With this blog post we aim to answer all of the most common questions surrounding a blocked drain and how you can prevent yourself getting one in the first place.
What causes a blocked drain?
A blocked drain can be caused by a number of things, the most common cause of blockages that MZR are called out to are wipes. Wipes and drain don't go well together, including the new "Flushable Wipes". Grease and silt are also big contributors, however there may be a hidden defect you don't know about.
How can I can i get my drain unblocked?
MZR have a highly experienced team with a whole arsenal of tools to unblock your drain including high pressure water jetting. If your drain is blocked give MZR a call on 0121 663 1060 or visit us online at www.blockeddrainsbirmingham.co.uk.
What if my blockage is caused by a defect?
If an engineer suspects your drain is blocked by a defect, they will suggest you have a CCTV drain inspection. This involves one of our engineers putting a camera down your drain to investigate the potential defect, if found MZR will provide you with a quote to carry out the repair. Even if your drain wasn't blocked due to a defect, a CCTV drain inspection can give you peace of mind for the future!
What can I do to prevent my drain from blocking?
Some blockages can't be prevented, however most can. Avoid putting wipes down the toilet, if the smell is an issue place them in a nappy bag and leave them in the outside bin. Allow grease to harden after cooking and then scrape it in the bin, if you have previously put grease down the drain, boil the kettle and pour it down the sink waste every few days. This should soften the grease and allow it to slowly remove itself from the walls of the pipe.
As winter closes in and the temperature drops, its easy to start stressing about your drains. With this blog we'll give you the best tips to keeping your drain in tip top shape throughout the colder months
As temperatures drop oil, fat and grease will harden in your pipes. Not only is a blockage an inconvenience, but it also comes with a cost! The easiest way to avoid any build up of oil, fat and grease is to pour it in a plastic bottle/tub and place it in the bin, however boiling the kettle and pouring it down your drain once a week will help soften them.
As well as oil, fat and grease, debris from leaves and branches can also cause blockages. Ensuring your gully guard is fully operational and clear should help prevent any unwanted debris falling into your drains. If you do find your drains are blocked, MZR have experienced engineers who will be able to remove the blockage and get you up and running at a competitive price.
With the above tips and making sure all exposed pipes are well insulated, you should be stress free. If that alone is not enough and you want complete peace of mind, call MZR to book a CCTV drain survey on 0121 663 1060.
Autumn has arrived, but it has brought with it a gully’s worst nightmare… Leaves. If your gully is not protected by a gutter guard, then leaves will easily find their way into the system. Over time and especially during high winds where leaves falls at a fast pace and cause an unexpected blockage. To prevent a blockage follow our 10 tips to keeping your system leaf free.
Once a month check your downpipes and gutters – remove leaves, sticks, and dirt where practicable. Leaf matter and other debris can prevent water from reaching the downpipe.
Check all downpipes – if there is a blockage flushing out with a hose may help. Alternatively, call your local plumber for advice and assistance.
Consider installing gutter guards (monthly visual checks should be done*).
Consider installing a leaf diverter on your down pipes to ensure leaves and sticks fall to the ground.*
On a weekly basis, do a quick spot check of all stormwater grates for a build up of debris and if present, remove all debris to prevent it entering the stormwater drain. Over time leaf matter will decay and slowly build up with dirt, sand, sticks etc. to form a compost-like blockage. This can cause problems with slow drainage, back-ups, and costly repairs due to overflows.It can also be costly to remove from a storm water drain.
Consider installing filters on stormwater grates to stop leaves, debris, sand, and soil from entering your drains.
Prevent any foreign object from entering your drains (e.g. building materials, children’s toys, tennis balls, stones, weeds, tree roots, etc.).
Once a year, have your drains water jetted to clear any debris. Online Pipe & Cable Locating are experts in water jettingand clearing blocked drains.
If you notice your gutters, downpipes, or stormwater drains are draining slowly, you can save time and money by having them cleaned out sooner rather than later.
Call MZR Drainage Services on 0121 663 1060 to discuss your needs and finding the most efficient and cost-effective way toclear your blocked drains and prevent future problems.
After attending a job in Birmingham and finding a deceased rat was the cause of the blockage, it seems fitting to write a blog and talk about the problems surrounding rats in drains.
When it comes to rats in drains the first problem is who do you call. Pest control or drainage
engineers? Usually customers go with pest control and only contact a drainage engineer when it's too late. One piece of equipment that we have in our arsenal is a CCTV camera. With a simple CCTV survey a drainage engineer can inspect your drains in real time video and detect any problems.
A frequently asked question when dealing with rats is how do they find their way into the drains? The most common explanation is new building work, which could leave pipes temporarily exposed or even redundant. Rats, although small will easily burrow and gnaw through most materials and move quickly creating new colonies. The best way to find out whether or not a rat has damaged you pipe? A CCTV Survey!
MZR are experts in all drainage aspects and have dealt with rats on a number of occasions. With a simple CCTV survey our drainage engineers will diagnose your problem and give you a no obligation quote to get your drains back up and running. The rat pictured above was remove by an engineering using a high pressure jetting machine, which slides past the deceased rat and pulls it back with 3 rear facing jets. As you could imagine the after the smell our engineer didn't fancy lunch!
If you believe rats might be in your drains contact us on the following:
CCTV drain surveys and inspections are cost effective way to diagnosing problems or defects within the drainage system. Using athe lastest drainge camera equpitment we can tell what’s wrong with your drains in no time at all. Whether you are experinceing problems with your drains or pipe work, or if you need to inspect the drains on a property purchase.
CCTV Drain Surveys
If you encounter a problem with your drains or pipe work, you want it to be fixed fast and effectivly! However, a CCTV survey speeds everything up. Showing the engineer in real time what the problem is with the pipe work and the location!
This means we can advise on an effective solution to fix the problem, possible causes are if a tree root is blocking the drain by growing through a leaking joint,jetting somtimes will not remove this as it maybe too strong but looking inside with the CCTV camera will give us a good idea for the solution to your problems.
CCTV drain surveys save time and money, but they also keep disruption to a compete minimum. The camera does all the work in locating the problem, so once the engineer located the problem, they can simply carry out the work on that part of the drain thats causing the problem, rather than carrying out a large excavation to repair the whole pipe.
Pre Purchase drain inspections are great if you are looking to buy a property as we can inspect the drains and advise on any problems before you buy, This technology turns what could be a long, expensive task into a quick visit for an engineer, which is ideal for cutting down costs during the costly process of buying a house.
Using the latest in CCTV technology and industry software, we at MZR Plumbing we can offer full technical reports with our CCTV surveys, along with recommendations and quotations regarding any repairs needed.
A Blocked drain is not only unpleasant, it can also result in flooding and possible health hazard if ignored. But at MZR Plumbing, we provide a local drain & pipe unblocking service that`s second-to-none. we will get to the bottom of the issue quickly and effectively using a range of techniques which include high pressure water jetting.
Our expert team understand this urgency, which is why they always aim to be with you within the hour, and will investigate and diagnose the blockage, ensuring that they can effectively clear and return your drains to full working order.
If there is a suspected defect with the drain our team will advise a CCTV drain inspection, this will ensure the free flowing of the drainage system, A drain inspection consists of the use of a CCTV camera which is inserted in to the drain line, via a suitable access point in the drainage system. This could be from a manhole chamber or a rodding eye.
Rodding eye access
If a blocked drain goes untreated for a prolonged period of time, sewage water can make its way back up the drain and result in devastating and unnecessary damage to your property or your garden.
Drain
lining and drain relining are both incredibly important jobs. MZR Plumbing
& Drainage Birmingham we have invested in the most advanced equipment. This
allows us to deliver accurate and guaranteed drainage lining and relining
services. Our highly trained & reliable drain repair engineers perform
these relining services throughout Birmingham. If you have any problems then
contact us, we usually start this process by carrying out a CCTV survey to
pinpoint the drain lining fault.
Why Drain
Relining?
Drain
relining is simply a cost-efficient alternative to other, more traditional,
drain repair solutions. Drain relining is quickly becoming more and more
popular due to the numerous benefits that come with it. These include an
increased flow rate, and minimal disruption. It also helps to prevent tree root
infestation.
Our
engineers use a CCTV drainage survey to carry out the drain lining repair
quickly and efficiently. This allows us to locate the exact spot that is
damaged, removing the element of guesswork. This ensures that your drains
aren’t going to get damaged further in the process, and that all
the lining or relining repairs will be of the highest quality.
How Drain
Relining works:
We have a
very simple process. To start with we Jet high-pressure water through the
affected drains, this clears away any debris or blockages that may be present.
After this we place a CCTV camera through the drainage system, this allows us
to clearly locate and pinpoint the affected areas. Once both tasks have been
done our drain engineers can inform you of the best available treatment plan.
After the best, most cost-effective solution has been agreed upon, your drains
will be fixed in no time at all.
Why
Choose Us?
We
believe in competitive pricing, as well as being both ethical and efficient.
This is quickly making us one of Birmingham’s favourite drainage company.
As Birmingham’s experts in drain lining, our business is generated based
on jobs that we have already performed – this means that we rely on providing a
quality drainage service to keep business flowing. We’re able to use our
knowledge, expertise, and modern technology to tackle any issues that you may
have.
CCTV
Drain Surveys:
We use
CCTV drain surveying technology so that we don’t have to perform any
excavations on your drainage systems. These excavations can be known to damage
the pipes more than they were initially damaged. By using CCTV techniques, we
can go deep inside of the pipes, determining the exact cause of all your
drainage problems quickly – and without causing any further damage. Our CCTV
drain survey is competitively priced, and it leaves you with the option of a cost-effective
solution once we find the problem.
Small
Drain Collapse:
You may
think that if a drain collapses there’s no option other than a large excavation,
but we may be able to prove you wrong. If it isn’t a major drainage collapse,
we can simply reline the drainage system to prevent the need for a large-scale
excavation. J Snow Drainage is highly capable of performing drain relining
operations on defected drainage pipes, no matter what material the pipes are made
from. We can reline 4-inch, and 6-inch and 9-inch drainage pipes – these are
the standard sizes of drainage pipes in domestic and commercial properties
across London.
Drain
Patch Lining:
When our
engineers are doing the CCTV drain survey, they may find that your pipes only
have miniscule cracks, or slightly misplaced pipe joints. If this is the case
we won’t have to perform a full reline repair, and can instead just do a simple
patch liner. This makes it most cost efficient for you, as we only have to
target certain areas of the pipe, without the need to fully alter or repair
them in other ways.
Repairing
Collapsed Drains:
Badly
collapsed drainage pipes unfortunately can’t just be relined. Pipes generally
corrode with age, and you need a highly trained drainage company to deal with
that issue. We have been serving the London community for years, and our highly
skilled engineers can successfully repair completely collapsed drains.
Do I need
a drain repair?
Ideally a
drain repairs should take place as soon as an issue is noticed. Otherwise the
overall cost of repairing the drain will keep getting higher. This is due to
the damage that could be caused to the property. Here are some of the most common
signs for you to look out for:
• Leaks,
or wet patches.
• Bad odours.
• Noticeable blockages.
• Any cracks in the property, or on the ground.
• Subsidence
• Any dampness in the property.
MZR
Plumbing Provides:
• We provide a 24/7 drain lining service.
• We guarantee to respond to any queries within the hour.
• All of our work comes with a 10-year guarantee.
• We won’t charge you for the call-out.
• Our CCTV drain survey check is competitively priced.
Prevent
Further Damage to your Drain Lining
Drain Relining & Drain Lining Repairs in Birmingham with CCTV Drain Surveys
Call MZR
Plumbing & Drainage Birmingham for a free quotation on
A blocked drain can be caused by a number of things, the most common cause of blockages that MZR are called out to are wipes. Wipes and drain don't go well together, including the new "Flushable Wipes". Grease and silt are also big contributors, however there may be a hidden defect you don't know about. 
It can also be costly to remove from a storm water drain.
