gary@drainblasters.co.za
021 439 4086
063 984 2047
There are few things more frustrating than stepping into the shower and feeling the water creep up around your ankles. You clear out a clump of hair, the water drains for a few days, and then the same slow, murky pool returns. If this sounds familiar, you are not...
Homemade drain cleaner works on light build-up, not on a real blockage. A cup of bicarbonate of soda followed by a cup of white vinegar, left for 15 minutes and flushed with hot tap water, will lift fresh grease and soap scum from a slow-running waste pipe. It will...
Drain unblocking is the process of locating and removing an obstruction from a waste or sewer line, then confirming the pipe is clear along its full length. For a basin or shower trap that usually means a plunger or a hand auger. For an underground line it means...
Most domestic septic tanks need pumping every three to five years. The exact interval depends on tank capacity, how many people live on the property, and whether a washing machine and dishwasher discharge into the system. A tank serving a large household on a small...
How to use drain cleaner safely: always read the label, wear gloves and eye protection, work in a well-ventilated space, never mix products, and follow the contact time on the bottle before flushing with hot water. Used correctly, a chemical drain cleaner can dissolve...
Most commercial drainage runs underground, behind walls or beneath concrete slabs, which means it stays out of mind until something goes wrong. By the time a business notices a problem, it is usually already an expensive one: a flooded storeroom, a sewage smell in a...
For a commercial property, a blocked drain is not a nuisance, it is an operational risk. A restaurant that cannot use its kitchen, a guesthouse with sewage surfacing in a courtyard or a factory that has to stop a wash down cycle is losing money by the hour. Scheduled...
A slow sink is easy to ignore. Most households do exactly that, pouring bleach down the plughole and hoping the problem clears itself. It rarely does. Prompt blocked drain cleaning is one of the cheapest pieces of home maintenance you can do, and putting it off is...
If your home relies on a septic tank rather than a municipal sewer connection, every sink, toilet, shower and washing machine outlet feeds directly into a living biological system. Knowing what not to put down a drain is the single most effective way to keep that...
Grease traps are critical components in commercial kitchens and food establishments. These devices intercept fats, oils and grease (FOG) before they enter the wastewater system. Without regular grease trap cleaning, these substances solidify inside pipelines and cause...
Rotor machines power much of the equipment that keeps modern infrastructure running, from industrial motors and generators to the specialised tools used to clear stubborn drain blockages. Understanding how a rotor functions, the different designs available, and how...
A drain camera inspection — also called a CCTV drain survey — is the only reliable way to see what is actually happening inside a drain. A waterproof camera is fed through the pipe on a flexible rod or crawler unit and sends live footage back to a screen above ground,...
A soakaway manages excess surface or storm water by allowing it to percolate slowly back into the surrounding soil. Combined with a French drain, which is a perforated pipe laid in a gravel trench, it forms one of the most effective stormwater management systems for...
Blocked drains have a way of announcing themselves at the worst possible moment. Water pools around your feet in the shower, the kitchen sink empties at a crawl, or an unpleasant smell starts drifting up from the drain outside. When plungers and drain snakes fail to...
Repairing a cracked or collapsed drain used to mean digging it up. On a Cape Town property that often meant breaking through a driveway, a paved courtyard or an established garden, then reinstating everything afterwards. Pipe relining avoids nearly all of that. It...
A septic tank leak rarely announces itself with a dramatic flood. More often, it starts quietly - a faint whiff of sewage on the breeze, a patch of grass that looks suspiciously healthy, or ground that feels soft underfoot near the tank. By the time the problem...
Every commercial kitchen produces fats, oils and grease (FOG) as a by-product of cooking, food preparation and dishwashing. Left unmanaged, FOG hardens inside pipes, chokes drainage systems and contributes to the notorious fatbergs that block municipal sewers. The two...
Every business that generates waste in South Africa — whether it produces general refuse, hazardous chemicals, medical waste, or industrial by-products — carries a legal obligation to manage that waste responsibly. This is not merely good practice; it is a firm...
Planting trees and shrubs around your home enhances beauty, shade, and privacy. However, without proper planning, your landscaping choices can create serious plumbing issues. Tree roots naturally seek moisture and nutrients, often growing toward underground sewer and...
A sewage spill inside a building is a contamination event, not a cleaning job. Whether it comes from a blocked sewer line backing up through a ground-floor shower, a failed septic tank, or stormwater forcing its way into the foul system during heavy rain, what ends up...