Blocked Drains

• Drain cleaning products are not always efficient at unblocking drains
• Understanding where the water is really blocked helps to fix the problem
• Contacting a licensed plumber often saves time and money
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Our customers are always looking for ways to unblock basins. For those that consider themselves home handy people, they often look for best drain unblocking products or how to unblock drain instructions. Quite often this simply ends up with buying a drain unblocking product of some sort from the supermarket or hardware store. What usually happens is the customer goes and buy these home remedy products or some vinegar and baking soda, then give us a whistle when the problem continues.

At today’s job, top dog Richard has been called out to a property to look at a blocked waste pipe in the bathroom. First thing he points out is that our clients have already tried to unblock the drain themselves, suspecting hair blockage, by using drain crystals.

Plumbdog Note: There are different types of crystals and products for different purposes. The customers have used a kitchen unblocking product which is more relevant for grease type blockages rather than blockages in the bathroom. However, we usually don’t recommend these types of products. You really need to get your paws dirty if you want to get to the root of the problem.

BLOCKED BASIN – IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM AREA

First things first, Richard identifies where the blockage is in basin. The usual first place to check is the waste trap area as that is a common place where blockages occur. At todays property, the water in the pipe was clear which indicates that the blockage is not in the pipe but moreso in the basin or trap.

Video: Check out how much gunk builds up in the trap even though the water isn’t completely blocked at this location. It’s normal for this type of build up to occur over time.

LOCALISED BLOCKAGE

The blockage has been identified and it’s a localised blockage. While there was some buildup of grime and soap scum in the waste trap area, the blockage was found around the plug and waste fitting area.

Check out the video at [1:04] where you can see the basin holding water when the trap was already removed.

A GOOD CLEAN

After a good clean removing the buildup of grime and soap, we always replace washers when we replace a trap as they are perishable and there’s nothing worse than water seeping out just because the washer has worn out.

Remember if you have plumbing problems it’s best to call a licensed plumber to investigate and get the job done properly. Not only do you save time, you can save money from buying products that don’t work or products that aren’t right for the job.

GIVE US A WHISTLE!

Next time you need a plumber that know to get their paws dirty and are experts when it comes to blocked drains, think of plumbers like Plumbdog. If you’re in the Greater Perth area and are in need of a reliable Perth Plumber, give us a whistle!

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• Tree roots can cause all sorts of havoc with blocked drains and drain repairs
• Simply jetting away and clearing the tree roots is not always the best solution. In some circumstances it may provide a temporary fix but may end up costing more in the long run with the same recurring problem. 
• At Plumbdog we look for long term solutions which ultimately saves our customers time and money
• Check out more of our VLOGs & don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

The Job: Blocked Toilet

In today’s video, our Plumbdog Richard is on a property in Huntingdale, Western Australia. Today’s job is to fix a clogged toilet, which perpetually keeps blocking up. The toilet installed in the bathroom seems to be pretty old, typical for these older toilets, the waste goes from the bathroom in an old earthenware pipe.

The toilet clogs are that the tree roots have penetrated underneath the pipe, where it forms a connection to the ceramic toilet pan.

The cleaning of the roots using a high-pressure jet will only be partially possible because if it hits the ceramic connector point on the pan, it will smash. Our customer was presented the customer with two possible options to deal with the situation.

Option 1: Remove the Toilet Pan

The first way is to remove the toilet pan and put it through a high-pressure water jet and then into the drain. The high-pressure water jet will ensure to clean the roots out. But the problem that this step comes with is that the pan will have to be replaced on being removed, making this step a temporary fix. The other issue with this step is that the roots will only be temporarily removed, as they will grow back. Cutting the root is like giving a haircut, which means it needs to be periodically done. Every time the roots grow back, the pan will have to be replaced, and also the drains will have to be cleared, making this process not very feasible.

Option 2: A Better Option

The next option suggested by Richard, which is not only more practical but permanent, is to leave the root-infested pipe in the ground and instead install a new ‘P- trap’ suite, which will make for a gateway for the waste to go through the wall instead of the floor.

In simple terms, this will serve as installing a brand new PVC pipe, which will be connected to the old earthenware pipe externally. On getting customer approval, Richard starts digging and gets to work.

Richard puts his gear inside the pipe, and its output being visible on the CCTV shows us how the roots are still inside the pipe. Richard now removes the toilet pan using a jackhammer from the concrete, and in the process, it breaks from the point where the ceramic joins the airway. Richard gets rid of the roots inside by removing the pan, and also gets rid of the base and replace it with a new one.

While drilling and taking out the old PVC, Richard finds out that this was realigned before, which means that the roots have been here for quite some time. But realigning was not the permanent fix, and therefore the process of installing the P- trap’ suite is so important.

To help the future plumbing jobs, Richard also installs an inspection point which they can directly put the drain gear inside and complete the drain cleaning. In the end, Richard successfully replaces the new toilet suite, installs the P-Strap suite, and what he is left with is the root infested earthenware pipes.

• Ever asked a plumber to remove tree roots from your blocked drains without digging up your property or lifting up pavers?
• If others can’t we can. We’ve got all the gear and every idea! 
• Plumbdog specialise in blocked drains and drain repairs
• Check out more of our VLOGs & don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel

In today’s video, our Plumbdog Richard is at a property in Bibra Lake, Western Australia. Today’s client is facing two issues, both related to water blockage. The first issue is with the toilet system as it is not flushing anymore. When Richard tries to flush it, the water fills up to a pretty high level but drains very slowly. The other issue that the client is facing is with the laundry, as one can hear strange glugging noises which is also a cause of concern.

Inspecting Blocked Drains

After it’s clear that the drains are blocked. Richard comes at the property’s backside and points towards a pipe behind him, which is the vent from where the air enters inside the drain. The function of the drain is to flush out the water and allow the air to come inside. We can hear the glugging sounds because there’s a blockage around the vent which Richard suspects are the tree roots that are growing inside the drain. These blockages tend to be present in the space around the toilet, the vent, and also the laundry.

The fact that the toilet present on the front side of the house is working just fine is that the tree is causing a problem in this side of the house, and they need to be cleaned out to get the toilet few flowing and get rid of that googling sound. One way to clean these drains is by digging this end of the house and clean the drains, but the customer is not very keen on letting us dig because they have laid the tiles only recently.

The good part is that the customer knows about the inspection shaft present in the driveway. Using this inspection shaft, we can put the CCTV equipment down the pipes and find our way around the property to figure out the blockage issue and clean it by using the jet combined. Richard now puts in the CCTV 30 meters upstream, finding the way through all the various bends and figures out the tree roots that have been causing the blockage in the drains. He needs to be very careful as the path is very tricky, and putting pressure on the wrong side can cause hefty damage.

Using CCTV & High Pressure Water jetter

Through the CCTV, we can see the clogging due to the tree roots on the pipe’s dry end. As the CCTV moves forward, the movement becomes restricted as it gets very thin. The roots are thick enough, not even to let the water pass through, and that’s the reason for the drainage issue. Richard now uses his jetaxe nozzle to clean the blockage and annihilates the roots from the pipes. After getting done with the process, he goes and flushes the toilet to see the results and finds out that the procedure has been a success, and the flush is working just fine. The nozzle that he used is adequate to get rid of 100 percent roots causing the blockage.So in case you are facing any blockage issue at your place, then wait no more and give us a whistle. Our plumdog will reach your place and help you get rid of all the drain blockages completely.

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• Join top dog Richard as he sniffs out the blocked drain problem and fixes the issue too.
• Finding and fixing blocked drains is one of our specialist plumbing services and we are no strangers to blocked showers.
• Watch the video and see how we do it!
• Check out more of our VLOGs & don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Blocked Shower Drain

In the video, we were called out to a property in Myaree with a blocked shower drain. Our local Perth Plumber and top dog Richard shows how he efficiently and effectively located the problem area and cleared the blocked shower drain which also affected the water passage in the washroom.

Richard first visited the place and made a thorough investigation regarding where the drain was blocked. He then investigated the layout of the house before opening the threaded access points on waste pipes. He found that the blocked shower waste pipe and found that the main reason for blocking is the build-up of hair and tree roots combined in it.

Hair & Tree Roots

We always say some of the most common causes of blocked drains are tree roots (which you would have seen from our other videos) and hair. At this job we had both. Yummy!

The hair naturally came from normal shower usage but the house also had a tree at the entry of the drain which the combination of tree roots and hair caused this blocked drain issue. After identifying the problem, Richard proceeds to clear, clean and remove all of the debris causing the blockage aided by having the right tools for the job.

It’s one thing to just remove and clear the problem area but having all the gear and every idea, we make sure it’s cleared properly and checked.

Don’t Panic, Give us a Whistle!

People often panic when they witness a blocked shower drain and try to think of quick fixes. More often than not simply pouring a drain cleaner bought at the local hardware store or a homemade DIY solution will not do the trick. As you can see from the video, with the amount of hair buildup along with tree roots causing this blocked shower, a store bought drain unblocking solution will not do the trick.