Drain unblocking across London
Maybe the sink takes an age to empty, the toilet refuses to clear however often you flush, or the drain outside is backing up across the patio. Ninja Plumbers deals with each of these using rods and jetting gear, not something bought at the supermarket. Where the cause is unclear, we send a drain camera down to see it for ourselves instead of guessing.
- Fully insured and Gas Safe registered
- Engineers DBS-checked
- 24/7 emergency callouts
- Price agreed before we start
- Workmanship guaranteed
Monday – Sunday, 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM · Out-of-hours emergency? Call 020 3576 5825
Get a price for drain unblocking
Name, phone and postcode are all we need to start. Everything else can wait.
Thank you — your enquiry is in
Expect a call back on the number you entered. For anything urgent, there is no need to wait: ring 020 3576 5825.
Included in the job
- Sinks, baths and showers that will not drain
- Soil stacks and toilets that are blocked
- Manholes, gullies and drains outside
- Jetting at high pressure
- Drain surveys by CCTV camera
- Tracing why blockages keep coming back
Read this before you ring
You may find you can sort some of this yourself, without calling us. We are fine with that, and would rather you knew it.
Leave the caustic drain cleaner on the shelf
Against a real blockage it seldom helps much. It is harsh on older pipes, and whoever works on the drain next has to put their hands into a trap of caustic liquid. That matters in London’s older homes, where pipework is often more fragile than it looks. If some has already gone down, mention it when you ring so we arrive ready for it.
First step with a blocked toilet
Stop pressing the flush. Every flush pours more water into a pan with nowhere to go, and that is how a blockage turns into a flood. If the level is falling slowly by itself, the blockage is only partial and can normally wait for a standard appointment.
Several fittings slow at once
When the sink, bath and toilet all drain slowly at the same time, the hold-up is further along, in the shared soil stack or the outside drain, rather than under a single fitting. Worth knowing before anybody starts dismantling a trap.
A blockage that keeps returning
Repeated blockages always have a cause: roots getting in, fat building up, a section that has collapsed, or a pipe laid badly. Over a year, clearing it time after time costs more than one survey and a proper fix.
What changes the price
Many blocked drains are cleared in a single visit, but not every visit involves the same work. The price depends on where the blockage sits, what it is made of and how easily the equipment can get to it.
Indoors or underground
A blocked sink trap or bath waste is a hand-tool job. A blockage in the underground drain, reached through a manhole in the garden or the front path, needs rods or a jetter and more time. Knowing which fixtures are affected usually tells us which it is.
What the blockage is made of
Paper and waste usually rod through. Kitchen fat that has set hard along the pipe, compacted wipes, or scale built up inside old cast iron need high-pressure jetting to shift properly, which is heavier equipment and a longer job.
Getting to the manhole
A manhole cover that lifts easily saves time. One that has rusted shut, been paved or decked over, sits inside the house under a hallway floor, or is in a neighbour’s garden and needs their say-so adds work before clearing can even start.
The call-out
There is a call-out charge, and the price for clearing is agreed with you once the engineer has seen the blockage and before any work starts. If you are new to Ninja Plumbers, £25 comes off that first call-out, though it cannot be combined with other offers.
We agree the price with you before any work begins, and accept both card and cash.
Questions we often get
Is the drain my responsibility or the water company’s?
As a rule, the pipes within your property boundary belong to you, and the shared sewer past that point belongs to Thames Water. We will point out which side the problem sits on, and if it is on theirs, we say so instead of charging you for the fix.
Do you carry out CCTV drain surveys?
Yes. We use them for blockages that keep returning, for checks before you buy a property, and when an insurer needs proof of what is really wrong.
Can a blocked toilet be cleared on the same day?
Usually, yes. Call the booking line and tell us what is happening, and you will get a realistic answer on timing, not an optimistic one.
Do you work on drains in blocks of flats?
Yes. We handle shared stacks and communal drains for freeholders and managing agents. Please use the management line for this work.
Can I keep using the sinks and washing machine while I wait?
Best not. Anything that drains into the blocked section adds water with nowhere to go, and it comes back up at the lowest point — often a downstairs toilet, a shower tray or a gully by the back door. Upstairs bathrooms count too, because they usually join the same drain further down. Hold off on the washing machine and dishwasher in particular, since they empty a lot of water at once.
The blockage is outside. Do you need to come through the house?
Often, yes. In a London terrace with no side passage, the only way to a back-garden manhole is through the house, and the jetting hose may need to run through the hall as well. The engineer protects the floor on the way through. They also need to run taps and flush toilets afterwards to prove the drain is flowing, so someone needs to be in.
Drain unblocking in your area
Pages for the parts of London where we are asked for this most often.
Appliance jobs linked to this service
Each of these installations falls under this service, with a page of its own explaining the work.
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Washing Machine Plumbing
Washing machines connected the right way, moved to another room, or stopped leaking where they already sit.
Read about washing machine plumbing -
Sump Pumps
Dry basements and cellars: pumps, backups and alarms, with the water sent somewhere it is allowed to go.
Read about sump pumps -
Saniflo & Macerator Pumps
Toilets in places gravity waste cannot reach, fitted, serviced and unblocked, and a frank view on whether one is right for you.
Read about saniflo & macerator pumps -
Dishwasher Plumbing
Proper connections for your dishwasher, including integrated models, which have to go in before the door is hung.
Read about dishwasher plumbing
Other drainage jobs we do
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Blocked Toilet
A toilet that will not flush away, or one that keeps blocking. Cleared, with the cause explained.
Read about Blocked Toilet -
CCTV Drain Surveys
We send a camera into the drain to see the real fault, instead of guessing from the symptoms you notice at the surface.
Read about CCTV Drain Surveys -
Drain Repairs
For drains that are broken, not merely blocked. We repair them by excavation or, if the run allows, with no digging at all.
Read about Drain Repairs -
Surface Water Drainage
Rainwater with nowhere to go — standing water on patios, paths and gardens, given somewhere to drain.
Read about Surface Water Drainage -
Gutter Repair
Blocked, leaking, sagging and overflowing gutters cleared and repaired, along with the downpipes below them.
Read about Gutter Repair
Businesses use us for drain unblocking too, among them cafés and restaurants, food shops and takeaways, salons and barbers, beauty and tattoo studios, dog groomers and pet businesses, guest houses and small hotels, and plenty of other business types.
Looking for drain unblocking in London?
Tell us what is wrong and where you are, and you will have the price before any work begins.