Maintaining My Home

remove rubbish blocking the drain by pulling it out – avoid pushing it further down the drain. If necessary, rod the drain and try to pull the blockage up

if drain discharges into the street channel at the kerb, rod back up the drain from the street to clear blockage, then put a hose in the drain at the downpipe connection to flush the blockage out

if you cannot unblock the drain call in a registered plumber or drainlayer

blockages caused by tree roots can be confirmed by a registered plumber or drainlayer inserting a CCTV camera on a long cable into the drain

a short-term solution is for the plumber/drainlayer to cut the roots away with a specialist power tool

some plumbers/drainlayers offer internal patching solutions once the roots have been removed

digging up and replacing the affected part of the drain, or the whole length of drain, can provide an effective longer-term solution

removing the trees is another option