Blocked Sink & Kitchen Drain in Nottingham

Why Kitchen Sinks Block

Cooking grease and fat do not wash away with cold water. They cool and solidify on the walls of the waste pipe, narrowing the bore over time until flow stops entirely. Once a kitchen drain is fully blocked with hardened grease, cold water and domestic drain cleaners rarely make any impression — the grease needs to be mechanically broken up or jetted away. The problem develops gradually, often appearing first as slow drainage before progressing to a complete block. It is worse in properties without a grease trap and in rentals where the drain has not been maintained between tenancies.

Why Bathroom Sinks Block

Hair binds with soap residue and accumulates in the trap beneath the basin, progressively blocking it. The build-up is compressible and cannot be flushed away with running water alone. In Nottingham — which sits in a hard-water area, drawing from the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer — limescale compounds the problem by coating the inside of the trap and reducing its diameter, making it easier for hair to snag on the roughened surface. A bathroom basin in a hard-water area will block more readily than the equivalent in a soft-water city, all else being equal.

DIY vs When to Call

For a bathroom sink, clearing the trap is a reasonable first step: remove the bottle trap beneath the basin, rinse it out, and refit. A plunger is worth a try. If that doesn't restore full flow, or if it clears but the basin is slow again within days, the restriction is beyond the trap and needs professional clearing. For kitchen sinks, a blockage that is more than a few centimetres into the waste pipe almost always requires jetting rather than a plunger. If there is water appearing under the kitchen unit or a persistent smell even after clearing the trap, call us.

Clearing and Prevention

We clear the trap and the full drain run beyond it, run water to confirm full flow has been restored, and advise on prevention specific to the cause we found. For kitchen drains, the most effective long-term measure is using a sink strainer to catch food waste and avoiding pouring fat or oil down the drain. For bathroom basins, a drain guard over the plughole catches most of the hair before it enters the drain. See also our drain jetting page for information on clearing longer drain runs.

Related services: drain unblocking, blocked bath or shower, drain jetting.