HERTFORDSHIRE, BEDFORDSHIRE & NORTH LONDON
Blocked Drains in Chorleywood
Blocked toilets, sinks, gullies and manholes cleared in Chorleywood with rods, a drain snake or a high pressure jetter, and a CCTV camera when a drain keeps blocking. No call-out fee on weekdays from 8am to 5pm. Call 01462 506 374.
BLOCKED DRAINS IN CHORLEYWOOD
Old drains under a railway village
The Metropolitan Railway reached Chorleywood in 1889, and the Station Estate grew up beside it. Its conservation area appraisal counts 203 houses, 80 percent of them Victorian or Edwardian. Around the Common the character is older still, mostly mid 19th century.
Houses of that age were usually drained in jointed clay pipe. Clay lasts, but its joints open with time and ground movement, and roots from established gardens find the gap. Once a root is inside, it grows into a mat that catches everything that follows.
So we clear the blockage, and when a drain has blocked before, we put a camera down it to see why. Clearing the same drain every few months is paying for one job again and again.
What we clear
Toilets that fill and drain slowly, or back up when another one is flushed
Kitchen sinks silted with fat, the most common inside blockage of all
Showers and basins clogged with hair and soap, set hard by hard water
Outside gullies full of leaves and silt, standing water at the back door
Manholes and inspection chambers standing full, inside or beyond your boundary
Soil stacks, where a blockage backs up into the house rather than the garden
How a drain gets cleared
Find the chamber
We lift the covers and work out where the blockage is. Full near the house and clear at the boundary means it is between the two.
Use the lightest tool that works
Plunger, drain snake or rods first. The jetter comes out when the blockage needs it, at a pressure the pipe can take, because an old clay run is not modern plastic.
Look inside if it comes back
A camera shows a cracked joint, a root mat, a dropped section or a pipe with no fall. Then you know whether you need a repair or just a clearance.
Whose drain is it?
Since October 2011, most shared drains and the lengths running beyond your boundary to the public sewer have been the sewerage company’s responsibility. The drain inside your boundary serving only your house is yours.
We tell you which side of that line the blockage sits. If it is not yours, we would rather say so than charge you for it.
Long runs on large plots
Outer Loudwater is described in its appraisal as large detached houses in spacious plots, and Heronsgate’s original plots were two to four acres by Wikipedia’s account. A private drain can run a long way before it meets the sewer.
On big gardens chambers often end up under lawn, gravel or paving. We find them first, so the clearance starts from the right place.
Get a fixed price before we start
Call and talk to an engineer, or send us the details and we will come back to you with a price.
Repairs, drives and conservation areas
Not every damaged drain needs a trench. A cracked or open joint can usually be patch lined or relined from the chambers that are already there. Only a collapsed pipe, or one that has lost its fall, has to be dug out.
That matters more in parts of Chorleywood. On the Common, the Article 4 direction covers front boundaries and hardstanding, including permeable surfaces, so a drive dug up for a drain may need Three Rivers’ agreement before it is relaid differently. We favour lining where the pipe allows it, and raise the planning question at survey where it does not.
If excavation needs a skip on the road, the skip firm applies to Hertfordshire County Council: £54 for 14 days, then £28 for each extra week. In Chenies and Little Chalfont it is Buckinghamshire Council, at £189.63 for 28 days. Either way it is shown on your quote.
CCTV drain surveys
A recording and a written report, not an opinion. CCTV drain surveys start from £180.
After a repeat blockage, to find the reason before paying for another clearance
Before you buy an older house, where a collapsed drain is an expensive surprise
For an insurance claim, to show the cause and the extent of the damage
Before an extension goes over or near a drain run
Water that only pools in heavy rain is usually surface water: a silted gully, a patio with no fall or a tired soakaway. We look at that before quoting, rather than jetting a foul drain that was never the cause.
What it costs to clear a drain in Chorleywood
Weekdays 8am to 5pm: no call-out fee. £140 + VAT for the first hour (£168 including VAT), £260 + VAT for two hours (£312 including VAT), then £60 + VAT per half hour.
Evenings and weekends: £50 + VAT call-out plus £198 + VAT for the first hour, £248 + VAT (£297.60 including VAT) in all. Overnight: £300 + VAT (£360 including VAT) for the first hour, call-out included.
CCTV drain surveys start from £180. Every rate is on our prices page.
Sewage coming back into the house
Foul water rising through a shower tray or a ground floor toilet is urgent. Stop using water upstairs, keep children and pets away, and ring 01462 506 374. A person answers at any hour and tells you the rate and when an engineer can be with you.
For other urgent plumbing, see our emergency plumber page.
★★★★★
Rated 4.9 on Google by the people we work for
Why choose Vantage
Rated 4.9 on Google from more than 700 reviews across Google, Checkatrade and Trustatrader. Qualified, accredited engineers, a fixed price before any work begins and a labour guarantee on every job, from an established local company with an office team you can actually reach. No job too small.
Gas Safe registered
Company registration 956889. Every gas engineer carries their own Gas Safe ID card, and you can ask to see it.
Refcom F-Gas certified
REF1024550. Legally required for air conditioning installation and servicing, and we hold it.
CHAS Elite accredited
Veriforce CHAS assessed for health and safety, which is why commercial clients and landlords use us.
City & Guilds and BPEC qualified
Qualified, insured engineers on every job. No subcontracted strangers.
700+ reviews, 4.9 on Google
Across Google, Checkatrade and Trustatrader. Read them before you book.
Labour guarantee on every job
12 months on repairs, installations and everything else. Two years on a full bathroom refit. If anything we did develops a fault, we come back and put it right.
Fixed price before we start
The price is agreed with you before any work begins. No hidden extras on the invoice.
24/7, answered by a person
The emergency line is answered every day of the year by someone who can send an engineer, not a call centre.
Fully stocked vans
Five vans carrying the parts that fail most often, so most jobs are fixed on the first visit.
An office team behind every job
An established local business with multiple engineers and a dedicated office team to keep you informed.
Vaillant myREWARDS and Ideal Max accredited
Accredited installer status means extended manufacturer warranties on the boilers we fit.
Emergency response within the hour
Our average response to an emergency call is under an hour across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Trusted & Accredited Professionals
Why choose Vantage
Rods, a jetter and a CCTV camera on the van. A plain answer on whether the drain is yours to pay for. Our own engineers, a price before the work, and twelve months on our own workmanship. Gas Safe registered under 956889. Company number 13248357, VAT number 392 8946 37.
Where we clear drains
Across Chorleywood and the villages around it:
Station EstateChorleywood CommonChorleywood BottomChorleywood WestShire LaneQuickley LaneLower RoadHeronsgateLoudwaterOuter LoudwaterMaple CrossSarratt
Over the Buckinghamshire border
Chenies and Little Chalfont are in Buckinghamshire, so a skip there needs a Buckinghamshire Council licence, applied for by the skip firm. We sort that out with them.
CheniesLittle Chalfont
Everything we offer in the area is on our Chorleywood page.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a call-out fee to clear a drain in Chorleywood?
Not on weekdays between 8am and 5pm. The first hour is £140 + VAT (£168 including VAT), then £60 + VAT per half hour. Evenings and weekends start at £248 + VAT (£297.60 including VAT) for the first hour, call-out included.
Is the blocked drain mine or the sewerage company’s?
A drain inside your boundary that serves only your house is yours. Since October 2011 most shared drains, and the lengths beyond the boundary, have been the sewerage company’s. We tell you which side of that line the blockage is on.
What does a CCTV drain survey cost?
CCTV drain surveys start from £180. You get the recording, a plan of the run and a written report.
Should I try a chemical drain cleaner first?
We would not. It may shift a soft blockage a short way, but it will not touch set fat or roots, and it makes the pipe unpleasant for whoever opens it next.
Can a drain be repaired without digging up the drive?
Often, yes. A cracked or open joint can usually be patched or relined from the existing chambers. A pipe that has collapsed or lost its fall has to be dug out.
Are flushable wipes really a problem?
Yes. They do not break up like paper, and they knit into a mass that catches everything behind it. They are the commonest cause of the toilet blockages we clear.
Can you survey the drains before I buy a house in Chorleywood?
Yes, and on an older house it is worth doing. You get the footage and a written report to pass to your surveyor or solicitor.
More of what we do in Chorleywood
Every service we offer in Chorleywood
Leaks, taps, toilets, cylinders and stopcocks
24/7, answered by a person
Thermal, acoustic and tracer gas
Full refits, en suites and wet rooms
Every rate, in full, including VAT
Also nearby in Hertfordshire
Get a drain cleared in Chorleywood
Call 01462 506 374. Tell us what is backing up, inside or out, and whether it is one fitting or all of them, and we will tell you what we think before we set off.