Do you have a blockage?

If you have a blocked sink, shower, bath, or toilet then you need to consider what could have caused it before calling the landlord’s agent.  The landlord is responsible to clear blockages that are not caused by the tenant’s actions, so if a plumber visits the property and finds that it was tenant-caused, you could be liable for the cost.

To avoid unnecessary costs you can run through some simple checks that will help you identify the cause.

What are you experiencing…

Blocked kitchen or bathroom sink?

This is the most common blockage you will experience.  The cause normally occurs from emptying kitchen cooking fat, oils with saturated fat content, or food debris, into the sink which subsequently solidifies in the pipes. Over time you will find the sink takes longer to empty until eventually it will not empty at all and it needs unblocking.

This is a tenant’s responsibility to unblock, which is often as easy as buying a sink unblocking product and using it several times.

A quick check to see if this is the cause would be to check if other sinks and the bath or shower at the property work correctly.  If they do then you have a localised blockage.

The bath or shower takes ages for the water to go down?

This is another common situation you will experience.  The cause is normally from the build-up of long hair, shampoo, conditioner, and soap that has congealed into a solid mass in the bathroom pipes, which becomes very hard to shift.

This is also a tenant’s responsibility to unblock, which again can often be cured by using a bath unblocking product several times.

If the other sinks in the property flow correctly then this will confirm the cause will be a localised blockage.

The toilet will not empty?

Blocked toilets are very often caused by the use of baby wipes or too much toilet paper being used. A toilet can also block by objects that should not go into a toilet.

Routine maintenance suggestion.

We would always recommend giving your waste pipes a regular monthly clean with a suitable detergent or ‘unblocker’ to keep them running free and also to eliminate any nasty odours.

Article written by

Angela Finn

Director