Blocked Stormwater Drains, Sydney
Water pooling on the lawn, a pit overflowing, a downpipe backing up every time it rains. Ring us any hour and you’ll speak to Angelo, not a call centre. Licensed plumber on site fast, with a clear price before we start.
Licence No. 299307c · Licensed & insured in NSW · No call-out fee · 24 hours, 7 days
★★★★★ 5.0 from 50 Google reviews
Serving Sydney since 2016 · Independent and locally owned, no franchise fees · Pensioner discounts
Rather We Called You?
Send your details and Angelo will ring you back. If water is coming toward the house right now, ring 0434 410 612 instead, it’s faster.
Licensed & insured, Licence No. 299307c · No call-out fee
Stormwater or Sewer? They Are Not the Same Pipe
Worth knowing before you ring anyone, because the two systems are separate and the symptoms look similar from the lawn.
Stormwater carries rain. Roof water comes down the downpipes, joins underground pipes, and discharges to the street kerb, an easement or a legal point of discharge. It is only ever meant to carry clean rainwater.
Sewer carries waste from the toilets, sinks, shower and laundry. Separate pipes, separate system.
So if water is pooling on the lawn after rain but every tap, toilet and shower inside drains normally, it is stormwater. If the smell is bad, or fixtures inside are slow at the same time, it is the sewer and that is a different job. We do both, but it is useful to tell us which you think it is.
Where Stormwater Actually Blocks
The downpipe and the top of the drain
The commonest and the cheapest to fix. Leaves and roof grit wash down the downpipe and pack into the bend where it enters the ground. Water then backs up out of the downpipe and runs down the wall instead of away from the house.
The stormwater pit
Most properties have one or more pits, the square grated boxes set into the paving or lawn. They are designed to catch debris so it does not reach the pipe, which means they fill up. A pit full of silt and leaves overflows in the first heavy rain.
The underground line between pit and street
This is where it gets expensive to ignore. Roots, silt build-up, a collapsed section or a pipe that has dropped and now holds water. The symptom is water pooling in the same spot every single time it rains, long after the pit has been cleaned out.
The point of discharge at the kerb
The outlet at the front of the property can silt up, get crushed by vehicles driving over it, or be blocked by road works and landscaping. If nothing is coming out at the kerb during rain, that is where to look.
Agricultural and subsoil drains
Older properties often have ag lines behind retaining walls or under garden beds. These silt up over years and stop working quietly, and the first sign is usually water in a garage or against a wall.
Water Heading Toward the House?
Stormwater coming inside or pooling against the building is worth dealing with tonight, not after the weekend.
How We Clear a Stormwater Drain
We find the layout first
Stormwater runs are rarely obvious and almost never documented on a residential property. We locate the pits, the downpipe connections and the discharge point, so we are working on the right line rather than guessing.
Clear the pits and the easy wins
If the pit is full of silt, we empty it. If the downpipe bend is packed with leaves, we clear it. Sometimes that is the whole job and we will tell you so rather than selling you a jetting job you did not need.
High pressure jetting through the line
For a blocked underground run we jet the pipe out. Water at pressure scours silt and root matter off the pipe wall and flushes it to the discharge point, which is a different thing from pushing a rod through the middle of a blockage and calling it clear.
CCTV camera down the line
We camera the run afterwards and you watch it with us. On stormwater this matters more than most people expect, because the two causes we find most often, a collapsed section and a pipe that has sagged, look identical from the surface and cost very different amounts to fix.
Then you get a straight answer
Either it is clear and it will stay clear, or the pipe has a problem and you need to decide what to do. If it is the second, you get a quote before anything else happens.
Why Stormwater Drains Block
Leaves and roof grit
Every roof sheds grit and most Sydney properties have something overhanging. It all ends up in the same place.
Silt
Fine soil washes in through pit grates and settles in the flat sections of pipe. It builds up slowly over years, which is why a drain that coped for a decade suddenly does not.
Tree roots
Stormwater pipe is often shallower than sewer and frequently jointed clay or early PVC. Roots get in at the joints looking for water, which is exactly what the pipe is full of.
Crushed or collapsed pipe
Shallow pipe under a driveway gets driven over. Clay pipe cracks. Once a section collapses, everything upstream stops draining.
Pipes that have sagged
Ground movement, common across Sydney’s clay soils, drops a section of pipe so it holds water instead of carrying it. The low point becomes a silt trap and blocks repeatedly.
Landscaping and renovations
We regularly find stormwater lines that have been cut, crushed, concreted over or simply disconnected during earlier work on the property, sometimes decades ago.
When the Pipe Itself Has Failed
If the same spot floods after every decent downpour, and it still floods after the pits have been cleaned and the line jetted, the pipe is the problem rather than the debris in it.
Pipe relining is usually the answer. A new pipe is formed inside the old one and cured in place, so there is no trenching through the lawn, the paving or the driveway. On stormwater that matters more than on sewer, because stormwater runs tend to sit under exactly the parts of a property you least want dug up.
Where relining will not work, for example a fully collapsed section, we will say so and quote the excavation honestly rather than selling you a reline that cannot do the job.
Clear Pricing, No Surprises
No call-out fee. We look at it, tell you what it will cost, and you decide before we start. Camera inspections and repairs are quoted separately and you are free to say no.
Pensioner discounts apply. We are independent and locally owned, so there are no franchise fees in the price.
Stormwater Service Across Sydney
We cover the Inner West, the Lower North Shore, the Upper North Shore and the St George and Canterbury-Bankstown areas, including Abbotsford, Bexley, Burwood, Concord, Croydon, Drummoyne, Gladesville, Hunters Hill, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney, Pymble, Ryde, Strathfield, Turramurra, Wahroonga and Willoughby.
Not sure whether you are in our area? Ring and ask. We will tell you honestly either way.
Stormwater Questions
Is a blocked stormwater drain urgent?
It depends where the water goes. Pooling in the middle of the lawn can wait for a dry day. Water running against the house, into a garage or under a floor should be dealt with straight away, because that becomes a building problem rather than a plumbing one.
Do you charge a call-out fee?
No. You get a price before we start.
Is stormwater my responsibility or the council’s?
Generally the pipework on your property is yours, up to the legal point of discharge. Beyond that it is the council’s or Sydney Water’s. If we find the problem is past your boundary we will tell you, because then it is not your bill.
My downpipe overflows in heavy rain. Is that the gutters or the drain?
If it overflows at the top it is usually the gutter. If it backs up and spills where the downpipe meets the ground, it is the drain. We can tell quickly.
Can you clear it without digging?
Almost always, yes. Jetting and pit clearing need no excavation. Even a damaged pipe can usually be relined rather than dug up.
Why does the same spot flood every time?
Because something is wrong with the pipe, not just dirty. A sagged section, a crack with roots in it, or a partial collapse. A camera inspection shows which.
Do I get to see the camera footage?
Yes. Particularly before you spend money on a repair.
Do you do stormwater pits and ag drains?
Yes, both, including clearing and repair.
Are you licensed?
Yes. Licence No. 299307c, licensed and insured in NSW.
Do you work weekends and public holidays?
24 hours, 7 days, all year.
Stormwater Drains Cleared, Sydney Wide
Licence 299307c · 5.0 from 50 reviews · Serving Sydney since 2016