Drain Cleaning Sydney
Scheduled drain cleaning for Sydney properties where the same line keeps blocking. We clear it properly, put a camera through to confirm what is causing the repeat, and set an interval that suits the line rather than a standard one. Book a clean, or call and we will tell you whether you actually need a schedule.
Who needs scheduled drain cleaning
Scheduled cleaning is worth paying for on some lines and a waste of money on others. These are the four cases where it reliably pays for itself.
Cafes, restaurants and takeaway kitchens
Commercial kitchens put more fat and food waste through one line in a week than a house does in a year. Grease traps help, but the line beyond them still coats up, and a blocked kitchen drain in the middle of service is an expensive way to find that out.
Unit blocks and strata properties
Shared lines mean one blockage affects several residents at once, and the cost falls on the body corporate either way. Cleaning a known problem line on a set interval is cheaper and far less disruptive than clearing it after it has backed up into somebody’s bathroom.
Properties with established trees
Where roots have already been cut out once, they grow back toward the same moisture. Until the pipe is sealed by relining, cleaning on a planned interval keeps the line open rather than waiting for it to close again.
Older homes on clay pipe
Earthenware pipe laid in short lengths has a joint every metre or so, and older lines are rougher inside than new PVC. Material catches where it would pass straight through a newer pipe, so build-up starts sooner.
What a scheduled clean actually includes
Four things, in this order. The first one is the reason we will sometimes tell you not to bother.
Camera the line first
The clean starts with a look. If a line is already damaged, cleaning it on a schedule is treating a symptom, and you are told that instead of being signed up to a recurring visit that will not fix it.
Scour the full run
High pressure jetting takes the build-up off the pipe wall along the whole length, rather than opening a channel through the middle of it. A channel closes again quickly. A clean wall does not.
Check the problem points
Grease traps, junctions, bends and any section the camera flagged last time get looked at specifically, because that is where material starts collecting before it blocks anything.
Record what it looked like
Each visit is recorded, so the next one can be compared against it. That is what tells you whether the interval is right or whether the pipe itself has started to fail.
What interval suits which property
These are starting points, not rules. The camera footage from the first visit is what sets the real interval.
| Property or line | Typical interval | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cafe, restaurant or commercial kitchen | Quarterly is common | Fat and food waste build up continuously, and a blocked line during service closes the kitchen. |
| Unit block or strata shared line | Six to twelve months | Shared lines carry more and affect more people when they block. The interval depends on how many units feed the line. |
| Home with a history of root blockages | Six to twelve months, until the pipe is sealed | Cleaning holds the line open. It does not stop roots returning, which is what relining is for. |
| Home with no history of blockages | Not usually needed | A line that has never blocked does not need a schedule. Deal with it if and when something changes. |
When a schedule is the wrong answer
If a line keeps blocking because the pipe is cracked, has dropped, or has roots coming through an open joint, cleaning it on an interval manages the symptom forever without ever fixing it. That is good for us and bad for you, so it is not what we recommend.
In those cases the camera footage is shown to you and the options are relining the damaged section or, where the line has lost its shape, replacing it. A sealed pipe usually does not need a cleaning schedule at all.
How the price works
There is no charge for coming out and looking at the problem.
Drain clearing starts at $69. What a job costs depends on the cause and where it sits.
You get the price before any work begins, and nothing goes ahead until you agree to it.
We take calls through the night, on weekends and on public holidays.
Drain cleaning questions
What is the difference between drain cleaning and drain clearing?
Clearing deals with a drain that is blocked right now. Cleaning is planned work on a line that is still flowing, done to stop it reaching that point.
If your drain is blocked today, the page you want is blocked drains. If it has blocked before and you would rather it did not again, this is the right page.
How often should drains be cleaned?
It depends on what goes through the line and what the camera found last time, which is why the first visit always includes a look rather than just a clean.
Commercial kitchens are usually the shortest interval because of the volume of fat involved. A home with no history of blockages generally does not need a schedule at all, and we will say so.
Does cleaning stop tree roots coming back?
No. Cleaning removes what has grown in, but the roots return to the same opening because that is where the moisture is. The interval buys you time rather than solving it.
Sealing the pipe is what stops it. Relining closes the joints and cracks the roots are entering through, and after that the line generally does not need a schedule.
Can you clean drains in an occupied building?
Yes. Most scheduled work is done in occupied homes, unit blocks and trading premises. Access is through existing openings and the disruption is limited to the area around them.
For commercial kitchens the visit is usually booked outside service hours so the line is not in use while it is being cleaned.
Related drain services
Book a scheduled drain clean
Tell us what the line carries and what it has done before. If a schedule is not worth it for your property we will say so, and you will have a camera record either way.
NSW Licence 306733C. Fully insured. $0 call-out fee. Blocked drains cleared from $69.