Why Putney properties get blocked toilets
Putney runs from riverside mansion blocks and newer flats up the hill to Victorian and Edwardian terraces and larger detached homes towards the heath. Mansion blocks bring shared stacks and communal drainage into the picture.
A toilet is the lowest and widest fitting in most bathrooms, so when the drain below is restricted it is usually the first place the problem appears, even though nothing is wrong with the toilet itself.
The lower riverside streets deal with a high water table and tidal influence, so surface water clears more slowly and any restriction shows sooner. Higher up, mature trees and older clay laterals are the more common cause.
Our approach in Putney
We protect the bathroom before anything else, then work through the possible causes in order.
- Check whether other fittings in the property are draining normally
- Clear the pan and trap with the appropriate tool for the type of blockage
- Where the pan is clear, move to the soil stack and the drain run outside
- Jet the affected section and flush the line through
- Test with a full flush and check for any backing up elsewhere
In mansion blocks the drainage is communal, so we work with the managing agent and identify which flat the fault relates to. That avoids charging one leaseholder for a building-wide problem.
Signs it needs attention now
- The pan fills and empties very slowly, or rises before it drains
- Bubbling in the pan when a bath or sink empties
- More than one toilet affected in the same property
- A smell from the bathroom that returns after cleaning
- Water appearing at an outside gully when the toilet is flushed
What we see most often in Putney
- Communal stacks in mansion blocks restricted by grease and wipes
- Slow-clearing surface water in the lower riverside streets
- Root ingress into older laterals in the larger gardens towards the heath
Putney work covers riverside mansion blocks with communal drainage, family houses up the hill, and a number of managed developments. In blocks we deal with the managing agent and identify whether the fault is communal before any leaseholder is charged.
Equipment and what happens afterwards
We carry closet augers and drain rods for work in the pan and the branch, jetting equipment for the soil stack and the run outside, and floor protection for every visit. The order in which those are used is what keeps a bathroom clean, and it is also what stops a minor blockage being pushed further down the line where it is harder to reach.
We test with a full flush and check that nothing is backing up elsewhere in the property, because a toilet that clears while a shower tray fills has not actually been fixed. We also check the pan seal and the cistern fill, and if the underlying issue is the drain rather than the toilet we explain what that means for the building as a whole.
What blocked toilets cost in Putney
A blocked toilet is normally cleared at the fixed £120 plus VAT rate, with no call-out charge. There is no call-out charge in Putney, at any hour, and the price you are given on the call is the price you pay.
Areas we cover around Putney
Putney sits within our core coverage, taking in SW15 across Wandsworth. Average response is 75 minutes, and we operate in Barnes, Wandsworth, Fulham and Richmond too, which helps when a drain run is shared between properties in different streets.