Emergency drain clearance from engineers on the road 24/7 across CM17, CM18, CM19 and CM20, and the villages around Harlow. Most blockages cleared inside the hour — and if we can't fix it, you don't pay.
Four details is all we need. No obligation, no call out charge.
If wastewater is backing up into the property, call us first — then follow these steps to limit the damage.
Call our emergency lineFrom a slow kitchen sink to collapsed pipework under the drive, engineers covering Harlow arrive with jetting units, rods and camera kit on board — so the problem gets diagnosed and cleared in the same visit wherever possible.
Internal blockages cleared with rodding and electro-mechanical kit, then the branch checked beyond the fixture.
Kitchen & bathroom unblocking →Gullies, waste stacks, manholes and underground runs that stand full or overflow after rain.
Outdoor unblocking →Camera footage that locates cracks, root intrusion and collapses, with a plain-English report.
CCTV surveys →Scours fat, silt and scale off the pipe wall so the drain stays clear for far longer than rodding alone.
Water jetting →No-dig patch liners and localised repairs for damaged pipework — no excavating the drive or patio.
Repairs & patchlining →Hard water scale descaled from pipework and urinals to restore flow and remove odours.
Limescale cleaning →No automated queues and no vague arrival windows. You speak to someone who knows the Harlow patch and can tell you when an engineer will be with you.
You'll be told the price before work starts, shown what caused the blockage, and if we can't clear it there's nothing to pay.
Call, WhatsApp or send the quote form with your postcode and which fixtures are affected. We will give you a price and an arrival time on that first call.
Your engineer checks the chambers and the affected runs to work out exactly where the restriction is, using a camera if the cause is not obvious.
We clear the drain, flow-test it, show you what caused it, and flag anything in the pipework that could cause it to happen again.
I never write reviews but I had to for this one. Blocked sink and toilet — a lovely polite man came and unblocked everything in just an hour. Very happy!
Got there really quick and fixed my drain in under 30 minutes. The lads were efficient and personable. Amazing service, would definitely recommend.
Honest company and same day service. Sorted everything out quickly. Highly recommend this company to others.
A blocked drain in Harlow usually shows itself in an ordinary way: a kitchen sink that drains slower each week, a toilet that gurgles when the bath empties, or a rear gully that backs up over the path after heavy rain. Underneath, the cause is the same — flow between the fixture and the sewer is being restricted somewhere. What matters is finding exactly where, clearing it without damaging the pipe, and being straight with you about whether the run needs a proper repair or simply another rod through.
We cover Harlow and the surrounding part of Essex as part of Blockage Busters, a family run drainage company with more than thirty years of work across the South East. That means an engineer arriving with a fully stocked van — high pressure water jetting, HD CCTV survey equipment, electro-mechanical rodding and no-dig patch lining — to a town whose layout puts a particular slant on how drains are reached and how blockages spread.
Every call out across Harlow arrives with jetting, rodding and camera equipment on board — so most jobs are diagnosed and cleared on the first visit, with no return trip for parts.
Harlow was designated a New Town in 1947 and built out to Frederick Gibberd's master plan, which grouped housing into self-contained neighbourhoods rather than street-by-street plots. Places like Netteswell, Great Parndon, Staple Tye and Potter Street were laid out at estate scale, with terraces and closes set around greens and pedestrian routes. The practical result is that a lot of the drainage sits behind the houses. Rear-access runs collect waste from a row before carrying it to the public sewer, and the inspection chambers are often in back gardens, service strips or shared paths rather than out on the street frontage. Knowing that a run is reached from the back, and roughly where the chambers fall, saves time when flow has stopped and water is rising.
Because those runs are shared, a single obstruction rarely stays a single-household problem. When a rear lateral blocks, several properties in the terrace can lose flow together, and the home where waste surfaces is not necessarily the one nearest the actual snag. That is why we lift and check the chambers first rather than starting at the plughole — it tells us which length is at fault, whether the blockage sits before or beyond a boundary, and whose drain it really is before any charge is discussed.
Not all of the area follows the New Town pattern. Old Harlow, and villages such as Sawbridgeworth, Roydon, Nazeing and Epping, carry older and more independent drainage — often the property's own run in jointed vitrified clay. Age tells on those joints: roots work in at the seals, ground movement displaces a section, and a dropped invert leaves a lip that catches wipes and grease until the line blocks solid. The remedy for a shared rear run and for a private clay lateral is seldom the same, so identifying which you have comes before anyone reaches for the jetter.
Some drainage faults can wait for a booked visit; others cannot. If wastewater is coming back up through a toilet or shower, if several fixtures have stopped together, or if a rear gully is surcharging near a door, that is an emergency and it needs dealing with before it reaches floors and cavities. Our emergency line is answered by a real person around the clock, weekends and bank holidays included, and we aim to have an engineer covering Harlow with you inside the hour for genuine emergencies. Until then, stop putting water into the affected system, and keep caustic drain products away from a pipe that is already blocked — on standing water they simply become a hazard for whoever opens the chamber.
When a drain keeps blocking, the pipe is telling you something structural. Displaced joints, cracked sections, scale, dropped inverts and root intrusion all form snag points that catch waste again and again, and on Harlow's shared rear runs one defect can affect more than a single home. A CCTV drain survey sends a camera through the line so the fault can be seen, located and measured, which replaces guesswork with a clear recommendation. Many defects can then be sealed with a patch liner from inside the pipe, leaving back gardens, shared paths and driveways intact instead of being dug up. We work for homeowners, tenants, landlords, agents and local businesses, and can invoice managing parties directly.
Local engineers on call across Harlow 24 hours a day, including weekends and bank holidays.
If we can't clear it you don't pay. Rated 4.9 out of 5 by customers across the South East.
Quoted before we start, no call out fee, and all major cards accepted at the door.
Our engineers work across CM17 to CM20 and the neighbouring villages and towns, usually within the hour:
Not listed? We almost certainly still cover you — call 07379 424 891 with your postcode and we'll confirm straight away.
For genuine emergencies in Harlow we aim to have an engineer with you within the hour, and we answer the phone 24 hours a day including weekends and bank holidays. Actual timings depend on traffic, your postcode and engineer availability, so call with your location and a description of the problem and we will give you a realistic arrival time rather than a vague window.
Every job is quoted before any work starts, and there is never a call out fee. The price depends on where the blockage is, how it needs to be cleared and whether access is straightforward, so the fastest way to get an accurate figure is to describe the symptoms over the phone. Our no fix no fee guarantee means if we cannot clear the blockage, you pay nothing at all.
We are a 24 hour drainage company and we quote on the job, not the clock. You will be told the price before the engineer starts, so there are no surprise out-of-hours surcharges added afterwards.
As a general rule you are responsible for the drains within your property boundary, while shared lateral drains and public sewers beyond it are usually the water company's responsibility. A quick inspection of the chambers tells us which side of that line the problem sits on, and we will tell you honestly if it is a matter for your water provider instead of charging you for work you do not need.
A blockage that returns normally means the pipework has a defect catching waste — a cracked section, a displaced joint, root intrusion or heavy scale. Clearing it repeatedly treats the symptom. A CCTV drain survey shows exactly what and where the defect is, and many can then be repaired with a patch liner without digging up the garden or driveway.
Yes, it often is. A lot of Harlow's New Town housing was built to Gibberd's neighbourhood layout, with drainage running behind the terraces rather than out to the street. The inspection chambers can sit in back gardens, service strips or shared paths, and the run itself may collect waste from several homes before it reaches the sewer. We work from the rear chambers to find where flow has actually stopped, which is quicker and cleaner than assuming the problem starts at the front of the property.
That pattern usually points to the shared rear run rather than any one house. Where a single lateral serves a whole terrace or close before reaching the public sewer, one obstruction takes flow from several properties together, and shared laterals normally fall to the water company rather than the individual householder. We inspect the chambers to confirm exactly where the blockage sits and whether it is before or beyond a boundary, then tell you honestly whose drain it is before any work is agreed.
Our team answers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Free quote, no call out fee, and no fix no fee on every job in Harlow.