Clearing Blocked Toilet Drains

Don’t go another day with blocked toilets and toilet drains

Call now for our professional plumbers who can get your toilets working in no time.

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Unblocking and clearing blocked toilet drains and pipes

Help when a repair or replacement is needed for unblocking toilet drains.

Clearing blocked toilets can be tricky in Queanbeyan and Canberra

We are called to clear around 700 blocked sewer drains and 100 stormwater drains in Canberra and Queanbeyan every year. We are successful at clearing 98% of all choked drains that we attend to. Most have multiple tree root blockages.
Those that we cannot clear with an electric eel, we would try to clear with a high pressure water jetter.

When we clear the blockage, we then continue with the drain cleaning process until we reach the boundary connection. You can read our blog about How to unblock drains with an electric eel

Don’t take risks with blocked toilets and drains.

We can provide fast professional help today.

We have been called to many homes where the sewerage overflowing from drains has destroyed carpets, timber floors, has seeped into the walls and flooded subfloor areas.

The resulting stench and health risks can be worse than the visible damage. Most drains that have overflowed from the toilets are the result of homeowners not understanding or reacting to the symptoms of blocked drains soon enough.

One of the first signs of a blocked drain may be a bubbling or smelly toilet. You may find that your drains are overflowing outside. The worst thing that can happen is sewerage overflowing inside your home. The sewerage may overflow from a floor drain or you may discover an overflowing toilet.

Tree roots in drains are a major problem in Canberra and Queanbeyan. Unfortunately, there are some drains that just cannot be cleared with an electric eel or jet rodder.

They may have too many tree roots in them, the drain may have collapsed or there is no access into the section of blocked sewer pipe. In these cases, the sewer drain needs to be dug up and repaired.

Unblocking toilets can be tricky as there is limited access into the branch lines connecting toilets to the main house sewerage system. If it is a matter of access into the drain, an experienced plumber will know where to dig to find the inspection opening (IO) attached to the top of the drain.

Having a blocked toilet may highlight the limited access into sewer drains in Canberra and Queanbeyan. Electric eels and jetters cannot be put through toilets as they are likely to crack the pan. Newer toilets are fixed to the floor with silicone.

Therefore, they are easier to remove and the drain can be accessed from inside the house. However, using drain cleaning equipment inside can be very messy and can cause damage to bathroom fixtures, floors and walls.

The best access point is likely to be buried directly outside under a path or garden.

Fig1) toilet branch line blocked with tree roots

The plumber will dig down to the top of the IO and remove the cap. Once access is made the plumber will send the cutter into the drain back towards the toilet. The apprentice is usually inside ready to warn the plumber when the cutter can be heard close to the pan. The plumber uses the cutter to remove the tree roots from the toilet branch line.

Once the blocked toilet drain is cleared the plumber will send the cutter the opposite direction down the drain ensuring the blockage is moved all of the way to ICON Water’s or Queanbeyan Council’s sewer main.

Fig3) Electric eel being used to push residual tree roots into the sewer main

When the drain is cleared the plumber will install a piece of pipe between the inspection opening and ground level. This pipe will have a cap that can be easily removed. This raised access point (IO) will make drain cleaning easier in the future when the tree roots grow back.

Fig 4) A plastic UPVC riser is installed on the toilet drain for future access as the tree roots may grow back.

According to the Australian Standards for Sanitary Plumbing & Drainage AS/NZS 3500, every toilet drain that blocks with tree roots, is cracked, is overflowing or has collapsed should be excavated and repaired. The standard requires all sewer drains to be functioning and sealed to prevent egress of sewer into the surrounding soil and ground water and to prevent ingress of ground water into the sewer.

Don’t take the risk of your drains overflowing inside your home.
Call us for professional help now 0448 844 911

Unblocking toilet drains is tricky. Clearing blocked toilets is our trade. We can help when a repair or replacement is required in Canberra or Queanbeyan.

You can speak to a qualified tradesman now by calling 0448 844 911