go down the drain warm and set solid further along the pipe, catching everything that follows. Pouring fat into a jar and binning it once cold prevents almost all of it. A blockage that returns within weeks suggests a defect in the run rather than habits.
Are chemical drain unblockers a good idea?
Rarely. They are aggressive on older waste pipes and seals, they seldom shift a set fat blockage and if they fail they leave a trap full of caustic liquid for whoever opens it up. Hot water and a plunger are a safer first attempt.
Are flushable wipes really flushable?
They go down the pan but they do not break up the way toilet paper does. They snag on anything slightly rough inside the pipe and the blockage builds behind them. They are the single most common cause of blocked pans and soil pipes.
My drain keeps blocking in the same spot. What does that mean?
Usually a defect rather than a habit. A dip in the pipe, roots through a joint or a partially collapsed section will catch waste in the same place every time. That needs a camera survey and a repair, which is specialist drainage work rather than a clearance.
Can you clear a blocked toilet?
Yes. If the pan will not clear with a plunger the obstruction is in the pan trap or the soil pipe, which needs clearing properly rather than repeatedly flushing. If waste is backing up into the house it is worth treating as urgent.
Get it draining again
Jamie the Happy Plumber clears blocked sinks, showers, toilets and gullies across Shefford and the surrounding counties. Cleared at the cause, not pushed along the pipe.
