Blocked Drains

Darius Sorts Out a Drainage Disaster Hidden Beneath a Renovation

When it comes to old Perth homes, you never know what you’ll find under the surface — and this job in Bayswater delivered a real mixed bag:
• A sunk drain running the wrong way
• A dodgy IO cut-in with tree root intrusion
• A decommissioned septic tank… that the new pipe runs through
• And a whole lot of DIY plumber nightmares 😅

🔍 What Went Wrong?
The customer’s extended property had been built right over the top of the original drainage line — and unfortunately,
💬 “Gravity only works if you give it the right slope.”
Darius found:
• A collapsed, out-of-grade drain
• Old section with the top cut off for access (not ideal)
• Tree roots infiltrating where it had been left open
• A new pipe laid on top of the old one 🤦

🔧 How Darius Fixed It
• Located the faulty drain section and exposed it carefully
• Removed the old, sunken pipe and dodgy IO job
• Pulled out the unused pipe laid over the top
• Re-ran the new pipe to correct grade and fall
• Ensured the new line bypassed the old septic and tree root zones
• Completed thorough flow testing to confirm all is well

✅ Now the system drains as it should — and Darius left the site neat, tidy, and root-free.

🎥 Watch the Video to See It All Unfold
If you love watching pros clean up old plumbing disasters, this one’s got:
• Digging, cutting, inspecting and replacing
• A look into Perth’s heritage plumbing horrors
• Clear explanations of what went wrong — and how to make it right  

📞 Think your old home has dodgy drainage?
Call the Plumbdog pack — we’ve seen it all, and we know how to fix it right the first time. 

The Importance of Getting a Good Plumber Before You Pour the Slab

Some jobs make you shake your head. This one? Full-body eye roll.
Darius is called to a newly built home only to discover a textbook example of what not to do when plumbing a property:

• No Inspection Openings (IOs)
• Prelaid jump-up pipes cast in the neighbour’s garage footings
• A disconnector gully (DG) that’s impossible to rod due to a 45° M+F fitting on the outlet 😬

🔍 What Went Wrong
Let’s just say… you won’t find this install in a plumbing best-practice guide.

• ❌ No access points for maintenance
• ❌ DG setup that’s unusable
• ❌ Construction that completely ignores future servicing

💬 “I know what you’re all thinking — ‘Just rod the DG.’ Yeah, nah. You can’t when it’s been fitted like this.”

💪 What We Did Instead
Thankfully, Darius doesn’t go anywhere without a full arsenal of gear — including the Turd Muncher 2000 🎉
Using:
• High-pressure water jetter
• CCTV camera
• Hard-earned Plumbdog know-how

He managed to work through the nightmare setup and get things sorted.

🐾 Don’t Let Bad Builders Ruin Your Pipes 
📞 Call Plumbdog if you want things done right from the ground up — literally. 
We’ll sniff out the issues before they’re buried in concrete. 

Big Tree, Small Wall, Mixed Signals — A Real Plumbing Mystery Solved the Right Way

This one’s a team effort — and a great example of what happens when a drain blockage just doesn’t want to play fair.

Darius and Plumbpup Chris had both been out to the property already, and while they managed to get some temporary flow going, something wasn’t sitting right.
The drain wasn’t behaving normally — and that’s when Rich stepped in with all the gear and every idea.

🧰 Step 1: Set Up the Full Arsenal

Rich got to work with:

• The water jetter for blasting
• The CCTV camera for visuals
• The locator to pinpoint where the trouble really started

Right from the get-go, the locator was acting strange — giving mixed depth and distance readings, likely due to:

• A small retaining wall
• A very large tree in the area
• And possible interference from old or poorly installed pipework

💬 “It’s one of those jobs where the drain’s telling you it’s fine… but your gut says otherwise.”

🪓 Step 2: Dig Deeper (Literally)

After narrowing it down, the customer agreed with our recommendation:
✅ Let’s not waste more time band-aiding this
✅ Dig it up, replace the dodgy section, and sort it for good

The team came back and completed a minor drain replacement, removing the affected section and reconnecting properly — no more surprises hiding under trees or walls.

✅ Result: Job Done, Long-Term Fix in Place

Since the repair, the customer’s had zero further issues.
A bit of upfront investigation, a bit of digging, and the right long-term fix made all the difference.

💬 “Some drains just can’t be tickled — they’ve got to be poked.”

🐾 Plumbdog — Perth’s real plumbers, ready for the drain blockages that don’t play fair. 
📞 No callout fee | ✅ Drain locator & CCTV specialists | 🛠️ Long-term drainage solutions 

Rich Gets His Hands Dirty (Literally) to Clear a Seriously Clogged Line

It’s another classic Plumbdog moment — Rich on site in Waikiki, drain jetter roaring in the background, face covered in drain gunk, and the WA sun doing its best to make things harder.

This job was a prime example of what we deal with when someone says,

“The drain’s a bit blocked — probably just hair or something.”

Spoiler alert: it was not just hair.

🔍 What We Found in the Drain

After setting up the CCTV camera and water jetter, Rich gets stuck in and starts pulling out all sorts of nonsense:

• 🪵 Timber
• 🪨 Stones, rocks, and rubble
• 🧱 A mystery material list worthy of a backyard construction site

💬 “Some days, it’s like the drain’s been used as a skip bin. Welcome to plumbing, folks.”

💦 What We Did Next

Once the blockage was cleared and the drain was flushed:

• Rich ran the basin, bath, and shower inside the house
• Checked the inspection shaft to ensure full, smooth flow
• Confirmed the system was draining exactly as it should

✅ No backups
✅ No gurgling
✅ No drama (well… except the mess)

🐾 Real plumbers. Real blockages. Real face full of drain gunk. 
📞 Call Plumbdog if your drain’s not flowing — we’ll clear it, clean it, and cop the mess so you don’t have to.