We have been clearing drains across London since 2013, and EC1 is inside our core coverage. That covers Clerkenwell, Farringdon and Barbican.
What we cover in EC1
The area we cover in EC1 includes Clerkenwell, Farringdon and Barbican, part of Islington and City of London. Since we work the surrounding postcodes as well, we can deal with both ends of a shared run.
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
The causes we see most often in EC1 follow a pattern:
- Grease from the kitchen, which sets on the pipe wall
- Cleaning wipes, which stay intact all the way to the sewer
- Tree and shrub roots finding an open joint
- Sand and silt settling where the fall is shallow
Signs worth reporting
The signs that bring people to call us around EC1:
- Water standing in an outside gully hours after the last discharge
- Several fittings draining slowly at once, rather than a single sink
- A glugging noise from a plughole as another appliance drains
- A sour smell near the gully that worsens after rain
How the visit works
The process is the same whatever the address, which is how we can quote a fixed price:
- Open the chambers in order to find where the flow stops
- Work out which side of the boundary the fault sits
- Clear it with high-pressure jetting at a pressure suited to the pipe
- Run water through every fitting before we finish
Before we arrive
Worth doing while you wait:
- Stop using water in the property, particularly appliances on a timer
- Keep people and pets away from any standing waste water
- Move bins or planters off the inspection covers
- Have your postcode and a description ready so we arrive prepared
Who pays for the repair
The first question on a shared drain is whose it is. Pipework inside your boundary serving only your property is yours; past the boundary it is normally Thames Water. You get that in writing.
What it costs in EC1
Outside drain clearance is a fixed £144 plus VAT. Prices are fixed rather than hourly, so a difficult job in EC1 does not become an expensive surprise.