What actually happens on an emergency drainage call-out
Step by step, from the phone call to the moment the engineer leaves, so you know what to expect and what to have ready.
On the phone
We ask three things, and each one changes what the engineer brings.
Which fittings are affected and which still work. One slow sink is a different van load from a toilet, a shower and an outside gully all backing up together.
Whether waste water is escaping anywhere. That moves the job up the queue.
Whether you know where the inspection covers are. Not knowing is fine, but knowing saves fifteen minutes on arrival.
You get a realistic arrival time, not an optimistic one. If we cannot be there quickly we say so rather than take the job and leave you waiting.
While you wait
- Stop using water throughout the property, including appliances on a timer
- Keep people and pets away from standing waste water and treat contaminated ground as a health matter
- Move bins and planters off the drain covers
- Note what is affected and what is not, so you can hand it over in one sentence
On arrival
Making the property safe and stopping further discharge comes first. Then the engineer works through the chambers along the line to find where flow stops, which is the piece of information the whole job hangs on. It tells us which section to clear, at what pressure, and crucially whether the fault is even inside your boundary.
Clearance follows, by jetting or mechanically depending on what caused it. Pressure is matched to the pipe: the setting that clears a silted gully can finish off a clay drain that has already failed at a joint.
Before we leave
Flow gets proved from every affected fitting, not just the chamber. A drain that clears at the manhole while the ground-floor shower still fills has not been fixed.
You get a plain description of what caused it and, importantly, whether the pipe needs more than clearing. If it looks structural we say so rather than book you in for the same job in six weeks. That is the difference between a blockage and a broken pipe.
What it costs at 3am
The same as at 3pm. From £120 plus VAT and never a call-out charge, on any day of the year including bank holidays. The figure is confirmed before work starts.
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