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Blocked drain? What to do (and what not to)
A slow sink or a gurgling drain is annoying — and easy to make worse if you reach for the wrong fix. Here's a sensible order to work through, what to steer clear of, and the signs it's time to call someone in.
Try these first
- Hot water & washing-up liquid. For a greasy kitchen sink, a kettle of hot (not boiling) water with a good squirt of washing-up liquid can loosen a soft blockage.
- A plunger. Cover the overflow, get a good seal over the plughole, and plunge firmly. This shifts a surprising number of blockages.
- Clear the trap. Under a sink, the U-bend (trap) catches gunk. Pop a bucket underneath, unscrew it, and clean it out.
- A drain snake. A cheap drain snake or even straightened wire can hook out hair and debris near the plughole.
What to avoid
Go easy on chemical drain cleaners. They're harsh, can damage older pipes and seals, rarely clear a proper blockage, and make it unpleasant for anyone who has to work on the drain afterwards. Use sparingly, if at all.
And to stop blockages in the first place, keep these out of your drains: cooking fats, oils and grease, wet wipes (yes, even the "flushable" ones), coffee grounds, and food scraps. Fat and wipes are the two biggest culprits we see.
Warning signs it's more than a simple clog
Some symptoms point to a blockage deeper in the system — past the bits you can reach:
- Several drains slow or blocked at the same time
- Gurgling sounds from plugholes or the toilet
- A bad, drain-y smell that won't shift
- Water backing up into a sink, bath or outside gully
- A blockage that clears, then comes straight back
If you're seeing any of those, it's worth getting it looked at properly before it becomes a flood.
How we clear it
For stubborn or deeper blockages, we use proper kit — rodding and high-pressure jetting — to clear the line and get things flowing freely again, then check the cause so it's less likely to come back. Quick, tidy, and no mess left behind.