Blocked Drains Sydney
CCTV drain inspection, high-pressure jet blasting and a plain-English answer to why it keeps happening. Licensed Sydney plumbers, upfront fixed price before any work starts.
No call-out fee in business hours. After-hours, weekend and emergency call-outs carry a call-out fee, always quoted upfront before we dispatch a plumber.
Founded 2017 · No call-out fee in business hours · After-hours emergencies · NSW Licence 311287C · Lifetime labour guarantee
Get the price for your job
Takes 60 seconds. Tell us the job and we call you back with a fixed price, or send a photo through the Instant Quote tool.
- No call-out fee in business hours
- Fixed price before any work starts
- Lifetime Labour Guarantee on every job
Nick or Julie aim to call you back within 30 minutes, 7am to 6pm seven days.
We use these details to price your job and contact you about it. Nothing else.
No call-out fee in business hours · Licensed 311287C · Lifetime Labour Guarantee
A blocked drain is a symptom. We find the cause.
Most blocked drain calls get the same treatment: a machine goes down the pipe, the water moves, and three months later the same drain is backing up.
Every blocked drain we attend gets a diagnosis, not just a clearance. We find out what blocked it and whether it will happen again, show you the footage, and give you a fixed price before we touch anything.
For taps, toilets and everyday jobs, see our general plumbing page.
How we diagnose a blocked drain
CCTV drain camera inspection. A waterproof camera travels through your sewer or stormwater line and sends live video to a screen above ground: tree roots, cracks, grease, displaced joints, sagging sections, foreign objects. You see exactly what we see.
Pipe locating. The camera head carries a transmitter, so we can pinpoint the position and depth of a fault from the surface. If a repair is needed, we dig one hole in the right place.
Inspection openings and boundary traps. Every Sydney property on sewer should have an inspection opening, and older homes usually have a boundary trap where the house drain meets the Sydney Water main. These are our access points for cameras, jetters and eels. If yours is buried or paved over, we will locate it and bring it back to the surface.
How we clear a blocked drain
High-pressure water jetting (jet blasting). Water through a specialised nozzle at high pressure cuts through tree roots, scours grease and scale off the pipe walls and flushes debris out to the main. Jetting cleans the full pipe diameter, not just a hole through the middle. Our first choice for grease-choked kitchen lines, root-affected sewers and silted stormwater.
Electric eel (drain machine). A rotating steel cable with a cutting head. Suited to solid blockages near the house, toilet blockages, small-diameter internal lines, and pipes already so damaged that high-pressure water could make things worse.
Often we use both: eel to get the water moving, jetter to clean the pipe properly, camera to confirm the line is actually clear.
Why Sydney drains block
Tree roots in old clay sewers. Most Sydney homes built before the 1970s have earthenware sewer pipes with a joint every 600 mm or so. Ground movement opens the joints, roots follow the moisture in and form a mat that catches everything. The number one cause of repeat blockages in the Inner West and St George.
Grease and fat in kitchen lines. Cooking fat goes down hot, cools and sets on the pipe walls. Over years it narrows the pipe until normal food scraps are enough to block it.
Collapsed, cracked or displaced pipes. Age, ground movement and poor past repairs can crack a pipe or drop a section so it no longer falls towards the main. No amount of clearing fixes this.
Wet wipes. Even the ones labelled flushable do not break down like toilet paper. They snag on roots and rough joints and build into a solid plug.
Foreign objects. Toys, toothbrush heads, tile grout from renovations, kitty litter. We have seen most things.
Stormwater blockages. Leaves, silt, roots and mulch fill stormwater pits and pipes. You find out in the first heavy downpour when the yard floods.
Repeated blockages: when clearing is no longer enough
If we have cleared the same drain twice, something structural is wrong, and a third clearance is money spent on a problem that will return. The permanent options:
Pipe repair. Where a single joint or short section has failed, we excavate, cut out the damaged pipe and replace it with new PVC.
No-dig pipe relining. A resin-saturated liner is pulled into the existing pipe, inflated and cured in place to form a new, seamless, root-proof pipe inside the old one. No trenches, no broken paving, no digging under the house. Usually the right answer for long root-affected clay runs and pipes under structures. See pipe relining.
We only recommend a permanent fix when the camera shows a real reason for it. If a one-off clearance is all you need, that is what you get.
What you get from Pink Plumbing
- Footage and photos. CCTV recordings and stills of what we found, yours to keep and send to your insurer, strata manager or landlord.
- Plain-English findings. What is wrong, how urgent it is, what your options are. No jargon, no fear-selling.
- Upfront fixed price before any work starts. You only pay for the work we do. If the camera shows something new, we stop and re-quote.
- A clear pipe, confirmed on camera.
- Lifetime Labour Guarantee on every job.
For full prices and what changes them, see the blocked drain price guide.
Emergency blocked drains
Sewage coming up through the shower, a toilet that will not flush, water pooling around the overflow gully: these are health hazards. Our emergency line takes calls after hours too, and overflowing drains go to the front of the queue.
No call-out fee in business hours. After-hours, weekend and emergency call-outs carry a call-out fee, always quoted upfront before we dispatch a plumber.
While you wait: stop using water, keep children and pets away from the overflow, and if you can find your inspection opening, take the cap off so sewage discharges outside rather than in your bathroom.
Blocked drains in the Inner West and St George
We are based in Earlwood and most of our drain work is in the Inner West and St George, where the housing stock is a plumber's education: Federation cottages and interwar bungalows on clay sewers, big established trees along the fence line, and decades of renovations of varying quality. We know what these streets are like under the ground and carry the gear to fix them on the first visit.
We also service the Eastern Suburbs and Sutherland Shire, and greater Sydney for larger drainage and relining jobs.
Why homeowners, landlords and strata managers call us
- Licensed NSW plumbers, licence 311287C, fully insured.
- Founded in 2017 by Nick, a Sydney plumber with nearly 20 years on the tools. Four plumbers, 40+ years of combined experience, and every job done or supervised by a licensed plumber.
- Lifetime Labour Guarantee on every job.
- 160+ five-star Google reviews and 5.0 on hipages. We do not ask for nice reviews. We just do good work.
- Footage, photos and written findings suitable for owners, tenants and insurance claims. See real estate plumbing and strata plumbing.
Book a blocked drain plumber
Call 1300 111 007. Tell us what is happening and we will tell you straight what to expect. Non-urgent bookings and CCTV or relining quotes: info@pinkplumbing.com.au.
No call-out fee in business hours. After-hours, weekend and emergency call-outs carry a call-out fee, always quoted upfront before we dispatch a plumber.
Areas we cover
Based in Earlwood, working across the Inner West, St George, the Sutherland Shire, the Eastern Suburbs and the North Shore.
Questions
Blocked drain FAQs
How much does it cost to clear a blocked drain in Sydney?
Blocked drains from $198 inc GST, confirmed on site. You get an upfront fixed price before any work starts, and you only pay for the work we do. No call-out fee in business hours. After-hours, weekend and emergency call-outs carry a call-out fee, always quoted upfront before we dispatch a plumber.
Why does my drain keep blocking?
In older Sydney suburbs the sewer under the garden is usually earthenware (clay) with a joint every few feet. Tree roots find the joints, waste catches on the roots, and the line blocks again every few months. A camera inspection shows the cause; jet blasting clears it; pipe relining seals the joints so the roots cannot get back in, without digging up the yard.
How much does a CCTV drain inspection cost?
It depends on the length of the line, the access points and whether we are inspecting sewer, stormwater or both. We quote a fixed price upfront before we start. If the inspection is part of a blocked drain call-out, you get the combined price before any work begins.
Will you have to dig up my yard?
Usually not. Most root damage is fixed by jet blasting and no-dig pipe relining through the existing access points. We only excavate where a section of pipe has collapsed, and you get a fixed price before any digging starts.
Can tree roots really block a sewer pipe?
Yes, and in Sydney they are the most common cause. Older earthenware pipes have joints that open with ground movement, roots follow the moisture in, then catch paper and wipes until the line blocks. Jetting cuts the roots out; relining stops them coming back.
Do you put a camera down the drain?
Yes. We inspect the line with a CCTV drain camera, show you the footage, and give you a fixed price for the fix before we start. You see what we see.
Can you clear a blocked drain today?
We aim to attend blocked drains the same day in the Inner West, St George and the Sutherland Shire when you call in the morning, and we tell you the real time when you ring 1300 111 007. A sewer backing up into the house is treated as an emergency, after hours too.
Is a blocked drain an emergency?
If sewage is overflowing inside or outside the house, or no toilet in the property will flush, yes. Call 1300 111 007, after hours too. A slow sink or a gurgling floor waste can usually wait for a business-hours visit, when there is no call-out fee.
Is my blocked drain my problem or Sydney Water's?
As a rule, the pipes inside your property boundary up to the connection with the sewer main are the owner's responsibility, and the main itself is Sydney Water's. If several neighbours are blocked at the same time or sewage is surfacing in the street, it is often the main: call Sydney Water on 13 20 90. If it is only your property, call us and we camera the line to show you exactly where the problem is.
What should I not do while I wait?
Do not pour chemical drain cleaners into a blocked sewer: they rarely shift roots or a collapsed section, and they make the pipe dangerous to open. Stop running water into that drain, lift anything off the floor nearby, and call us.
Do you attend emergencies after hours?
Yes, every night from 6pm to 7am. Call 1300 111 007 and the on-call plumber answers, tells you whether we can get to you tonight, and quotes the after-hours call-out fee before we dispatch. We aim to be on site within 60 minutes for emergencies in the Inner West, St George and the Shire.
Which areas do you cover?
From our Earlwood base we cover the Inner West, St George, the Sutherland Shire, the Eastern Suburbs and the North Shore, and greater Sydney for larger jobs. Tell us your suburb and we tell you the real travel time.
Get your drain cleared properly
Upfront fixed price before any work starts. You only pay for the work we do. Call 1300 111 007 or send a photo through the Instant Quote tool.
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Need us right now? Call 1300 111 007, seven days.
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No call-out fee in business hours · Licensed 311287C · Lifetime Labour Guarantee
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