Blocked drains in Newcastle — found and fixed.
Slow sink, gurgling toilet, sewer smell or water backing up in the yard? We do not just punch a hole through it and leave. We run a CCTV camera to find the real cause, hydro-jet the line properly, and tell you straight whether it needs relining so it stops happening.
What a proper drain clear looks like.
1. CCTV camera — we find the cause first.
Before we touch the blockage we put a CCTV drain camera down the line so we (and you) can actually see what is going on — tree roots, grease, a foreign object, a sag in the pipe, or a collapse. This is the step a lot of cheap operators skip, and it is exactly why the blockage comes back a month later. A camera inspection runs about $150 to $300 and is money well spent on any recurring problem.
2. Hydro-jet clearing & root cutting.
For most Newcastle drains, especially the older earthenware lines in the inner suburbs, hydro-jetting is the right tool. A high-pressure water jet scours the full bore of the pipe, cuts through tree roots, and blasts out grease and silt — leaving the pipe genuinely clean rather than just holed through. Hydro-jetting runs about $250 to $800 depending on the line. A basic machine eel ($150 to $300) is fine for a simple one-off blockage, and we will tell you when that is all you need rather than upselling you.
3. Pipe relining — the permanent fix.
If the camera shows a cracked, root-riddled or broken pipe, clearing it will only ever be a temporary patch. Pipe relining installs a new cured-in-place liner inside the existing pipe through your current access points — no trench dug across the garden or driveway in most cases. It is a permanent fix that stops the roots getting back in. Where a pipe is fully collapsed or badly out of line, excavation may still be needed, and we will quote both honestly.
Why drains block so often around here.
Newcastle’s established suburbs are a perfect storm for blockages. Homes in New Lambton, Hamilton and Mayfield are often still on original earthenware or cast-iron drainage with jointed pipes, and the mature street trees those suburbs are loved for send roots straight into the joints chasing water. Add grease from kitchen lines and the occasional wet wipe, and recurring blockages are common. The answer is not clearing it more often — it is finding the cause and dealing with it once.
What it costs.
- Basic machine clear (eel): $150–$300
- CCTV camera inspection: $150–$300
- Hydro-jet clearing: $250–$800
- Combined CCTV + clear: $450–$650
- Severe tree-root hydro-jetting: $800–$2,500
- Pipe relining / excavation repair: quoted after CCTV
We confirm the price after we have seen the drain, and an after-hours emergency call-out adds the usual $100 to $300 premium, quoted upfront.
Licensed drainage work, done to standard.
All drainage work is carried out by NSW Fair Trading licensed plumbers and drainers to AS/NZS 3500, in line with Hunter Water’s connection requirements, with a Certificate of Compliance where one is required. If it is the middle of the night and the sewer is overflowing, that is an emergency — call us and we will come. Out at Wallsend in the Ironbark Creek catchment, drains can surcharge during storms — we know the patch.
Where we work.
Blocked drain getting you down?
CCTV diagnosis, proper hydro-jet clearing, and a relining quote if it keeps coming back. Upfront pricing.