Why Does My Drain Keep Blocking?

Getting the water moving is not always the end of the job

Rods can punch through a soft obstruction and restore the flow while leaving grease or deposits on the pipe wall. Those deposits narrow the bore and create a rough surface that catches more material. High-pressure cleaning may remove more of that build-up.

If it blocks in the same place, find out what is catching the waste

Roots, displaced clay joints and intruding connections can all form a ledge inside the pipe. Paper passes through for a time, then catches and builds into another blockage. The recurrence may therefore be remarkably consistent in location.

When a camera survey starts to make sense

Once the drain is clean, a camera can show whether there is a physical reason for the repeated blockage. Small defects need some judgement: an open joint does not always need lining, and a crack does not automatically mean digging the pipe up.

Remember where the blockage was found

For a recurring problem, the most useful history is not simply the date of each call-out. Record which chamber was full, where the blockage was reached from, how far the equipment travelled and whether the contractor found roots, grease or other material. A pattern that repeats at the same measured distance is much stronger evidence than a general statement that “the drains are bad”.

If previous CCTV footage exists, keep it. Comparing old and new footage can show whether a defect is stable, whether roots have returned or whether a once-minor displacement is changing.