Drain Blockages - 5 signs that your drains are about to block up?

Andrew Gould, August 1, 2022

When you're madly chasing around for a plumber to clear a blocked drain on a Friday afternoon, you are no doubt thinking, that it would be helpful if you had advance warning. Don’t worry, your plumber is probably thinking the same thing.

 

So how do you know when your drains are about to block up?

Some of the warning signs are:

• A healthy drain does not smell. As your drains start to partially block you should notice a sewer odour, especially outside, either near the boundary connection, or near your educt vent. Don’t dismiss it.
• After you flush the toilet the level in the pan drops dramatically after the flush or seems to suck the water seal out entirely. This means your drain is partially blocked between the toilet and the vent, so it has to suck air through the toilet pan.
• In the bathroom or laundry the drains will begin to smell rather musty when there is a blockage starting to build up. These drains will also gurgle at the basins etc.
• Once again in the bathroom or laundry, you will notice that whereas you used to hear the water pouring down through the floor waste drain, from the bath and basin; now they are very quiet. Those basin wastes may even start to drain rather slowly also.
• Maybe rather obvious of course, but your outside traps may overflow a little and then the level subsides. Don’t believe that this problem will just get better

What to do at this time?

Do Not - Waste your money buying plungers to try and push it clear because there is every chance it is tree roots. Don’t waste your money buying those expensive blue tablets, as most times roots will grow in through the top of the drain and the tablet will go sailing harmlessly by. Also these things are only designed to burn off fresh new roots. They are not an effective solution.

Do - Call a good, reliable plumber with a good reputation and experience. Now is the time, if you don’t know who to call, then start asking around for recommendations, or googling for the same.

 

A badly broken drain with tree root intrusion. Major problem for you? Only a minor challenge for us with our drain cameras and high pressure water jetters. This photo was after the initial pass with the jetter which cleared the drain and blew away some of the roots already.

 

How will you find the right tradie?

Some things to consider before you call: 

• Where are you getting the information from? Is it a friend or relative of the Plumber? Do they attend the same sporting club or pub? While it could actually be factual, there is a greater possibility the answer could be biased and the results may be skewed.
• If they have testimonials, are there only three or even less, five star reviews, and that is all? It is fairly easy for a tradie to ask a few friends or family to post a five star review for them, but near impossible to have dozens of them.
• Or do they have many testimonials from a huge cross section of the community? Testimonials for various reasons, are actually hard to get, even from people who really appreciate the service you have given. Remember also that this will be far easier for a larger plumbing firm to get many, hence the next point about the general vibe of reviews.
• When reading the reviews, do they just one after the other say what a good bloke this tradie is? Or do they have detail, for example "it was 3pm Friday afternoon and our toilet blocked.....etc". Any detail nearly always shows genuine authenticity, instead of AI generated fabrications.

 

Renopipe beleive we are your best choice for clearing drains in the Albury Wodonga district. Try our service and you will not be disappointed.