Blocked Drains Rathmines

Rathmines Plumbing Co clears blocked drains across Rathmines and the western shore with a jetter, an electric eel and a CCTV camera, and every line is camera-checked on the way in and the way out. From a slow sink to a surcharging sewer, the fault is found first and the figure is fixed before clearing starts.

The full plumbing and gas range is on the Rathmines Plumbing Co home page.

Call (02) 4093 0558 Request a quote

Licensed plumbers and gas fitters · NSW Lic. 359278C

Last updated September 2026

Available 24/7
No call-out fee (excluding after-hours)
Fixed, up-front quotes
365-day warranty on all work

Why Do Drains Block in a Garden Suburb?

The causes below come straight from when the suburb was laid out and how close it sits to the lake.

Old clay lines

The earliest sewers under the 1920 streets are glazed clay, and a cracked joint ledges paper and solids until the line chokes.

Roots in the joints

Mature street trees push fine feeder roots into those joints, and the tangle thickens each season.

A water table that stays high

Groundwater close to the surface leaves a partly blocked line little spare room, so it fills and overflows where higher ground would cope.

Rathmines Drain Services

Six drain services, each matched to the fault the camera finds:

CCTV Drain Inspection

The fault, the pipe material and the depth, on screen before anyone digs:

CCTV drain inspections

Drain Jetting

A water jet strips grease and silt off the pipe wall, chemical-free:

Drain jetting

Blocked Sewer

A surcharging line cleared, camera-checked and reported:

Blocked sewer clearing

Stormwater Drains

Grates and lines opened up before the next storm cell:

Stormwater drain work

Pipe Relining

A cracked line repaired from inside, with no excavation:

Pipe relining

Tree Root Removal

Root masses removed and the joints they entered located:

Tree root removal from drains

From Blockage to Open Line

1
Find the fault
The camera and a pipe locator show where the blockage sits, what material the line is and how deep it runs.
2
Clear it the right way
A jetter, an eel or both open the line, matched to the pipe rather than forced through it.
3
Prove the result
A second camera run shows the line open, and you see the footage before we pack up.

What Drives the Price of Drain Work?

Four things move the number, and each is named in the quote:

Pipe material Glazed clay, PVC, galvanised steel and polybutylene each suit different gear and different methods.
Access A line with a surface inspection point is quicker to reach than one under a cramped subfloor.
The camera result A root mass is a clear; a collapsed section means relining or excavation, priced on its own.
Timing A drain that overflows at midnight is cleared at the night rate, which you accept first.

We provide up-front, honest quotes that will always match the final price, should you decide to go ahead. So the price named before the clear is the price on the invoice, whatever the camera turns up.

Clay, Roots and a High Water Table

The street plan set the drainage puzzle

Halloran drew this suburb in 1920 on the English garden-city pattern, and the sewers under those curved streets went in as the blocks were built out, generation by generation. Pipe ages change from street to street, and the clay near Bayswater Road and Rosemary Row has outlived the years it was made for.

Low ground does the rest

The suburb sits at about 7 metres, and blocks near the foreshore sit close to groundwater, on reactive clay and alluvial soil. A partly blocked line there has little fall to work with, so it surcharges where a hillside home's would only run slow.

Roots finish the job

The mature gardens of the 1920 garden suburb send fine roots into any cracked clay joint, and a hair-thin tangle can thicken into a solid plug.

When the Drain Is Not Yours to Fix

When we're not the right call: the sewer main under the road is Hunter Water's pipe. If the camera shows the choke sits in their main rather than your house line, you get their fault number and no quote from us.

One From the Drain Run

"They took the time to explain everything to me and not only checked the sub floor drainage issue and came up with solutions, but all the water flow of the house too." Tammy

Drain Questions From Rathmines Households

Will you dig up my garden to reach a blocked drain?

Clearing a blockage needs no digging. The camera locates the fault and its depth first, and the jetter or eel works through the existing access points. Excavation only enters the picture when a pipe has collapsed, and that is priced separately before anything starts.

Why does my drain block again after every big rain?

The blocks near the lake sit low, and the groundwater under them never drops far. A line that is partly blocked has little spare capacity once rain arrives, so it overflows again until the roots or the cracked section behind it are dealt with.

Do you check the drain with a camera after clearing it?

Yes. The line is filmed before any clearing and filmed again afterwards, and you see both runs. The second pass confirms the line is fully open and shows whether it is sound enough to leave alone or a candidate for relining.

Is there a call-out fee for drain work?

It costs nothing to get us out to your door (excluding after-hours). The drain is inspected, the fault is named and a fixed figure is set before clearing begins, and that figure does not move afterwards.

Need a plumber? Call or send the form

Call (02) 4093 0558 or send the form below. Available 24/7, you see a fixed figure ahead of any work, and every job carries our 365-day warranty on all work.

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