Blocked Drains Sydenham

Sydenham: terrace drains, Colombo Street premises and surviving workers' cottages

Sydenham has changed character more than once. It began as a borough of small workers' cottages beside the railway factories, then from the 1950s much of that housing gave way to commercial and light industrial use as zoning moved south. The quakes took buildings on about 35 sites along Colombo Street, and rebuilt premises and the terrace houses at 350 Colombo now sit near the cottages that survived.

Those three groups block for different reasons. The remaining cottages tend to have aged laterals where a root or a misaligned joint is the usual culprit. Commercial and industrial sites put through waste a house never produces, including grit from workshops and fat from food premises. Terraces on shared sites send several homes down common pipe, so one household's wipes can back up a neighbour's shower.

With terraces, we trace the shared run first and pinpoint the blockage, so the person who pays is the one whose section is affected rather than whoever rang first. For businesses in the Sydenham Quarter we can work before opening or after close and use a jetter on lines that carry grease or sediment. In every case the camera footage shows whether the problem is in private pipe or reaches the council's connection. Much of Sydenham's commercial stock was rebuilt after the quakes, so a modern building can discharge into an older private line further along, and that join is worth filming. On industrial sites we also check whether a sump or interceptor upstream needs emptying.

Local tip: In a Sydenham terrace, agree with your neighbours in advance how a blockage in the shared drain will be handled, because it is easier to settle before water is on the floor.