Drain Unblocking The Hague

Sand and peat beneath The Hague

Living in The Hague means living on one of two very different types of ground. The western half of the city sits on the sand of old dunes and beach ridges. Along the eastern and southern edges are districts such as Ypenburg, Leidschenveen and Wateringse Veld, built in former polders of peat and clay. You can see that difference in how drains get blocked, and so in how we approach drain unblocking in The Hague.

Dune sand in the western districts

In Duindorp, Duinoord and the Bomenbuurt, pipes don't sink as quickly as they do in peat. Here, the risk lies elsewhere. As soon as an old pipe cracks or a joint stops sealing properly, fine sand washes in. It settles at the lowest point and, together with grease and paper, forms a hard layer. In just a few years, a sewer connection can become half silted up without you noticing, until one day the water simply stops draining. We flush the sand out with high-pressure jetting, and the camera then shows where it's getting in.

Polder ground on the eastern and southern edges

In the new builds of Leidschenveen and Wateringse Veld, the drainage is newer and mostly plastic. Even so, the ground plays its part here too. Peat and clay settle, so gardens and driveways sink and a garden pipe can lose its fall. On top of that, many new-build homes have a separate drainage system, with rainwater and waste water carried away in different pipes. If someone connects the wrong pipe during a renovation, the problems only show up with the first heavy downpour.

Trees in Segbroek and the Benoordenhout

The Hague is a green city. In the Bomenbuurt, around the Haagse Bos and in the Benoordenhout, old trees stand right next to the houses. In dry spells, their roots go looking for moisture and find it in a sewer pipe with a leaking joint. Once inside, they grow into a tangle that holds on to paper and grease. The tell-tale sign is a blockage that returns within a few months of being cleared. In a case like this, drain unblocking in The Hague calls for a root cutter on the drain machine, followed by a camera check to see how far the roots have spread.

From almshouse courtyards to new-build estates: drain unblocking in The Hague by neighbourhood

Besides the ground, the type of home largely decides where a blockage forms. In a few neighbourhoods in The Hague, we see the same pattern time after time.

Hofjes in the city centre

The Hague has a great many hofjes (almshouse courtyards): small houses grouped around a shared garden, with a single gateway to the street. The waste water from several of these houses may run to the sewer through one shared pipe, under the garden or the gateway. If that pipe gets blocked, several residents are affected at once. The engineer brings compact tools that fit through the gateway, plus a hose long enough to reach the whole length of the pipe.

Transvaal and Laak: living above the shop

Around the Haagse Markt and in the Transvaalkwartier, there are lots of small eateries and shops with homes above them. Large amounts of cooking fat go down the drains there and build up in the pipe under the shop floor. In the Laakkwartier, many working-class homes have been renovated, and the new waste pipes sometimes connect to an older underground drain. It's precisely at a joint like this that a lip often forms, with dirt catching behind it.

Escamp: walk-up blocks with a single soil stack

In Moerwijk, Morgenstond and the rest of Escamp, many people live one above the other in walk-up flats and blocks of flats. If the shared soil stack gets blocked at the bottom, the downstairs neighbours notice first: the toilet empties slowly or gurgles when someone upstairs flushes. The engineer then works a drain snake through the toilet or the rodding eye until they reach the blockage in the soil stack.

Scheveningen: busy kitchens by the harbour and on the seafront

Around Scheveningen harbour and along the seafront boulevard, there are plenty of fish restaurants and other places to eat. Frying oil, fish scraps and greasy washing-up water go down the kitchen drains in large quantities, especially on hot summer days. Holiday lets run into trouble more often as well, because guests don't know what can and can't go down the toilet. A grease trap that's emptied properly, plus the occasional high-pressure clean of the kitchen pipe, saves a lot of emergency call-outs.

What kind of blockage do you have?

As a drain unblocking company in The Hague, Afvoer Ontstoppen focuses entirely on drains and sewers, from the smallest floor drain to the connection to the street sewer. We leave plumbing work on taps and water pipes to others; we come out for anything that won't drain away.

Toilet and soil stack

If the toilet is blocked and the blockage is in the bowl itself, a toilet snake is usually enough. If other drains are slow too, the problem lies deeper. Toilet unblocking then goes beyond the bowl: the engineer follows the pipe into the soil stack or the underground drain.

Kitchen and washbasin

Kitchen sink unblocking means cleaning not just the trap but the pipe behind it too, all the way to the underground drain if necessary. In the bathroom, things are usually less complicated: hair, soap and toothpaste in the trap. In that case, washbasin unblocking is usually a quick fix.

Sewer, garden and downpipe

If the blockage is outside, in the garden or under the pavement, you need sewer cleaning with the high-pressure jetter. Close to the sea and in streets with lots of trees, gutters and downpipes also fill up more quickly with leaves, sand and moss. Downpipe unblocking stops water running down the front of the house or standing on a flat roof.

Blocked sewer in The Hague: whose job is it?

If you have a blocked drain in The Hague, you'll want to know who needs to sort it out. The split is roughly the same throughout the Netherlands. Everything on your own property, from the waste pipe under the kitchen worktop to the pipe in the front garden, is the homeowner's responsibility. There's often a rodding eye at the property boundary; beyond that, under the pavement and the street, the municipality is generally responsible. If the blockage is on that side, the engineer will show you, so you can report it to the municipality.

In The Hague's typical upstairs-and-downstairs flats, two households often share one drain to the street. A blockage in that section is then a matter for both owners, or for the VvE (owners' association) if the building has been formally divided. If you rent, report a blocked shared pipe to your landlord. A blocked trap in your own kitchen or bathroom is usually the tenant's responsibility.

What happens when you call us

It starts with a call to 085 333 4698. There's always someone available, even at three in the morning or on Boxing Day. We ask about the symptoms: which drains are slow, whether water is coming back up and how long it's been going on. That often gives us a good idea of where the blockage is, and so of what the engineer needs to bring.

You then get a price estimate up front, and the engineer only sets off once you've agreed. They're usually with you within the hour, although it can take a little longer in rush hour or when it's busy around Scheveningen. On site, the engineer first works out where the problem is and then chooses the tools: a plunger, a hand-held drain snake, an electric drain machine or high-pressure jetting. Once the drain is flowing again, the engineer explains what caused the blockage and what you can do to stop it happening again.

Three emergencies in The Hague and what to do straight away

These three crop up remarkably often among our call-outs for drain unblocking in The Hague.

Sand in the garden inspection chamber in Duindorp or Loosduinen

If the inspection chamber in your front garden is full of grey water with a layer of sand at the bottom, sand is getting into the pipe somewhere. Don't start scooping out the chamber with a trowel yourself, as you'll often just push the sand further into the pipe. Use as little water as possible until the engineer has jetted the pipe through and checked it with the camera.

Water coming up through a drain after a downpour in Ypenburg

In a home with a separate system, rainwater shouldn't end up in the foul water drain. If water still comes up indoors during a downpour, something may have been connected wrongly or the rainwater pipe may be blocked. Move your belongings off the floor, make a note of which drain it's happening at and pass that on when you call.

A grease blockage in an eatery by the market

If the kitchen sink fills up mid-service, stop running water down that drain straight away and switch off the dishwasher. Warn the residents above the premises to go easy on the water for a while. For regular maintenance of the kitchen pipe, you can ask for a quote.

How much does drain unblocking in The Hague cost?

Unblocking costs from €129. The call-out charge isn't included and is billed separately; we'll tell you how much it is beforehand. An out-of-hours rate applies outside office hours: in the evening, at night, at weekends and on public holidays. If the job is bigger or hard to estimate in advance, such as a sewer run under a row of upstairs and downstairs flats or a sagging garden pipe on a new-build estate, you can ask for a quote first. You then decide whether the work goes ahead. We're rated 5/5 based on 48 Google reviews.

First aid for a blocked drain

Until the engineer arrives, there are a few things you can do to limit the damage:

• stop flushing and turn off the taps as soon as the water stops going down;
• if you live in a walk-up block, warn the neighbours above you;
• on a washbasin or sink, use nothing more than an ordinary plunger, and stop if that doesn't work;
• don't use chemical drain cleaner or any other caustic product.

In the longer term, the rules are simple: fat in the general waste, wipes in the bin and a hair catcher in the shower drain. If you live close to the dunes, have your sewer connection jetted through every few years, so that washed-in sand never gets the chance to build up. And clear out the gutter in the autumn, before the storms set in.

From Zoetermeer to Haarlem: beyond The Hague

Afvoer Ontstoppen works throughout the Netherlands, so we don't stop at The Hague's municipal boundary. We work in just the same way in Zoetermeer and Rotterdam. Further north, you can call us in Hoofddorp and Haarlem. To see which cities have their own page, take a look at our service area overview.

For drain unblocking in The Hague, from Duindorp to Ypenburg, call 085 333 4698 at any hour of the day or night.