Drainage emergencies in EC1 do not keep office hours. Someone answers whatever time you call covering Clerkenwell, Farringdon and Barbican, with fixed prices confirmed before any work starts.
What we cover in EC1
EC1 covers Clerkenwell, Farringdon and Barbican, inside Islington and City of London. We attend both residential and commercial property here, from a slow sink to a complete system.
Clerkenwell and Farringdon mix converted warehouses and workshops with newer flats and a heavy concentration of bars and restaurants. Drainage here is mostly old brick and clay beneath buildings that have been reconfigured several times, so waste runs rarely follow the route anyone expects.
Common causes in EC1
Throughout EC1, the usual culprits are:
- Sewage escaping at ground level
- The whole system at a standstill
- Sewage appearing in a ground-floor fitting
- Surface water with nowhere to go
Signs worth reporting
The symptoms worth reporting when you ring:
- Water sitting in a drain outside hours after the last discharge
- More than one appliance backing up, not just one
- Gurgling from a toilet or sink when something else empties
- Foul odour around a chamber that keeps coming back
How the visit works
Every job follows the same sequence, so nothing turns into an open-ended bill:
- We give you a realistic arrival time on the call
- Hold off on washing machines and dishwashers
- Most emergencies are resolved in one visit
- We tell you whether there is an underlying fault
Before we arrive
What to do before we get there:
- Keep water use to nothing, especially washing machines
- Keep people and pets away from any standing waste water
- Clear access to the drain covers if you can
- Have your postcode and a description ready when you ring
Who pays for the repair
On terraced and converted property, ownership is the first thing to settle. Your own run up to the boundary is your responsibility; past the boundary it is normally Thames Water. We put that in writing after the visit.
What it costs in EC1
Emergency attendance starts at a fixed £120 plus VAT, and we never charge for coming out. You get a fixed figure rather than a running clock, which means a stubborn blockage costs what we said.