Blocked drains on the Central Coast, cleared and the cause found

ZC Plumbing clears blocked drains, toilets, sewers and stormwater across the Central Coast from Terrigal to Gosford with our own CCTV camera and high-pressure jetter, so the cause is found rather than pushed further down the line.

On the Coast the cause is tree roots in old earthenware pipe eight or nine times out of ten. Across Australia a plumber charges $100 to $400 to clear a standard drain and $300 to $800 for a main sewer line, and most take 30 minutes to two hours.

A gurgle from the toilet when the shower drains, water rising in the shower base, a sink that empties slowly, a smell in the yard, or the overflow gully outside pushing water out, which is the sewer telling you the main line is blocked before it comes up inside.

More than one fixture slow at once means it's the main line, not the fixture. Stormwater shows up as water pooling at the downpipes or a soggy patch in the lawn a day after rain.

Houses built before the 1980s around Gosford, East Gosford, Kincumber and the older parts of Terrigal mostly have earthenware sewer pipes, which crack at the joints as the ground moves, and the gums and figs on those blocks send roots straight into the gap.

Roots are the cause on eight or nine of every ten drain calls we take. On the beachside strip sand gets into stormwater lines. Everywhere, wet wipes and cooking fat do the rest. A blockage cleared without finding the cause will be back within six months, which is why the camera goes down after the jetter, every time. If the pipe itself is leaking rather than blocked, that's a job for leak detection.

We clear the blockage first so the house is usable, then run the camera to see what caused it and where. If it's roots in a cracked joint you'll see it on the screen, and the choice is cutting the roots and jetting the line clean, which buys time, or repairing or relining that section, which fixes it. You're told which it is and what each costs before anything more happens.

Relining is arranged through our relining specialist and warranted by ZC. We don't use chemical drain cleaners, they eat metal pipe and don't touch roots, and boiling water can soften PVC joints, so we'd rather you didn't either.

Across Australia clearing a standard drain costs $100 to $400, a main sewer line $300 to $800, and most jobs take 30 minutes to two hours. With ZC a standard clear with the jetter and a camera down the line is $385 including GST, and an extensive clear on a main line or a long run is $550 including GST. After-hours call-outs are $300, $350 on a Sunday and $450 on a public holiday.

Home insurance usually treats a blockage as maintenance and doesn't cover it. Storm damage sometimes is covered, and we'll give you the camera footage if there's a case to make.