Drain Maintenance and Repairs

When your drains are blocked and your toilet is backed up to the brim, it's time to call your local Blockage Masters.

Our friendly and competent staff will have your drain problems sorted out in next to no time using the latest in drain repair/maintenance and diagnostic equipment.

• MECHANICAL ROTA ROOTERS

• HYDRO JET SCRUBBERS

• CCTV DRAIN CAMERAS

DID YOU KNOW

Household drainage systems can be a complex arrangement of plumbing fixtures, pipes, tanks and soakage systems. When a household drainage system or plumbing fixture chokes, blocks up, backs up or overflows there are a number of factors that may be contributing, including any one or more of the following:

• Foreign objects which have entered the drain such as sanitary napkins or tampons, disposable nappies, toilet fresheners, children's toys, sticks, stones, bottles, or drink cans, etc
   
• Over use of toilet paper/ tissue (paper blockage)
   
• Build up of congealed cooking oils, fats and grease and the build up of rust scale, sludge or hair in the inter-connecting smaller waste pipes
   
• Drain pipes cracked or misaligned by the growth of trees and shrubs, as well as by the movement or settlement of surrounding soil, movement or settlement of retaining walls or building, or the weight of vehicular traffic
   
• Tree roots growing in through cracked pipes, faulty joints, or incorrectly fitted screw caps on inspection openings
   
• Lack of maintenance, such as overfull septic tanks requiring pumpout (septic tanks should be emptied every 4 - 6 years), or failed soakage systems such as leach drains or soak wells (largely due to infrequent emptying of septic tanks or fouling by grease and fats)
   
• Unprofessional or illegal installation methods or alterations, or inadequate drain cleaning or maintenance
   
• Failed effluent pumps, or backed up Water Corp sewer mains

Simply clearing a drain does not necessarily imply that the cause of the blockage has been rectified or eliminated, or that it will stay unblocked for a given period of time. The fact is that the time period between blockages is generally determined by the underlying cause of the blockage and if it is tree roots, the rate of re growth .

After all, when it comes to blockages caused by the root system of shrubs and trees, there is generally as much growth going on below the surface as there is above and fibrous roots will continue to invade broken or faulty drain pipes until they are repaired or replaced (just think how often a well watered and fertilized lawn has to be mowed).

If a household drainage system has been properly designed, installed and maintained it should not back up or block up repeatedly (not even every 12 months) and when it does, it is usually because there is an underlying cause that has not been identified, fixed or eliminated and will normally only get worse if ignored (and possibly more expensive to fix). It is therefore a sensible idea to request further investigation to determine the underlying cause.

To identify the cause of blocked or choked pipes, this may require the insertion of a CCTV drain camera to pinpoint and identify the cause and extent of the problem. Once the cause and the extent of the problem is verified, a proposal and estimate of the cost of rectification can be determined.