Drainage
Blocked Toilet
A toilet that will not flush away, fills up, or comes back up when you use something else.
We confirm the price with you before any work starts.
- No call-out fee
- Qualified professionals
- 12-month workmanship guarantee
- Emergency call-outs
A blocked toilet is not always a blocked toilet. If yours is the only thing affected, the blockage is usually within a foot or two of the pan — in the trap at the back of it, or in the short length of pipe leaving it.
If the bath gurgles when you flush, or the shower tray fills, or a downstairs toilet backs up when an upstairs one is used, the toilet itself is fine. It is the first thing to overflow because it sits lowest in the run, and the actual blockage is further along the pipework everything shares.
That difference decides the job, so it is worth two minutes of checking before you call. Either way we clear it.
The price you see is based on what you tell us. If our engineer finds that more work or materials are needed, they will explain the cost and get your agreement before carrying on — nothing is added without you agreeing to it first.
Do you need this?
You might need this if
- The pan fills to the rim and drains away slowly
- It will not clear at all, and flushing again makes it worse
- Water rises when you flush, then settles back
- Bubbling in the pan when the bath or basin empties
- A drain smell in the bathroom that will not shift
- Waste coming back up into the shower tray or bath
- A toilet that has needed plunging several times lately
On the day
What the work involves
Roughly what to expect. The exact steps vary with the job.
- Step 1:The engineer establishes first whether anything else in the property is affected
- Step 2:A blockage at the pan is cleared with a plunger or a closet auger, which reaches round the trap
- Step 3:Where it sits further along, the drain is rodded from the nearest access point
- Step 4:Anything solid or set hard is cut out with high-pressure water jetting
- Step 5:The toilet is flushed through and watched to confirm it runs away properly
- Step 6:If the same blockage has happened before, a camera can be put down to show why
How it works
How booking works
You see what the job costs before giving us any personal details.
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Step 1: Tell us what you need
Pick your service and answer a few plain-English questions about the job.
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Step 2: See your price
We show you the price before you give us any personal details.
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Step 3: Choose your slot
Pick an arrival window that suits you from our genuine availability.
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Step 4: Pay your deposit
Secure your appointment with a £10 deposit, taken off your final bill.
Questions
Common questions
Is it the toilet, or is it the drain?
Use everything else in the house as your test. Run the basin, empty the bath, flush a different toilet. If they all behave normally and only the one pan is affected, the blockage is at that toilet.
If other fittings gurgle, drain slowly or back up — especially the ones lowest in the property — the toilet is only where the problem is showing. The blockage is in the pipework they share, and clearing the pan alone will not fix it.
Should I keep flushing to push it through?
No. The cistern will empty into a pan that has nowhere to send it, and you get a floor to clean as well as a blockage. One flush to see what happens is fair enough. After that, stop.
What actually blocks a toilet?
Wet wipes more than anything else, including the ones sold as flushable — they do not break down the way toilet paper does, and they knit together with fat into something solid. Then nappies, sanitary products, cotton buds, dental floss, and a great deal of toilet paper at once. Toys and toothbrushes turn up more often than you would think in a house with small children.
Can I clear it myself before calling?
A plunger is worth a proper try — a flanged one, the sort with a lip that folds out to seal into the pan, rather than a flat cup. Slow, firm pushes rather than fast ones. If two or three minutes of that does nothing, or if anything else in the house is affected, stop there and call us.
Should I use drain cleaner?
We would rather you did not. Caustic products often fail to shift the blockage and then sit in the pan as standing chemical, which is a hazard for whoever works on it next. If you have already tried some, tell us when you call so the engineer knows before they start.
Water is coming up into the shower when I flush. What does that mean?
That the blockage is downstream of both of them, in the pipework they share, and waste is finding the lowest opening it can. Stop using water anywhere in the house and call us — every flush and every tap adds to what has nowhere to go.
My toilet keeps blocking. Why?
Repeat blockages in the same place usually mean something is holding waste up. Fat and wipes built up on the pipe wall, an object lodged in the pipe, roots through a joint, or a section of drain that has sagged or cracked so waste no longer runs away cleanly. Clearing it deals with today. A camera survey shows which of those is behind it.
How soon can someone come out?
Ring us rather than booking online if it will not wait. You will get straight to someone who can tell you when an engineer can be with you, rather than guessing from a website.