Frequently asked questions about drain unblocking

You can reach Afvoer Ontstoppen by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including public holidays. Call 085 333 4698 and you'll go straight through to someone who will help you work out what's causing the blockage. Emergencies can only be reported by phone, so no time is lost on messages going back and forth.

The engineer is usually with you within the hour. Exactly how quickly depends on the time of day, how busy the roads are and how far away you are. During the call we'll give you an expected arrival time. We don't promise a fixed arrival time, but we do everything we can to get to you as quickly as possible.

Yes. A blockage can happen at any time, so we also work in the evening, at night, at weekends and on public holidays. Outside office hours we charge an out-of-hours rate. We tell you what it is on the phone beforehand, so the choice is yours: help straight away, or wait until the next working day if the situation allows.

An emergency call-out makes sense if a toilet is overflowing, water is coming up through a drain, there's sewage in the house or you can't use any of your drains at all. If just one washbasin is draining a little slowly, a daytime appointment is usually enough. Not sure? Call us and describe the situation, and you'll get honest advice.

We work throughout the Netherlands, in big cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven and everywhere else too. The page about our service area shows which cities have their own page. If your town isn't listed, call us anyway. When you call, we'll tell you straight away whether and when we can be there.

Clearing a blockage with Afvoer Ontstoppen costs from €129. The call-out charge isn't included; we'll tell you what it is in advance. The final amount depends on where the blockage is and how much work it takes to clear. Based on your description, we give you a price estimate on the phone before the engineer even sets off.

An out-of-hours rate applies to work outside office hours: in the evening, at night, at weekends and on public holidays. It's higher than the daytime rate, because it means sending an engineer out at short notice when most people are off work. We'll tell you on the phone what it comes to in your case. If the job can wait, we're happy to book it in during the day.

The call-out charge covers the engineer's journey to your address. It isn't included in the starting price of €129 and is charged separately. We tell you how much it is beforehand, so you can weigh it up alongside the price estimate before you agree to go ahead.

Yes. For work where the scale isn't clear in advance, such as cleaning a long sewer pipe, periodic maintenance for commercial premises or an extensive drain camera inspection, you can ask for a quote. We'll discuss what needs doing, and you'll still get a price estimate up front.

If the engineer finds on site that the blockage is deeper than expected or that something else is going on, such as a sagging pipe, they stop and talk it through with you before carrying on. You decide whether they do the extra work straight away. In other words, no extra work is done without your go-ahead.

Don't flush again, as the toilet could overflow. A toilet plunger can help with a minor blockage. If the water doesn't go down, or it comes up in the shower when you flush, the blockage is further down and it's time to call us. Read more about how we tackle it on our toilet unblocking page.

In the kitchen, grease is almost always the main culprit. Hot fat looks runny, but it sets in the cooler pipe and then traps food scraps and coffee grounds, so the pipe gets narrower and narrower. With kitchen sink unblocking we flush the pipe thoroughly. In future, pour fat into a jar or bottle and put it in the general waste.

Usually it's hair and soap residue building up in the shower drain and the first section of pipe. Lift out the drain cover and remove whatever you can reach. If that doesn't help, the blockage is further down. Our shower drain unblocking service clears the entire pipe. After that, a hair catcher will save you a lot of trouble.

We advise against it. A chemical drain unblocker rarely dissolves a blockage further down the pipe, can damage seals and older pipes, and if the drain is completely blocked it just sits there as a corrosive liquid. That's dangerous for you and for the engineer. A plunger or cleaning out the trap is a safer first step.

Often, yes. Put a bucket under the trap, unscrew it and clean it out; there's usually hair and soap residue inside. Then screw it back on firmly and check that it doesn't leak. If the washbasin still drains slowly, the blockage is further along the pipe and washbasin unblocking by a professional is the next step.

Signs include several drains running slowly at the same time, water coming up through the lowest drain in the house, gurgling noises when you flush and a sewage smell in the house or garden. If the inspection chamber outside is full of water, the blockage is further along the underground drain. Our sewer cleaning service clears the pipe along its full length.

As a rule of thumb, the part of the sewer connection on your own property is usually the homeowner's responsibility, while the part under the public road is generally down to the municipality. If you rent, contact your landlord as well; in a block of flats it's often up to the owners' association (VvE). The engineer can establish exactly where the blockage is.

A camera inspection is worthwhile if a blockage keeps coming back, if you can smell sewage for no obvious reason, or if you're thinking of buying a home with old drains. The camera shows root intrusion, sagging sections, cracks and loose joints, so you know what needs repairing. There's more on our drain camera inspection page.

Don't pour grease, oil or coffee grounds down the kitchen sink. Only flush toilet paper down the toilet; wet wipes, cotton buds and sanitary towels belong in the bin. Put a hair catcher in the shower and clean the traps now and then. Have the gutters cleared every year, and have the sewer inspected if the same problem keeps coming back.

An overflowing downpipe is usually full of leaves, moss or sand, or the gutter above it is blocked. If the roof is low and you can do it safely, clear out the debris yourself, but we advise against climbing a ladder in the rain. With downpipe unblocking, we clear the pipe and its connection to the sewer.