Drainage FAQs

Yes. Pipe & Drain Cleaners works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and bank holidays, across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. For an emergency call 0800 470 0946; for non-urgent jobs you can book a 3-hour time slot online.

No. There is no call-out fee anywhere in London. Your engineer looks at the problem and gives you a fixed quote before any work starts, so you know the price up front and there are no hidden charges.

We cover the whole of Greater London: every London borough plus the City of London, from Enfield to Croydon and from Hillingdon to Havering. We do not work outside London. You can check your postcode on our Areas We Cover page.

Usually you are responsible for drains that serve only your property and sit within your boundary. Since October 2011, shared drains and lateral drains outside your boundary are generally Thames Water's responsibility in London. If you rent, your landlord is usually responsible for repairs.

We find the blockage, then clear it with mechanical drain rods or high-pressure water jetting, which scours fat, scale, silt and roots from the pipe walls. We test the flow afterwards. If a drain keeps blocking, a CCTV camera survey shows the cause, such as a crack, root ingress or a collapse.

A CCTV drain survey records video from a camera pushed through your drains to show cracks, displaced joints, tree roots, collapses and blockages. It is worth having before buying an older property, before building an extension near a drain, or when a drain blocks again and again.

Often, yes. A good plunger clears most toilet and sink blockages. Avoid mixing chemical drain cleaners and never pour boiling water into a toilet bowl. If several fittings back up at once, or water rises in an outside drain, the blockage is further down the system and needs an engineer.

It is an emergency if sewage is coming back into your home, an outside drain is overflowing, your only toilet is unusable, or water is near electrics. Call 0800 470 0946 any time. A slow sink or bath can usually wait for a booked time slot.

Yes. We work for homeowners, tenants, landlords, letting agents, restaurants, offices and shops across London, including commercial kitchens with grease problems.

Call free on 0800 470 0946 at any time, or book online: choose your problem, a day and a 3-hour time window (morning, afternoon or late afternoon). We will call you to confirm.

Only pee, poo and toilet paper should be flushed. Wet wipes, sanitary products, cotton buds and nappies cause blockages. In the kitchen, keep fat, oil, grease, coffee grounds and food scraps out of the sink; they build up into blockages and fatbergs.

Common causes are a dried-out trap in a rarely used sink or shower, grease and food build-up in the pipe, a blocked vent, or a cracked drain letting sewer gas escape. Run water in unused fittings first; if the smell persists, a CCTV survey can find a broken pipe.