Drainage tips and London case studies
Clear, practical guidance for homeowners, landlords and businesses who want to avoid blocked drains, spot warning signs early and know when to call a drainage engineer.
Drainage in Victorian terraces: what London’s housing stock does to pipes
Jointed clay, shared laterals and extensions built over the run. The pattern repeats across the capital.
Leasehold and drainage: what the service charge should and should not cover
The lease decides, not the statute. Most disputes come down to whether the defect was inside the demise.
Grease management for London restaurants: what the water company expects
What compliant looks like, why undersized traps fail on a schedule, and what ignoring it costs.
Tree roots in drains: how they get in and what actually stops them
Cutting restores flow and changes nothing. What actually ends an annual root problem.
East London drainage: what we see across E and EC postcodes
Low ground, warehouse conversions and dense catering, all on the same Victorian network.
Why French drains fail, and how to build one that does not
Three failure modes, all decided before anyone digs. Discharge point, membrane and aggregate.
Planning an extension? Check your drains before the foundations
Three checks at design stage prevent nearly every drainage delay on a London extension.
What actually happens on an emergency drainage call-out
From the phone call to the engineer leaving, so you know what to expect and what to have ready.
High pressure jetting: what it clears, and when it is the wrong tool
Jetting clears far more than rodding. It also cannot fix a pipe that has already failed.
Kitchen sink draining slowly: the five usual causes
What is actually in the pipe, why chemicals rarely help, and when the run itself is the problem.
Blocked toilet: what to do first, and what makes it worse
How to tell whether the problem is the toilet or the drain below it, and what not to do while you wait.
Drain lining or digging: how to choose, and when no-dig will not work
When lining works, when digging is the honest answer, and why reinstatement is what really costs money.
Drain smells in the house: where they come from and how to stop them
Sewer gas is getting past something that should be sealing it. There are only a handful of candidates.
What a CCTV drain survey actually shows, and when it is worth the money
What the camera finds, how defects are graded, and the four situations where a survey saves more than it costs.
Blocked or broken? How to tell the difference before you pay twice
Clearing treats a blockage. It does nothing for a cracked pipe. Telling them apart before you book saves the second call-out.