Drain Unblocking in Porto, 24 Hours

How to spot a blockage and where it sits

A blockage rarely arrives all at once. Water drains slowly, then sits still, then comes back up. By then the plug is already formed, and supermarket products only push it further in.

You do not need to know where the problem is when you call. Tell us which fixture is blocked and whether water comes back anywhere else. That tells us whether the plug is close to the fixture, in a pipe several fixtures share, or in the building soil stack.

Blocked toilet

The water rises when you flush and drains very slowly, or not at all. It is nearly always wet wipes, too much paper or something that fell in. Do not flush again: the bowl will overflow. If the toilet drains fine but the flush is weak or the cistern never stops running, it is not a blockage and what you need is toilet repair in Porto.

Blocked kitchen sink

In the kitchen the culprit is grease. It cools inside the pipe, catches food scraps and coffee grounds and narrows the way through. Skip the chemical products: they do not reach a grease plug further down and they attack older pipework.

Smelly drains

A sewage smell is not always a blockage. If a drain hardly ever gets water, its trap dries out and lets the smell through: run some water down it. If the smell stays, there is build up or a partial blockage, and that section needs clearing and cleaning.

Blocked bath, shower tray, washbasin or bidet

In the bathroom, blockages build slowly from hair, soap and bits of cream, and the plughole gurgles long before it stops altogether.

Shower tray, bath and washbasin

In a shower tray or bath there is often a wad of hair just under the drain cover, which you can pull out with a gloved hand. In a washbasin the dirt collects in the trap, the curved piece underneath, which you can clean over a bucket. If both are clean and the water still stands, the plug is further along, under the floor.

When they all drain badly at once

In many Portuguese bathrooms the bath, bidet and washbasin join in a box in the floor, under a round cover, before going on to the stack. If all three drain badly and the toilet is fine, that box is often full. If water rises in the shower tray when you flush, the plug is in the pipe the whole bathroom shares. We wrote a guide on the warning signs of a blocked drain and what you can try before calling.

Washing machine or dishwasher not draining

Washing machines and dishwashers empty a lot of water in one go, so they often reveal a blockage that was already there. The hose goes into a trap under the kitchen sink or a pipe in the wall, where lint, grease and detergent residue gather. If water rises in the sink when the machine empties, do not run it again until the pipe is cleared.

Check the machine filter first

If the machine stops with water inside or shows a drain error, check its own filter first. On a washing machine it is usually behind a small flap at the bottom of the front; on a dishwasher, at the bottom of the tub. Put a cloth underneath. If the filter is clean and the sink also drains slowly, the problem is in the pipe. If the pipe is fine and the machine still will not empty, the fault is in the machine, and we tell you so.

The building soil stack: when the problem is not only yours

In a block of flats every home connects to a shared vertical pipe, the soil stack (the coluna in Portuguese), which carries waste from all floors down to the street. The stretch from your fixtures to the stack is your branch pipe. Which of the two holds the plug changes who should deal with it, so we check before starting and the bill does not go to the wrong owner.

Signs the blockage is in the stack

Water comes up in the shower tray or the bidet when nobody in your flat is using water. Several fixtures in different rooms drain badly at once. The neighbours below have the same problem, and it gets worse when the whole building is showering. The ground floor (the rés-do-chão) and the first floor usually notice first, because water held up in the stack comes out of the lowest fixture it finds.

Who deals with what in a condomínio

A condomínio is the owners of a building acting together, and the administração do condomínio is whoever runs it, sometimes a management company, sometimes a neighbour. As a rule, the stack and shared chambers are common parts: clearing them is arranged by the administração and paid for by the condomínio. Your branch pipe usually belongs to your flat. That is the usual pattern, not legal advice, and the administração confirms each case. Tell them straight away and, if you rent, tell your landlord (the senhorio) too.

The inspection chamber, at the building exit or in the garden

An inspection chamber (caixa de visita) is a small pit in the ground with a cover, giving access to the drains. In blocks of flats it is usually on the ground floor, in the garage or by the entrance. In a house, waste runs through chambers in the garden or garage to the main sewer, and we work from those, often against grease or tree roots. If the plug is already in the street sewer, outside the property, that is for the body that runs the sewers in your municipality, and we tell you so.

What to do while you wait, and what to avoid

The aim is not to make things worse. Until the technician arrives:

• Stop using water in that part of the home, appliances included.
• If the toilet is filling up, close the small valve that feeds it, behind or beside it, and do not flush again.
• Put old towels around the fixture and lift anything that could be damaged off the floor.
• If water gets near sockets, switch off that circuit at the consumer unit (the quadro elétrico).
• If you suspect the stack, ask the neighbours above to hold off using water for a while.

What not to do

Do not use caustic soda or mix drain products: they do not clear a deep plug, they attack older pipework and they make the standing water harmful to skin and eyes. Do not use wire or coat hangers, which scratch the bowl and can puncture old pipes. And if water comes back in several fixtures, stop plunging: the plug is probably in the stack, out of reach, and the plunger only pushes dirty water from one drain to another.

High pressure jetting or an electric snake

We clear drains with an electric snake or with high pressure jetting, depending on the pipe and the plug. The snake breaks up the plug and works well on wipes, hair and paper. The jet washes the inside of the pipe and takes the clinging grease with it, which matters most in kitchens and soil stacks.

Either way, the run is cleared along its whole length, not just where the water was standing. We work through the existing access points, the toilet, the drain or the inspection chamber, and in the great majority of cases nothing needs breaking.

Blockages that keep coming back: the causes

If the same pipe blocks every few weeks, something is behind it. If it is the pipework, we tell you what would be needed: that is plumbing work, with its own quote. These are the usual causes:

• Kitchen grease that has lined the pipe and leaves less and less room.
• Wet wipes, even the ones labelled flushable: they do not break down and catch everything behind them.
• Hair wrapped around the drain or the bathroom floor box.
• Old pipework, broken or with too little fall, where water sits and dirt settles.

Old buildings in the Baixa and the historic centre

In buildings over a hundred years old, the plumbing has been patched over decades: old pipes next to newer ones, extra bends and branches with very little fall. In short lets for tourists, guests do not know the place and the wipes end up in the toilet.

Seventies and eighties blocks

One stack serves many flats, in blocks designed when few homes had a dishwasher. Grease and detergent build up in the stack and the ground floor chambers, so the blockage shows first on the lower floors. Here the jet often makes the difference, because it cleans the stack from the inside.

Holiday homes closed for months

In a home shut all winter, the water in the traps evaporates and the sewer smell gets in. With the first water, dried dirt comes loose and can gather into a plug. When you arrive, run water down every drain and flush the toilet. If the water is slow to go in the first few days, call before the house fills up.

How to stop it blocking again

Many blockages can be avoided with a few simple home maintenance habits:

• Pour cooking grease into the bin once it has cooled, never down the sink.
• Wet wipes, cotton buds and sanitary products go in the bin, even when the packet says otherwise.
• Fit a strainer over the shower drain and the kitchen sink.
• Now and then, clean the washbasin trap and the filters of your machines.

Blockage or leak: which one you have

If water shows on the ceiling below or on a wall and nothing is blocked, it is more likely a leak. Then you need a plumber in Porto, which we also provide. If water is pouring from a pipe, close the main stopcock: we wrote a guide on what to do with a burst pipe.

What our drain cleaning covers

• Toilets, basins and bidets
• Kitchen sinks and appliance connections
• Bath and shower drains
• Soil stacks and building risers
• Inspection chambers and main runs
• Electric snake and high pressure jetting
• Root ingress and grease build up

How the job goes, from the first call to the invoice

It is always the same path, day or night.

1. You call or send a message

   A person answers. We ask for your address, whether it is a flat or a house, which fixture is blocked and whether water is coming back elsewhere. We tell you what is likely and how long we will take to get there.

2. We agree the visit

   We confirm the time and how you would like to pay while still on the phone, so there are no misunderstandings at the door. Until we arrive, avoid using water there and pour nothing down the pipe.

3. We find the blockage

   The technician runs water through the fixtures one by one and works out whether the plug is in your branch pipe, in the stack or in an inspection chamber. They explain what they find in plain words.

4. You get the quote before we start

   We tell you how we will clear it, what it costs and how long it takes. If the problem is in the shared stack, we say so and you can let the administração know. Nothing goes ahead without your approval.

5. We clear it through the existing access

   With the snake or the jet, we go in through the toilet, the drain or the chamber. The pipe is cleared along its whole length, almost always without breaking anything.

6. We test it in front of you

   We run water through every fixture on that pipe and flush the toilet several times. If the cause cannot be fixed on the spot, such as a broken pipe, we tell you what is left to do.

7. You keep the invoice and our number

   The invoice lists the work and the parts used separately. That document is your guarantee and what entitles you to complain if anything fails. If it blocks again, you call the same number.

Drain unblocking questions

Drain unblocking across Greater Porto

We unblock drains in every municipality of Greater Porto. In Póvoa de Varzim, holiday flats that sit closed for months come back into use all at once, and that is when the blockages and smelly drains appear. In Maia, the older blocks in Águas Santas and Pedrouços give more plumbing work. In São Mamede de Infesta, Senhora da Hora and Rio Tinto, one soil stack serves many flats and blocks through build up.

• Porto
• Matosinhos
• Vila Nova de Gaia
• Maia
• Gondomar
• Valongo
• Espinho
• Vila do Conde
• Póvoa de Varzim