Blocked Drain? Here's What Our Unblocking Visit Actually Covers in Coventry

An unblocking visit is a diagnosis and a clearance, not a guess and a rod. The order matters: find the restriction, choose the method that suits the pipe, clear it properly, then confirm the flow. Skipping the first step is how drains get damaged and how the same blockage returns a fortnight later.

Before we arrive

Tell us what is happening: which fittings are affected, whether water is standing or draining slowly, whether anything has overflowed, and whether chemicals have been used. That last point matters for safety as well as method. If you have a chamber cover you can safely photograph or describe, that helps too, as does knowing whether the property is on a shared run.

While you wait, stop adding water. Do not keep flushing, do not run the washing machine, and do not empty a full sink down a drain that is already struggling. A bucket and towels at the low point do more good than anything else.

What happens when we get there

We walk the system before touching it. Which fittings are affected, where the nearest access points are, whether there is a chamber, a gully or a rodding eye, and whether the water is still rising. That survey takes a few minutes and it is what stops us from rodding the wrong section or jetting a pipe that should not be jetted.

Then we clear. A basin or a bath trap is opened and cleaned. A short branch is rodded. A soil run or a greasy kitchen waste responds better to jetting, which scours the pipe wall. An outside gully is emptied and its outlet checked. On a shared or larger run we work from the furthest point back towards the outlet so debris moves one way.

Confirming it is actually clear

Water moving is not proof that the pipe is clear, so we test the flow properly: run water at the affected fittings, watch the level in the chamber, and check that nearby fittings do not gurgle or rise. If the run clears and then slows again while we are still there, that tells us something structural is involved, and we will say so rather than declaring it done.

What an unblocking visit does not include

An unblocking visit is a clearance. It does not include a camera survey, excavation, a repair to a damaged pipe, or the replacement of a trap or fitting, and it does not include work on a section that belongs to the water company or the council. Where those are needed, we will explain why, and any of them is quoted separately once we know what is involved.

We also cannot promise that a blockage will not return. Roots keep growing, a shallow fall stays shallow, and a pipe with a defect will silt up again. What we can do is tell you what we found and what the pattern suggests.

Responsibility, briefly

Some drains are not the homeowner's to clear. Highway gullies and public sewers usually sit with the council or the water company, and a shared private run may cross a neighbour's land. We will help you work out which section serves your property and where the boundary plausibly falls, but adoption records are not something we can confirm on someone else's behalf.

Hygiene and safety

Sewage and standing water carry bacteria. Keep children and pets away, wash your hands after any contact, ventilate the space, and do not walk contamination through the house on shoes. Never mix drain chemicals, and never follow a caustic product with an acid one. If waste has surfaced in a garden, keep the area clear and do not hose it into the drain.

An open chamber is a fall hazard and a confined-space hazard. Never climb into one, and do not lean over one to reach something that has fallen in.

Booking

Tell us the postcode, the symptoms and how urgent it is. Same-day attendance may be possible depending on where we are and what the day looks like, but we will not promise it before we have checked. The booking fee is paid when you book, and the full cost of the work is quoted and approved before we start.