Drain unblocking in Norwich
Blocked drain in Norwich? Cleared properly, with the cause found, not just pushed further down
Sinks that will not empty, toilets rising when flushed, outside gullies overflowing across the yard. Drain unblocking for homes and small commercial premises across Norwich and the surrounding towns, with jetting and a camera when rods are not enough.
Five-star ratedby homeowners and landlords
- Rods, jetting and CCTV
- Old clay runs and shared drains
- Repairs, not repeat visits
What Norwich households say once the drain is running again
A blocked drain announces itself in one of three ways: a sink or bath that empties slowly and then not at all, a toilet whose water rises towards the rim when it is flushed, or an outside gully or manhole that fills and spills across the path. By the time it is doing the third, the blockage is usually in the main run rather than the fitting, and it has been building for a while.
In Norwich that main run is often over a century old. The city's terraces were built with clay drains in short sections, many of them shared between neighbours, and those joints move, crack and let roots in. So drain unblocking here is as much about finding out why the drain blocked as about clearing it, which is why a camera goes down the pipe whenever the blockage was hard to shift or has happened before.
This page covers blockages and the drain repairs that follow. Where the fault turns out to be inside the house, in a waste pipe laid at the wrong fall or a trap that keeps clogging, it is dealt with as a general plumbing repair instead. Either way the work is available across every town on the areas list.
The blocked drain problem, and why it comes back
Most blockages are a mix of fat, wipes, hair and paper caught on something. That something is the important part. In a plastic drain it is usually a badly made joint or a sharp bend. In an old clay drain it is a displaced joint where one section sits proud of the next, a root that has grown in through a crack, or a section that has sagged and holds water.
Rodding pushes the soft material through and the drain runs again, for a while. If the snag point is still there, the next lot of wipes catches on it and the cycle repeats every few months. Clearing a drain properly means either removing the snag or knowing exactly where it is so it can be repaired.
A price agreed before the drain is touched
Drain work has a reputation for the price changing once the van is on the drive. Here the visit is priced from what you describe: which fittings are affected, whether the outside chamber is full, whether it has happened before. If jetting or a camera turns out to be needed on the day, that is said before it is done and the cost for it is agreed then, not discovered on the invoice.
If the blockage is on a shared section that belongs to the water company, you are told that too, because a call to them may get it cleared without you paying anyone.
Emergency drain clearance
A drain that is backing up into the house, a toilet that cannot be used, or sewage surfacing in a garden is treated as urgent. Describe it as such on the form and the call back prioritises it. The first aim on an urgent visit is to get the drain flowing so the house can be used; the investigation into why it blocked follows once the immediate problem is dealt with.
If water is coming up through a downstairs shower tray or floor drain, stop using every fitting in the house until it is cleared. Each flush upstairs comes out downstairs.
High-pressure jetting and drain cleaning
Where rods stop, jetting starts. A high-pressure water jet fed from the van cuts through fat, scale and compacted paper and scours the pipe wall back to its full bore. It reaches further than rods, goes round bends rods cannot, and clears a run rather than just punching a hole through the blockage.
On old clay drains the pressure is set to suit the pipe and the run is inspected first where its condition is not known. Jetting is also the right tool for a periodic clean on a drain that is known to scale or collect fat, such as one serving a busy kitchen.
CCTV drain surveys and fault finding
A small camera on a flexible rod records the inside of the pipe from the chamber outwards, with the distance on screen so any defect can be located from the surface. It shows root ingress, displaced and open joints, cracks, scale, bellies where water stands, and the junction where an old run meets a newer one.
The survey is what turns "it keeps blocking" into a plan. A written report with the footage is also what an insurer, a buyer's surveyor or the water company will ask for, so it is worth keeping. Surveys are also booked on their own before buying a house, or when a drain smell has no obvious source.
Drain repairs and root removal
Once the survey shows the defect, the repair depends on what and where it is. Roots are cut out with a mechanical cutter and the joint they entered through is lined or sealed so they do not return. A cracked or open joint can often be patched from inside with a short resin liner, which avoids digging. A collapsed section or a badly displaced joint has to be excavated and replaced, and the survey tells you exactly where to dig so the hole is as small as it can be.
Repairs are quoted separately from the clearance, in writing, with the survey footage to show why.
Domestic and commercial drainage
Most of the work is for homes and rental properties, but the same kit and the same approach cover small commercial premises: cafes and takeaways whose kitchen drains fill with fat, shops with a shared yard gully, small blocks of flats with a communal run. Commercial jobs are arranged around trading hours where that is possible, and a regular jetting visit can be set up for a drain that is known to clog.
How a job runs
How a blocked drain gets cleared
Find out where it is, clear it, then find out why.
Which fittings, which chamber
You say what is backing up and whether the outside chamber is full. That tells us roughly where the blockage sits and what kit to bring.
Rods first, jetting if needed
The drain is cleared from the chamber with rods or the jetter, and the flow is checked from every affected fitting.
Camera where it matters
If the blockage was stubborn or has happened before, the camera goes down to find the snag, with the footage kept.
Repair quoted, not assumed
Any defect found is explained and priced in writing. You decide whether and when it is fixed.
Ready when you are
A drain that is slow, blocked or backing up? Get it cleared and get the cause found
Say which fittings are affected and where you are. You get a call back to arrange the visit and a price before the drain is touched.
On the tools
Drain Unblocking: the kind of work behind the page
Four from the gallery. The full set is on the home page, and every photo opens full size.
Where we work
Drain unblocking across Norwich and Norfolk
From the Victorian terraces of the city to the newer estates around it and out to the coast, the Broads and the market towns. Older shared clay runs and modern plastic drains alike.
The larger towns in the area
- Norwich
- Great Yarmouth
- Bowthorpe
- East Dereham
- Beccles
- North Walsham
- Diss
- Attleborough
Related
Jobs that often go with this one
One visit often covers two of these. Mention both on the form and the price covers the lot.
Plumber
Taps, toilets, showers, stopcocks, outside taps and the small jobs that turn into big ones when they are left. A plumber for Norwich homes, booked by the job.
Leak Detection
Finding the leak behind a damp patch, a dropping boiler gauge or a water bill that doubled, using tracing methods that do not mean lifting every floor.
Leaking Pipes
Weeping joints, pinholed copper, split plastic push-fits and frozen pipes that have thawed and burst. Leaking pipes repaired at the source, not patched over.
Questions
Drain Unblocking: the questions people ask first
Can I use a chemical drain cleaner first?
Better not. Caustic cleaners do little to a real blockage, they make the standing water hazardous for whoever rods it afterwards, and they can soften plastic traps. A plunger and clearing the trap by hand are the safe first steps.
Whose responsibility is a shared drain?
The section shared between properties, from where it leaves the last house it serves alone, is normally the water company's. Your private drain is yours. If the chamber in your yard carries next door's waste too, it is worth calling the water company before booking anyone.
Will jetting damage old pipes?
Not when the pressure is set for the pipe and the run has been inspected where its condition is in doubt. On a drain known to be cracked or collapsed, the camera goes first and the jetter is used with care or not at all.
How do I know if it is the drain or the plumbing?
One fitting slow means the trap or the waste pipe inside the house. Several fittings backing up together, or the outside chamber full, means the drain.
Do I need a CCTV survey every time?
No. A one-off blockage that clears easily does not need one. A blockage that was hard to shift, has happened before, or is accompanied by a smell or a soft patch in the garden does.
Can a drain repair be done without digging?
Often, yes. Root cutting and short resin liners are done from inside the pipe through the chamber. A collapsed section has to be dug out, but the survey pinpoints where so the excavation is small.
Anything not covered here is answered on the contact page, where the same form takes the details and someone calls you back.
Quick Quote Online
Five-star ratedby homeowners and landlords
Tell us which drain is blocked and we will come back with a price
Which fittings are affected, whether the outside chamber is full, and whether it has happened before. That is enough to price the visit.
- A written price before any work starts
- Plumbing, heating, drains and bathrooms from one enquiry
- Norwich and every town within twenty miles