5 Signs You Need Drain Cleaning

Blocked drains are one of the most common plumbing problems in Great Yarmouth. Whether it is a slow-draining kitchen sink, a bathroom that smells like a sewer, or water backing up in places it should not, drain problems tend to get worse the longer you leave them.

The good news is that most drain blockages give you warning signs well before they become a full emergency. Knowing what to look out for means you can get the problem sorted before it causes real damage to your home.

Here are the five signs that tell you it is time to call in a professional for drain cleaning.

1. Water Drains Slowly

This is usually the first sign that something is wrong. You run the kitchen tap and the water sits in the sink for longer than it should. Or you take a shower and end up standing in a few centimetres of water because it cannot drain fast enough.

A slow drain means there is a partial blockage somewhere in the pipe. It could be a build-up of grease, soap scum, hair, food waste, or a combination of all four. In older properties across Norfolk, tree roots growing into damaged clay pipes are another common cause.

Many people reach for a bottle of chemical drain cleaner at this point. We would advise against this. Chemical drain cleaners can damage your pipes, especially older ones, and they rarely clear the blockage completely. They might dissolve enough of the blockage to improve the flow temporarily, but the underlying problem almost always returns within a few weeks.

Professional drain cleaning uses high-pressure water jetting to blast away the entire blockage and clean the pipe walls. This gives you a much longer-lasting result.

When a slow drain is something more serious

If multiple drains in your home are running slowly at the same time, the blockage is likely in the main drain rather than in an individual pipe. This needs attention quickly because a blocked main drain can cause sewage to back up into your property.

2. Unpleasant Smells Coming from Drains

Bad smells from your drains are more than just unpleasant. They are a clear sign that something is decaying inside your pipes. This could be trapped food waste, a build-up of grease and fat, or in more serious cases, a problem with the sewer connection.

In kitchens, the most common cause is a build-up of food particles and grease that coat the inside of the pipe. Over time, bacteria break down this material and produce hydrogen sulphide gas, which smells like rotten eggs.

In bathrooms, hair and soap scum create a similar environment for bacteria to thrive. The P-trap (the U-shaped bend under your sink or bath) is designed to hold a small amount of water that blocks sewer gases from coming up through the pipe. If the trap dries out or the blockage is beyond the trap, those gases can enter your home.

If you notice a persistent sewage smell, especially from floor drains or the toilet, you should call a plumber. This could indicate a problem with the soil stack or a broken sewer pipe, both of which need professional diagnosis. A CCTV drain survey is the most effective way to identify the exact cause and location of the problem without digging anything up.

3. Gurgling Noises from Pipes

When you hear gurgling or bubbling sounds coming from your drains, plughole, or toilet, it means air is trapped in the drainage system. This happens when a blockage restricts the normal flow of water and forces air through the water in the trap.

Gurgling sounds are particularly common when:

• You flush the toilet and hear bubbling from a nearby sink or bath
• You run water in one fixture and hear sounds from another
• The washing machine or dishwasher drains and you hear noises from the kitchen sink

These sounds mean the blockage is usually in a shared section of pipe, not in the individual fixture drain. The further along the system the blockage is, the more fixtures it will affect.

Do not ignore gurgling. It almost always gets worse. What starts as an occasional noise when you flush the toilet can progress to a complete blockage that causes sewage to back up through the lowest drain point in your home, which is usually the ground floor toilet or a shower tray.

4. Water Backing Up

If water comes back up through a drain after you have emptied a sink, flushed a toilet, or run an appliance, you have a significant blockage. This is beyond the “slow drain” stage. The pipe is blocked enough that water has nowhere to go except back the way it came.

Common places where you will notice water backing up:

• Kitchen sink: Water rises up when the dishwasher drains
• Bath or shower: Water comes up through the plughole when you flush the toilet
• Ground floor toilet: The water level rises unusually high after flushing, or waste appears in the bowl from other fixtures draining
• Manhole or inspection chamber: The cover in your garden has water sitting at or above the level of the pipe

If you can see water or sewage in an external manhole, the blockage is in the underground drainage. This is common in Great Yarmouth where many properties have older clay drainage systems that are prone to root ingress, joint displacement, and general deterioration.

At this stage, you need professional blocked drain services as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the greater the risk of sewage flooding into your home.

5. Recurring Blockages

If you keep getting blockages in the same drain, there is an underlying problem that a plunger or chemical cleaner will not fix. Recurring blockages usually point to one of these issues:

• Pipe damage: A cracked, collapsed, or displaced pipe creates a point where debris catches and builds up repeatedly
• Root ingress: Tree or shrub roots have found their way into the pipe through a joint or crack and keep growing back
• Incorrect pipe fall: The pipe does not have enough gradient to carry waste away properly, so material settles and accumulates
• Undersized pipes: Older properties sometimes have drainage pipes that are too narrow for modern usage (multiple bathrooms, dishwashers, washing machines)

For recurring blockages, we always recommend a CCTV drain survey before carrying out any repair work. A camera inspection shows us exactly what is happening inside the pipe so we can recommend the right solution. There is no point repeatedly clearing a blockage if the pipe itself needs repair or replacement.

What Professional Drain Cleaning Involves

When you call us for drain cleaning, here is what to expect:

Initial assessment

We start by asking you about the symptoms and checking the affected drains. We will look at the external drainage (manholes and inspection chambers) to get an idea of where the blockage might be.

High-pressure water jetting

For most blockages, high-pressure water jetting is the most effective method. A specialist nozzle fires jets of water at high pressure to break up the blockage and scour the pipe walls clean. This removes grease, scale, roots, and debris far more thoroughly than any chemical product.

CCTV inspection (if needed)

If the blockage is stubborn or keeps coming back, we will run a camera through the pipe to inspect its condition. This helps us identify cracks, root ingress, displaced joints, or any other structural problems that might be causing the issue.

Recommendations

After the work is done, we will let you know what we found and whether any further action is needed. If the pipe is damaged, we will explain the repair options and give you a clear quote.

How to Keep Your Drains Healthy

Prevention goes a long way. Here are some simple habits that will help you avoid drain problems:

• Never pour cooking fat or oil down the sink. Let it cool and put it in the bin instead.
• Use sink strainers to catch food waste, hair, and other debris before it enters the pipe.
• Run hot water through the kitchen sink after washing up to help flush grease through the system.
• Do not flush anything other than toilet paper. Wet wipes, cotton buds, and sanitary products are the biggest cause of sewer blockages in the UK.
• Have your drains professionally cleaned every 12 to 18 months as preventive maintenance, especially if your property has older drainage.

Do Not Wait Until It Gets Worse

Drain problems almost never fix themselves. A slow drain today can become a sewage flood next month. If you have noticed any of these five warning signs, get it looked at now while it is still a straightforward job.

Call Great Yarmouth Plumbers on 01493 334000 or get in touch through our website. We cover Great Yarmouth and the surrounding Norfolk area, and we can usually attend the same day for urgent drain problems.