7 Signs You May Have a Blocked Drain (And What To Do)

The seven warning signs

• Water drains slowly in the shower, sink or bath — the classic early sign
• Gurgling sounds from drains or the toilet after water goes down
• Bad smells from floor wastes, drains or the yard
• The toilet water rises higher than normal before draining
• Water backing up in one fixture when you use another — e.g. the shower fills when the washing machine drains
• Water pooling around the gully trap (the open drain outside, usually near the bathroom or laundry wall)
• Patches of lawn that are unusually green or soggy over the sewer line

What's actually causing it

Inside the house, it's usually hair, soap scum, food waste and fats building up in the pipe. Wet wipes deserve a special mention — 'flushable' on the packet does not mean flushable in practice, and they're behind a huge share of household blockages.

Underground, the picture changes: tree roots entering through pipe joints are the biggest cause, especially in older suburbs with earthenware drains. Around Dandenong, Noble Park and Springvale, established street trees and 50-plus-year-old drains make roots the first suspect for any recurring blockage.

What you can safely try yourself

• A plunger on a blocked sink or toilet — genuinely effective for simple soft blockages
• Hot (not boiling) water flushed down a greasy kitchen drain
• Cleaning the pop-up waste or hair catcher in bathroom sinks and showers

What to avoid

Chemical drain cleaners promise a lot and deliver little on real blockages. They rarely shift roots or compacted waste, they damage older pipes with repeated use, and they turn the drain into a hazard for whoever works on it next. If a plunger hasn't fixed it, chemicals won't either.

When to call a plumber

Call when a blockage keeps returning, when more than one fixture is affected, when sewage is backing up, or when the gully trap outside is overflowing. Recurring blockages in the same spot almost always mean something is wrong inside the pipe — clearing it gets you moving again, but finding the cause is what stops the cycle.