Blocked Drains and Drainage Services in Faversham

Careful Drainage Work in Old Faversham

Faversham is an old market town with more than 400 listed buildings, many of them gathered around the Market Place and the Guildhall, and along the streets that lead down to Faversham Creek. The creek links the town to the Swale, and the Shepherd Neame brewery, which describes itself as Britain's oldest brewer, still stands in the centre of town.

Below ground, a lot of this property runs on drains that are as old as the houses, or close to it. Old pipes can be fragile, access can be tight, and the building above may be protected. That calls for a patient approach: find the fault first, do the least disturbance needed to fix it, and leave the property as we found it.

Blocked Drains in Faversham

Kitchen fat, flushed wipes and garden leaves account for most blocked drains in Faversham, along with silt that washes into outside gullies. In older drains, rough joints and slight dips in the pipe catch debris that a modern plastic run would carry away, so blockages build gradually until the water stops.

Tracing starts at the nearest manhole. Old chambers are opened with care, the stoppage is broken up with whatever suits the pipe, and the line is flushed until it runs clean. Where the same drain has blocked before, a camera look tells us why. The blocked drains page covers this in more depth.

Cracked Drain Repair in Faversham

Cracks in an old drain let water out and roots in. The signs include damp patches, a smell near a wall, a gully that keeps silting up, or rats that seem to come back however often they are dealt with. Left alone, a crack tends to grow as roots widen it and the soil around the pipe washes away.

Relining old drains without digging

For cracked drain repair in Faversham, relining is often the kindest option for an old building. Working from an existing manhole, we pull in a lining filled with resin, inflate it to grip the old pipe and leave it to cure into a seamless sleeve. Nothing above, from flagstones to floorboards, needs lifting. If part of the run has fallen in, that length has to be excavated and renewed instead, and you will know that before any work is agreed.

Emergency Drainage in Faversham

Sewage coming up through a floor gully, a manhole overflowing in the yard or a toilet that will not stop rising is an emergency. Our phones are answered 24/7 for Faversham and ME13, aiming to have someone with you within the hour.

Emergency drain repair

Sometimes a blockage turns out to be a broken pipe. An emergency drain repair makes the system safe and working again, and if a full repair has to follow, we explain what is left and agree the price first. Our emergency call outs page has more.

Sewer, Gully and Manhole Work in Faversham

Outside gullies take rain from roofs and yards, and in older properties they often sit in brick or stone surrounds that have shifted over time. We clear silt and leaves from gullies, repair broken gully pots and grates, and rebuild or reseal tired manhole chambers so they do not let in roots and soil.

Drain Cleaning and Drain Jetting in Faversham

Drain cleaning with high pressure water scours fat, scale and silt from the inside of a pipe and flushes it away. On older clay or pitch fibre drains we choose the pressure carefully and look at the pipe on camera first if there is any sign of damage. Find out more on our high pressure jetting page.

Commercial Drainage in Faversham

Pubs, restaurants, tea rooms and shops in the town centre often run their kitchens in old buildings with old drains, and fat from busy kitchens builds up fast. We clear, jet and repair commercial drainage in Faversham and can arrange regular cleaning so a blocked kitchen drain does not close the doors on a busy day. See our commercial drainage page.

Vortex Plumbing and Drainage engineer in Faversham

Blocked Toilets in Faversham

A toilet that brims when flushed is telling you something downstream has stopped. Old ceramic pans and lead or cast iron soil pipes do not take kindly to brute force, so we work out where the stoppage is before choosing a tool. Our blocked toilet page describes typical causes.

Unblocking Baths in Faversham

Hair and soap are behind most slow baths. Freeing them by hand rather than with caustic cleaners protects older enamel, chrome and brass, and the overflow gets checked as well. Find out more on the blocked bath page.

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CCTV Drain Surveys in Faversham

Before any repair in an old building, a CCTV drain survey shows exactly what is there. A small camera travels along the drain from a manhole or gully, recording the pipe material, cracks, roots, open joints and dips where water lies. The recording and a written summary are yours to keep, which also helps if you need to explain the work to the council or an insurer. Details of our CCTV drain surveys are on their own page, and our engineers travel to Sittingbourne and Canterbury as well.

Questions from Faversham Property Owners

What owners of older homes and businesses in Faversham often ask us.

Listing covers the whole building, so it is sensible to ask before any work that alters its fabric, even out of sight, and outside changes such as fresh pipework on a wall can need listed building consent. Swale Borough Council is the place to check. A camera survey report from us gives them a clear picture of what is planned.

Ground near tidal water can be soft and wet, and low areas may be slow to drain after heavy rain. Pipes laid in soft ground are more likely to settle and open at the joints. A camera survey shows whether that has happened and where.

Pitch fibre pipes were used for a time in the middle of the last century and can soften and lose their shape with age, which catches debris. Clay drains last well but can crack and let in roots at the joints. Both can often be relined rather than dug out.

Yes. Kitchen drains in food businesses build up fat quickly. We clear blockages, jet the pipes and can set up regular cleaning to keep them running between visits.

They are. Cottages in both often have drains that run shallow and were laid long ago, so a look with the camera comes before any heavy work, and the repair is kept to the damaged spot.