Blocked Drains Auckland is a mobile drainage service. The van comes to your property anywhere in West, South and East Auckland, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you agree the price before any work starts.
We clear the blockage, then, where it matters, put a camera down the line to find out why it happened. That way you know whether you have a one-off blockage or a pipe that is going to keep doing it, before you spend money on the wrong fix.
We clear blocked drains right across West Auckland, including Henderson, New Lynn, Massey and Kumeū.
Much of West Auckland was built up from the post-war years onwards, so the drainage under a typical section is a mix of materials. Concrete and asbestos-cement pipe from the 1960s to 1980s is still common in the ground. Asbestos-cement is safe while it is left alone, but it is brittle, and it changes how a repair has to be done. It is worth knowing about before anyone starts digging.
In the hillier streets of Glen Eden and Titirangi, many sections slope away from the road, so a private drain can run a long way to reach the public line, sometimes across a neighbour’s land. Ground movement on steep clay sections can pull joints apart, and established native and exotic trees find any gap. Out on the rural fringe around Kumeū, some properties are on a septic tank rather than the public wastewater network, which changes what a blockage means and who you call.
Newer subdivisions have uPVC drainage with long runs and rubber-ring joints, where roots rarely get in. When those drains block, it is usually what has gone down them: fat, food waste and wet wipes, or a pipe laid too flat that now holds water.
We work across South Auckland, including Manukau, Manurewa, Papakura and Pukekohe.
South Auckland covers everything from older jointed drains in established streets to recent housing on uPVC. On older lines, the weak point is the joint. Once a joint opens up, silt and roots have a way in. Much of Auckland also sits on clay that swells in winter and shrinks in summer, and over decades that movement pulls jointed pipe out of line. The result is a drain that gradually starts blocking more often each winter, usually at the same point.
In East Auckland we clear drains in Howick, Botany Downs and Pakuranga, among others.
East Auckland streets are often lined with established trees. Liquidambar, plane, willow and poplar are all heavy water-seekers. Roots do not usually break a sound pipe. They find the moisture escaping from a joint that is already failing and grow towards it. That is why cutting the roots out without finding where they came in buys you a year or two, not a fix. A camera survey shows the entry point.
However the blockage started, the job runs the same way in every part of Auckland:
Drain repair and alteration is restricted work under New Zealand law. It is done or supervised by licensed people, and you are welcome to ask for the licence card and check it on the PGDB register.
Before you pay anyone to clear a drain, it is worth thirty seconds working out whose pipe is blocked.
Everything on your side of the point of supply, the private wastewater lateral from your fixtures to the public network, is the property owner's responsibility. The public wastewater main belongs to Watercare, and they clear blockages on it at no charge to you.
If wastewater is surfacing in the street as well as your yard, or your neighbours have the same problem on the same day, the public main is the more likely cause. Watercare ask you to call them first in that case, on their 24/7 faults line, (09) 442 2222, option 1.
If the problem turns out to be Watercare's, we will tell you so and you pay us nothing. Our guide to who is responsible for a blocked drain sets out the boundary in full.
Much the same as anywhere else in Auckland. The suburb makes little difference; access, the method needed, the state of the pipe and the time of day decide the price. The average cost of a standard clear sits in the low hundreds of dollars, with jetting, a CCTV drain inspection and after-hours work costing more. Our Auckland blocked drain cost guide lists the typical ranges drainage businesses publish.
A badly blocked drain, where the outside gully trap is overflowing or several fixtures have stopped, is cleared from the gully or an inspection point with a powered drain machine or a jetter, not from inside the house. Plunging the toilet will not reach it, pouring boiling water down the sink will not help unclog it, and pouring salt down every night does nothing at all. If only one fixture is slow, try the steps in our guide to unblocking a drain yourself first.
For a slow basin, perhaps. For a blocked line outside, no. Even the best instant drain unblocker available in New Zealand only works on soap and hair near the plughole, and caustic or acid products cause chemical burns. Poured into a blocked gully or toilet line, a drain cleaner sits in the standing water and makes the job hazardous for whoever clears it. Follow the label, never mix products, and if any splashes on you, rinse with water and call the National Poisons Centre on 0800 764 766.
Not after a one-off. If the drain has blocked before, yes: a drain inspection with a CCTV camera shows whether roots, a cracked joint or a sagging section caused it, and whether it will happen again. On older concrete and asbestos-cement lines in West and South Auckland, that answer decides whether you keep paying for clears or fix the pipe once. Our CCTV drain survey page explains what you get.
Call us on 09 925 0448, any time, or request a free estimate. You can see every suburb we cover on our service areas page.