A long-time client of Essendon Plumbing Services, “Housing Choices Australia” contacted us when a tenant of theirs reported the drain in the laundry floor was flooding when the washing machine and laundry trough was being used. The home was located in a new apartment complex in Greensborough Melbourne and the job was sent through with an emergency plumbing response required.
The job was logged onto Simpro our cloud-based operating system and the tenant contacted to organise a time to attend site that suited. Once a time was set our Admin team needed to allocate the job to one of our expert plumbers who would be able to attend on the appointed time. Ben was contacted to make sure he would be finished his previous jobs and able to arrive on time, which he was so the job was forwarded to Ben.
We make sure Clogged Drains are Fixed Fast
Ben arrived on site and was told by the tenant there was two separate issues, the first was the kitchen sink was draining very slowly and the second was the reported laundry drain overflowing when the washing machine or laundry trough was in use.
Ben attended to the kitchen sink first and filled the bowl up with water before flushing it away, the first time it ran freely so he repeated the same step a couple more times before noticing it starting to clog up.
Step 1 – what’s the problem?
Before attempting to unblock the kitchen sink, he attended to the Laundry to see what was happening when the washing machine or trough was drained. As reported the floor waste gully overflowed onto the floor.
Ben removed the washing machine and the grate from the top of the floor waste gully so he could inspect the drain. Shining his torch down the pipe he quickly noticed the drain had building debris sitting in the bottom of the gully trap. Ben then got his wet vacuum to suck the water out of the pipe and trap to be able to clearly see what was in the drain. What he found was tile grout in the drain that had set and gone hard and was clogging the pipe. He suspected this must have happened during construction so contacted the managing agent to explain before proceeding with any further work.
The apartment complex was under 12 months old and still covered by the builders' warranty insurance so Ben’s instructions from the agent Housing Choices Australia was to provide a detailed report on the findings so they could consult with the builder to have the repairs completed under warranty.
Step 2 – A detailed report
Ben provided a detailed report suggesting a large quantity of tile grout or similar had entered the main sewer drain and was the cause of both the Laundry and the kitchen sink clogging up and draining slowly. He took CCTV footage and provided a detailed written report to the agent.
Ben had done as much as he could without carrying out destructive and expensive work to dig up, remove and replace the damaged pipe which the owners were going to have done under the builder’s warranty period.
He then packed up his tools and equipment and cleaned up the area was working in. He explained to the tenant what he had found and that he would forward the report to the managing agent within 24hrs.
Experts at Unclogging Drains
Unclogging laundry’s and bathrooms and being able to identify the cause of blocked drains before attempting to clear them will save you time and money. As you can see in this case study, forcing a sewer machine or pressure down the drain before carrying out a visual inspection would have only broken the drain causing more damage.
An experienced licensed Plumber is the expert at unclogging drains and toilets. Taking the time to problem-solve before acting will always provide the best permanent solution
6 Residential Plumbing Emergencies in Melbourne
19 Catalina Drive Tullamarine VIC 3043
03 9335 4755
info@essendonplumbingservices.com.au
