Start at the gully
A gully is the small grated drain that takes waste from a kitchen sink, a washing machine or a downpipe. It has a trap underneath that holds water and stops smells. Leaves, silt, grease and grit collect there and it is the single most common outside blockage.
Lift the grate, put on strong gloves, and scoop out the debris by hand into a bucket. Rinse the gully with a hose. If the water then runs away, that was your blockage and no further work is needed.
Things you can safely do
- Clear leaves and silt from gully grates and channel drains.
- Clear a blocked downpipe shoe where you can reach it from the ground.
- Rinse a cleared gully through with a hose to confirm flow.
- Lift a lightweight inspection chamber cover with a proper key to see whether it is running or full.
- Photograph what you find. It saves time when you describe it on the phone.
Things to leave alone
- Do not enter or reach into a chamber. Confined spaces carry gas and drowning risk and need trained operatives.
- Do not work on a heavy or seized cover alone. They break, and they are heavy enough to cause serious injury.
- Do not use caustic chemicals outside. They wash into the sewer, do very little and make the drain hazardous to work on.
- Do not hire a jetter without training. A high-pressure hose can lacerate skin and can blow out an already damaged pipe.
Working out where the blockage sits
Lift the covers in order, starting nearest the house and working towards the boundary. The last chamber that is empty and the first one that is full tell you the blockage is between those two points. That is exactly what we ask on the phone, and knowing it means we arrive prepared.
If every chamber on your property is full, including the last one before the boundary, the restriction is downstream and may be on the public sewer.
If it is raining hard
Surface water flooding during heavy rain is not always a blockage. It can be a system running at capacity. If the drain clears within an hour of the rain stopping, the pipe is probably sound but undersized or partly silted, and jetting plus a camera check will tell you which.
Questions we get asked
Is it safe to use a garden hose to clear a drain?
It is safe and often useful for rinsing a gully you have already emptied by hand. It has nowhere near the pressure needed to strip fat or move a solid blockage in an underground run.
What if the drain smells but is not blocked?
A smell without a blockage usually means a dry or damaged trap, or a cracked pipe letting gas escape. A short camera inspection will find it.
Should I put drain rods down myself?
Rods are safe in a straight run from an open chamber, but they can push a blockage into a bend, damage old clay pipe or get stuck. If the first gentle attempt does not clear it, stop.