JT Plumbing Services
Blocked Drains & Drain Clearing — Huon Valley & Kingston
Blocked drains get cleared properly or they come back. We clear blocked sinks, toilets, showers, sewer lines and stormwater across the Huon Valley and Kingborough — and we tell you what caused it, so it is not a monthly appointment.
Call Jaryd on 0458 989 134.
Clearing it is the easy part
Anyone with a drain snake can push a blockage through. The question is why it blocked.
In the Huon Valley the answer is usually one of four things, and each one has a different fix:
Tree roots. The single most common cause out here. Old clay and earthenware sewer lines with rubber-ring joints, mature willows, poplars and gums, and roots that find the joint and grow into the water. Clearing it buys you six months. A camera inspection tells you where the break is, and then you can decide whether to reline or replace that section.
Fat and grease. Kitchen sinks, slowly, over years. Clears easily, comes back reliably unless the habit changes.
Wipes and the things that should not be flushed. “Flushable” wipes are not. Neither is anything else in the bathroom.
Collapsed or sagging pipe. The one that is not really a blockage. If a section of line has bellied or broken, waste sits in it and every clear is temporary. A camera will show it in five minutes.
What we use
- Drain machine / electric eel — for most household blockages
- High-pressure water jetter — for grease and root masses, and for cleaning the line properly rather than punching a hole through it
- CCTV drain camera — so you can see what is actually down there instead of taking our word for it
- Pipe locator — finds the depth and position of the problem before anyone digets
If we do not have the gear for a particular job we will say so and tell you who does.
Septic properties are a different job
If you are not on TasWater sewer, a “blocked drain” and “a full septic tank” look identical from inside the house. Slow drains everywhere, gurgling toilet, water backing up.
Clearing the line on a property whose tank is full achieves nothing — it will back up again within days. On any unsewered property we check the tank before we start pulling drains apart. It is a five-minute check that saves a wasted call-out, and it is the sort of thing you only think to do if you work out here.
More on that on our septic tank servicing page
Stormwater and the Huon winter
Blocked stormwater does not flood a house in February. It floods it in a heavy August southerly, at night, when the gutters are full of leaves and the downpipe is packed and the water has nowhere to go except under the back door.
Worth getting looked at in autumn rather than during the storm: downpipes and stormwater lines, tank overflows that discharge back against the house, and any drain that has been “slow” all year.
How we price it
A standard household blockage is quoted when you ring, based on what you describe. If it turns out to need a camera or the jetter, we tell you what that adds before we get it off the ute — not on the invoice.
Drain clearing in southern Tasmania generally starts from around $149 including the call-out. What moves it beyond that is almost always tree roots or a collapsed section, and in both cases you will get told what we have found and what the options are before anything else happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Drain clearing in southern Tasmania generally starts with a call-out. What yours comes to depends on what is causing it — if the job needs a camera or the jetter, we tell you what that adds before we get it off the ute, not on the invoice.
Because the cause has not been dealt with. Out here it is most often tree roots getting into an old clay sewer line at the joints. Clearing it works for a few months; a camera inspection shows you where the actual break is so it can be fixed once.
It is worth it on any drain that has blocked more than once — you find out whether you are dealing with roots, grease or a collapsed section, and those need three different fixes.
No. They do not break down the way toilet paper does, and they are one of the more common causes of a full sewer line blockage. Bin them.
Usually yes, or a venting problem, and on an unsewered property it can mean a full septic tank rather than a blocked line. Worth a look before it becomes a backup into the house.
Yes, and we will check the tank level first. On unsewered properties a full tank and a blocked line present identically from inside the house, and clearing the line does nothing if the tank is the problem.
Other Services We Offer
General Plumbing Maintenance
Leak detection, repairs and inspections that keep small problems small.