Blocked drains

Blocked drains
across the Inner West

Cleared the same day where we can, then filmed and located, because on a row of terraces the first question is not what blocked it but whose line it is.

Often same-dayNSW Lic. 368473CFootage for every owner

Call 1300 381 569

Get a drain callback

Built as a row, drained as a row

Most of the older inner west is housing built in rows to a common plan. What is less widely known is that the drainage followed the same logic as the buildings. A single private line commonly serves several properties, taking waste from all of them before it ever reaches the water authority's main.

Nothing about that is a defect. It is simply how a row built together was drained, and it has been working that way for a century. But it changes what a blockage means, and almost nobody living on one of these lines knows they are on it.

Here is the part that causes the most trouble between neighbours. When something obstructs a shared section, the property nearest the obstruction backs up first, because it is the first place the water has anywhere to go. That is a matter of position on the line. It is not evidence about who put what down a drain, and treating it as evidence is how the wrong person ends up blamed and occasionally billed.

The answer is not an argument, it is a camera. The footage shows where other properties join and the locate shows where the run goes and under whose land, and every owner on that line gets the same recording. That is a diagram instead of four recollections.

Call 1300 381 569 Book a look

Cleared firstThe blockage does not wait on the diplomacy
Filmed and locatedWhat the line serves, and where it goes
Same footage to every ownerSo nobody is arguing from memory
Licensed plumberNSW Licence 368473C, fully insured

Regional drainage guide

Drains across the inner west

A row was drained as a row

One private line commonly serves several properties before it reaches the main.

It is ordinary for housing built together to a common plan.

Nearest to the obstruction backs up first

That is position on the line rather than fault.

It is why blame lands in the wrong place so often on these streets.

Almost nobody knows which they have

The arrangement is invisible until something goes wrong.

A camera and a locate answer it in an afternoon.

The repair may sit under a neighbour

Which makes it a conversation, and an early one rather than a late one.

We do not enter a neighbour's property without their agreement.

Wipes, from several households at once

Still the largest single cause of what we clear.

On a shared line they arrive from several kitchens and bathrooms rather than one.

What we clear and inspect

Blocked toilets, showers and basins
Shared private lines serving a row
Kitchen lines and grease build-up
Runs located and marked, with what they serve
CCTV inspection, with the footage given to every owner affected

Call 1300 381 569

Where we work across the inner west

Suburb boundaries © Australian Bureau of Statistics, ASGS 2021, used under CC BY 4.0.

What drain work costs across the inner west

Fixed price agreed before anything starts. These are indicative 2026 ranges.

Clear a blocked drain $150 – $400

Through an existing access point where the property has one.

Camera inspection $250 – $450

Which on this housing answers whose line it is as well as what is in it.

Jetting a stubborn line $400 – $700

For what a cable alone will not shift.

Locate a run and mark what it serves $250 – $500

Position and depth, and which properties join it.

Written findings included

Shared with every owner on the line, not only whoever rang us.

How a drain call-out runs.

Step 01

Booking a blocked drain call-out across the inner west

We ask about the neighbours

Whether the house is in a row, and whether anybody either side has had the same trouble. That answer shapes everything after it.

Step 02

Clearing a blocked drain in an inner west terrace

Cleared

Through an access point where one exists, with the least disruptive method that will genuinely work.

Step 03

Locating a shared drainage line in the inner west

Filmed and located

What the line serves, where it runs, and under whose land, which is the information nobody on these streets has.

Step 04

Handing over drain camera footage in the inner west

Everyone gets the same copy

Because a shared line is a shared conversation, and it goes better when nobody is arguing from memory.

Blocked drain questions.

What the Inner West locals ask us before booking a plumber.

Ask us yours Licensed plumbing van covering the Inner West and the surrounding suburbs

My drain blocked. Could a neighbour have caused it?

On a row of terraces, genuinely yes. Houses built as a row were commonly drained as a row, so a single private line serves several properties before it reaches the main. Waste from all of them travels the same pipe for part of the way, and an obstruction anywhere in the shared section affects everyone upstream of it.

Then why did it back up in my house and not theirs?

Position, not fault. The property nearest the obstruction backs up first because it is the first place with anywhere for the water to go. That is a matter of where you sit on the line rather than of who put something down a drain, and it is the single biggest cause of blame landing in the wrong place on these streets.

How do I find out whether my line is shared?

A camera and a locate. The camera shows where other properties join, and the locate shows where the run goes and under whose land. It takes an afternoon and it turns an argument into a diagram. Almost nobody has had it done, which is why almost nobody knows.

Who pays if it is shared?

Where a line serves several owners the responsibility for it is shared between them, and how the cost is split is worked out between the owners. We will not give you a legal opinion on that, because it is not ours to give. What we will do is give every owner the same footage, so the conversation starts from evidence rather than from recollection.

What actually causes the blockages?

Wipes, well ahead of everything else, whatever the packet claims. They do not break down, they snag inside the pipe and they collect everything behind them. Fat and hair account for most of the rest, and in a shared line all of it arrives from several kitchens and bathrooms rather than one.

Will you need to work on a neighbour's property?

Possibly, if that is where the line runs, and that is a conversation to have before there is a machine on site rather than after. We do not enter a neighbour's property without their agreement and we will not ask you to obtain it on our behalf.

What does drain work cost across the inner west?

Clearing a blocked drain is $150 to $400. A camera inspection is $250 to $450. Jetting is $400 to $700. Locating a run and marking what it serves is $250 to $500, with the written findings included.

Licensed the Inner West plumber arriving with his tools

Get the drain sorted across the inner west

Tell us which fixtures, and whether the house is in a row and whether a neighbour has had the same thing. That second answer is the one that decides what we are dealing with.

Cleared, filmed, located, and the evidence shared with everyone on the line.

1300 381 56924/7 emergency line

[email protected]Non-urgent enquiries

Servicing the Inner West & districtNSW Licence 368473C

Blocked drains
across the Inner West

Get a drain callback

Built as a row, drained as a row

Has a neighbour had the same thing?

Drains across the inner west

A row was drained as a row

Nearest to the obstruction backs up first

Almost nobody knows which they have

The repair may sit under a neighbour

Wipes, from several households at once

What drain work costs across the inner west

Clear a blocked drain $150 – $400

Camera inspection $250 – $450

Jetting a stubborn line $400 – $700

Locate a run and mark what it serves $250 – $500

Written findings included

How a drain call-out runs.

We ask about the neighbours

Cleared

Filmed and located

Everyone gets the same copy

Sewage backing up right now?

Blocked drain questions.

Get the drain sorted across the inner west

Get a drain callback

Blocked drains across the Inner West

Get a drain callback

Built as a row, drained as a row

Has a neighbour had the same thing?

Drains across the inner west

A row was drained as a row

Nearest to the obstruction backs up first

Almost nobody knows which they have

The repair may sit under a neighbour

Wipes, from several households at once

What drain work costs across the inner west

Clear a blocked drain $150 – $400

Camera inspection $250 – $450

Jetting a stubborn line $400 – $700

Locate a run and mark what it serves $250 – $500

Written findings included

How a drain call-out runs.

We ask about the neighbours

Cleared

Filmed and located

Everyone gets the same copy

Sewage backing up right now?

Blocked drain questions.

Get the drain sorted across the inner west

Get a drain callback

Blocked drains
across the Inner West