If a drain blocks once, it was probably what went down it. If it blocks in the same place twice, the pipe is telling you something.
Repair work always starts with the camera and the locator. Anyone quoting a drain repair without having seen inside the pipe and marked the position is guessing with your money.
What damages a drain
- Tree roots
- Roots enter at a weeping joint, then thicken. A root that got in through a hairline gap can end up wide enough to crack the pipe apart from the inside.
- Collapsed pipe
- Old earthenware reaching the end of its life, or a section crushed by vehicle loading over a shallow line. Driveways are the usual location.
- Ground movement
- Reactive clay soils, sandy canal backfill settling, and construction next door all move pipes and pull joints open.
- Age and material
- Vitrified clay and earthenware were the standard for decades. They do not fail everywhere at once, but joints open, sections crack, and bores deteriorate.
- Poor original workmanship
- Insufficient fall, unsupported sections and badly made joints. These show up as a drain that has always been a bit slow, and then one day is not slow, it is blocked.
- Foreign objects and build debris
- Render and mortar set inside a line during construction can sit there for years, narrowing the bore and catching everything.
How a repair gets decided
- 01Clear and cameraThe line is cleared enough to see, then inspected end to end so we know whether the defect is one spot or a whole run.
- 02Locate and markPosition and depth marked at the surface, so the scope of any excavation is known before it starts.
- 03Explain the optionsWhat the defect is, what it will do if left, and what the realistic ways of fixing it are. In writing, with the footage.
- 04Carry out the repairThe appropriate method for that defect, that pipe and that location.
- 05Re-camera to confirmThe line is inspected again afterwards so you can see the repair in place and the pipe flowing.
An honest word about repair methods
You will see a lot of drainage marketing that promises no-dig repair on every job. That is not how it works. Whether a pipe can be relined or patched without excavation depends on the pipe material, the diameter, how much of it is damaged and whether the line still holds its shape.
A fully collapsed section cannot be relined, because there is nothing left to line. Equally, a single cracked joint under a driveway is a poor candidate for digging up if there is a workable alternative.
So we do not promise a method before we have seen the pipe. We inspect it, locate it, tell you what the options genuinely are for your drain, and let you decide.
Pleasant experience, efficient and professional. Although it was eventually discovered that drainage problem did originate from the public sewer line, John helped me to report and explain with the bodycorp, very considerable guy! Highly recommended.
WilliamFantastic and honest service! Extremely rare nowadays. Had a blocked drain (thanks to “breeders choice” cat litter) and needed someone to come over asap.
Hanna Chebotnikova