“Communication was excellent from my 1st contact with Moe to the completion of the work. This included follow-up messages…”
Christine M. · Glasgow
Google review
24/7 Emergency Response
Blocked Drains in Glasgow
Slow drains, gurgling toilets and standing water all point the same way. Paul and Kyle clear the blockage, then camera the line to find out what actually caused it, because a drain that blocked once usually blocks again if nobody looks at why.
- Gas SafeRegistered
- £5mInsured
- 25+ YearsTrading
- 250+5★ Reviews
Request a Callback
Tell us what's up, we usually get back within the hour with a clear price.
While You Wait
Four things worth doing before we arrive, they won't fix it, but they'll limit the damage.
1
Stop using water in the property
Every sink, shower, washing machine and toilet flush adds to what's already backed up. Stopping use is the single most useful thing you can do before we arrive.
2
Don't pour chemical drain cleaner down it
On a fully blocked line it just sits there, and it becomes a hazard for whoever opens the drain next. It rarely shifts a real blockage and it makes the job harder.
3
Check the outside gully or manhole if you can safely
If the outside drain is full, the blockage is downstream and affects the whole property, possibly the whole building. If it's clear, the problem is inside. Either answer helps us bring the right equipment.
4
If it's sewage backing up, keep people away from it
Standing sewage is a genuine health risk, not just unpleasant. Keep children and pets clear of the area and don't attempt to clear it yourself.
Is This An Emergency?
Not sure if it can wait until morning? Here's how we'd judge it, but honestly, just call and describe it, we'll tell you straight.
Call Now
- •Sewage backing up into the property
- •Every drain in the house running slow or backing up at once
- •Water rising in the shower or bath when the toilet flushes
- •An outside manhole overflowing
- •A blocked drain in a business where you cannot trade without it
Can Usually Wait
- •One slow-draining sink with everything else running fine
- •A shower that drains slowly but does drain
- •A gully outside that's slow but not overflowing
- •A smell from one drain with no drainage problem
What Happens When You Call
1
We ask what's backing up and where
One fixture or all of them, inside or outside, whether the outside gully is full. That tells us where the blockage sits before anyone arrives, and which equipment to bring.
2
Locate and clear
Rods for straightforward obstructions, high-pressure jetting where fat, scale or roots mean rods would only punch through. The method follows the blockage rather than whatever's quickest.
3
Camera the line where it's worth doing
For repeat blockages or anything that felt structurally wrong while clearing, we survey the line and show you the footage. You get a written report either way.
4
Clean down and explain
Area cleaned properly, and a straight explanation of what caused it and whether it's likely to happen again.
What's Covered
Here's what blocked drainsfrom Mo's team includes.
- Rodding, plunging or high-pressure jetting as the blockage needs
- CCTV camera survey to find the actual cause
- Written report of what we found in the line
- Shared tenement stacks and single-property drains both covered
- Area cleaned down properly afterwards
- Same-day visits across Glasgow, 24/7 for genuine emergencies
Clear price before we start, cause identified not just cleared, work guaranteed for 12 months.
Glasgow Drainage, and Why Tenements Are Their Own Problem
Tenement drainage is genuinely different to anything else in the city. Multiple flats share a single stack and a single outgoing line, which means one blockage becomes several households' problem simultaneously, and it means the responsibility question comes before the repair question. Govanhill, Shawlands and the denser Southside closes generate more shared-stack work for us than anywhere else in Glasgow.
The age of the pipework matters as much as the sharing. A lot of Glasgow's older drainage is clay, jointed rather than continuous, and clay joints are exactly where tree roots find their way in. Root ingress is the single most common structural cause we find on repeat blockages in older parts of the West End, Southside and Partick.
Post-war semis and estate housing out towards Knightswood, Cumbernauld and East Kilbride mostly have private drainage runs to an outside gully, which makes responsibility simpler but puts the blockage further from the house and usually under a garden or driveway. These are the jobs where jetting from a manhole beats working back from inside.
Newer flats and developments across the city centre, Finnieston and Tradeston have modern plastic drainage with better falls and fewer joints, so structural blockages are rare. What we see there is almost entirely fat, wipes and the occasional building-wide issue in a block's shared plant rather than anything wrong with the pipework itself.
Who You'll Get
Paul is the drainage specialist on the team and handles most of this work, with Kyle covering drainage alongside general plumbing. Paul's the one who'll push for a camera survey on a line that's blocked more than once, because clearing the same drain three times in two years is the clearest sign there's something structurally wrong that nobody has looked at. Between them they've worked on more shared tenement stacks than they'd care to count, which matters because knowing where a Glasgow close's drainage actually runs saves a lot of guesswork before anything gets lifted.
What Else Often Comes Up
A blocked drain rarely arrives on its own. A slow blockage that's been building for months is a genuine cause of joint failures elsewhere, since backed-up pressure finds the weakest point in the line, so a drain problem and a leak turning up together is more connected than it looks. Smells from a drain that isn't actually blocked usually point to a dry trap or a failed seal rather than an obstruction, which is a different and much cheaper fix. And where a survey shows root ingress, it's worth knowing that clearing the roots without repairing the joint they came through means the same blockage returns, usually within a couple of growing seasons.
Pricing, In Plain Terms
We give you a clear price before any work starts. What genuinely moves the price on drainage is the method and the access, a straightforward internal blockage cleared with rods is at one end, and jetting an external line from a manhole that needs lifting is at the other. A CCTV survey is priced separately because not every job needs one, and we'd rather you paid for it when it's genuinely useful than had it bundled into every visit as standard. Where a survey turns up damage needing repair, that's quoted separately again once we can actually see what's involved, rather than estimated blind.
Clear It, Or Find Out Why It Keeps Blocking?
For a first blockage with an obvious cause, clearing it is the whole job and a survey would be money spent for reassurance rather than information. The calculation changes on the second or third blockage in the same line within a year or two. At that point you're not dealing with a blockage, you're dealing with a drain that has something wrong with it, and paying to clear it repeatedly is more expensive over a few years than finding the cause once. Root ingress, a cracked or dropped section, or a fall that was never right are all things that will keep catching debris no matter how well the line gets cleared. If you're on your first blockage, we'll usually say a survey isn't needed. If you're on your third, we'll say it plainly the other way.
Blocked Drains, Areas We Cover Across Glasgow
Shared tenement stacks to outside gullies, we clear drains across Glasgow and well beyond. Find your area:
113 areas · 50-mile radius from Glasgow · 5 with a dedicated page so far
Don't see your area? Call 07988 591331, we likely still cover you.
Blocked Drain Questions
We give you a clear price before we set off, based on what you describe and whether it's an internal blockage or an external one. That price is what goes on the invoice.
What Locals Say About Mo
250+ five-star reviews across Google, Trustpilot and Facebook, from real Glasgow customers.
“Our radiator pipe was bent and leaking. They answered straight away… Guy was here an hour later and he was wearing ID, very professional, patient and kind. We just got a new carpet in this room and he done an amazing job on getting little to no water on it. Couldn't recommend enough, price was reasonable.”
Kayleigh A. · Glasgow
Google review
“We lost heating just in time for the coldest day of the year with a baby in the house… When I contacted them they were ready to dispatch that night. Fixed by the afternoon. Quoted that morning and no extra charges were added. Honestly cannot thank them enough.”
Jemma M. · Glasgow
Google review
“As a small business owner, I needed a drainage company that could respond quickly. The team attended first thing in the morning, cleared the blocked drain and carried out a full CCTV survey. All documentation emailed across promptly. Professional, efficient and great value for money.”
Eric V. · Glasgow
Google review
Drain Backing Up? Paul's Team Will Clear It.
07988 59133125 years, 10,000+ jobs, £5m insured, call or WhatsApp, day or night. Clear price, tidy job, guaranteed.