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Customer nameDate left
Bristol & Bath · Same-day service
Blocked drains in Bristol, cleared today
We're an independent drainage company covering Bristol, Bath and the surrounding area. We find the problem, tell you what it will cost before we start, and don't leave until the water is running properly again.
No call-out fee
Fixed price before we start
Checkatrade approved
Thanks — we've got that.
We'll call you back shortly. If it's urgent, ring 0117 427 4565 and we'll pick up.
Same-day responseMost Bristol call-outs attended today
Public liability insuredCertificate available on request
Proper equipmentCCTV cameras and high-pressure jetting
Local and independentBristol-based, not a national chain
Where's the problem?
What's actually going wrong?
Most people call us with a symptom rather than a diagnosis, which is exactly right — working out the cause is our job. But it helps to know what you're looking at. Choose the closest symptom below.
Your drain run
Nothing selected yet
Pick a symptom on the left and we'll explain what it usually means, how urgent it is, and what to do right now — no jargon.
Is it your drain or Wessex Water's?
It depends on what the pipe serves, not where the problem shows up.
If the drain serves only your property and the blockage is within your boundary, it's usually yours. If several homes feed into the same run, or your neighbours have problems at the same time, it's likely a shared lateral drain — and in this area that's normally Wessex Water's responsibility rather than yours.
The quick rule: if more than one property is affected at once, it is rarely a private drain.
We'll tell you which it is before charging you for anything, including if you should be calling Wessex Water instead of us. Road gullies and highway flooding are different again — those are reported to Bristol City Council.
| What's affected | Usually whose responsibility |
|---|---|
| Pipes inside your home | You — the property owner |
| Drain serving only your property, within your boundary | You — the property owner |
| Shared drain serving two or more properties | Wessex Water (lateral drain) |
| Public sewer in the road | Wessex Water |
| Road gully or highway flooding | Bristol City Council |
General guidance for the Bristol area. Check with Wessex Water or Bristol City Council for your specific situation — or call us and we'll tell you what we think you're dealing with.
What we do
Clearing a blockage is the everyday job. Finding out why it happened is what stops you calling us again in three months.
Blocked drain clearance
We locate the blockage, clear it properly, then flow test to confirm it's gone rather than moved along the pipe. Blocked manholes and gullies included.
Blocked drains in BristolCCTV drain surveys
For homebuyers, landlords, insurers and drains that keep blocking. You keep the footage and a report written in plain English.
CCTV drain surveysDrain jetting & cleaning
High-pressure water cuts through fat, silt and scale to restore the full bore of the pipe, not just a channel through the middle of the blockage.
High-pressure jettingDrain repairs & relining
Cracked, displaced or root-damaged pipes repaired from the inside wherever possible, so your garden or driveway stays as it is.
No-dig drain repairsToilets, sinks & showers
Indoor blockages cleared without dismantling half the bathroom, and without leaving the mess behind for you to deal with.
Blocked toiletsCommercial & maintenance
Scheduled cleaning for pubs, cafés, HMOs and managing agents — so a blockage never decides your closing time for you.
Commercial drainageAlso: root removal and descaling, blocked sinks, baths and showers, and CCTV rat detection if you've got rats coming up from the drains.
How it works
Four steps, in the same order every time. If we can't complete step four, the job isn't finished.
1
You call us
Tell us your postcode and what's happening. We'll say honestly whether it sounds like today or later in the week.
Two minutes2
We find the problem
On site we work out where the blockage actually is, before anything gets pushed further down the pipe.
Before any work3
We agree the price
One fixed figure, told to you before we start. If you'd rather not go ahead, there's nothing to pay.
Your decision4
We clear and prove it
Cleared and flow tested while we're still there, then we explain what caused it and how to stop it happening again.
[12-month] call-back
IMG-H2
Anthony, with the van
A real photograph of the owner in uniform beside the branded van, outdoors in a recognisable Bristol street. Natural light, no studio, no stock. This is the single most important image on the site — it turns "a company" into "a person".
1000 × 1000px · square · WebP
alt="Anthony Lord, owner of Flow Sure Drains, with the company van in Bristol"
The person who quotes is the person who does the work
Flow Sure Drains is run by Anthony Lord. There's no national call centre, no subcontracted stranger turning up, and no scripted quote from someone who hasn't seen your drain.
We've been on Checkatrade for [X] years, with verified reviews from customers across Bristol and Bath, and around [118] reviews on Google. Public liability insurance is in place and the certificate is available on request.
Most of our work is in central and north Bristol, where Victorian terraces and converted flats share older clay drain runs. That's the pipework we know best.
Checkatrade approved
[X] years trading
Public liability insured
Independent & Bristol-based
IMG-H7aCheckatrade badge
Official badge from the Checkatrade member area · SVG or PNG
IMG-H7bInsurance / accreditation
Insurer or NADC / WJA logo — only if genuinely a member
IMG-H7cGoogle reviews badge
Rating badge from the review widget · not the Google logo itself
IMG-H7dTrade body (optional)
Leave empty rather than inventing an accreditation
Anthony LordOwner, Flow Sure Drains
Recent jobs around Bristol
Real drains, real properties, real before and after. No stock photography — every picture on this page is a job we actually did.
IMG-H3
Blocked gully — before
Close-up of a gully or chamber standing full of water and debris, taken before clearance. Slightly grim is good: it should look like the thing the visitor is staring at right now.
1200 × 900px · 4:3 · WebP
alt="Blocked outside drain full of standing water in Bristol before clearance"
IMG-H4
Same gully — after
The identical angle after clearing, water running freely. Shooting the same frame before and after is what makes the pair persuasive — ask engineers to take both from the same spot.
1200 × 900px · 4:3 · WebP
alt="The same Bristol drain running clear after clearance"
IMG-H5
Jetting in progress
An engineer working the jetting hose into a chamber. Hands, hose, equipment in frame. Action, not posing.
1200 × 900px · 4:3 · WebP
alt="Flow Sure Drains engineer high-pressure jetting a blocked drain in Bristol"
IMG-H6
CCTV screen capture
A photo of the camera monitor showing the inside of a pipe — roots, a fatberg or a cracked joint. Genuinely interesting, and nothing a competitor can copy.
1200 × 900px · 4:3 · WebP
alt="CCTV drain survey footage showing tree root ingress in a Bristol drain"
Photograph every job you can. Even a quick phone snap beats stock, and area pages need three per area.
What Bristol customers say
Reviews left on Google by people whose drains we've actually cleared.
Second review slot. Three recent reviews sit here on desktop; on mobile they stack.
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Customer nameDate left
Third review slot. Long reviews are trimmed so the cards stay level with each other.
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What it costs
Most complaints about drainage companies come down to the same thing: nobody said what it would cost until the work was already done. We do it the other way round.
- A fixed price agreed on arrival, before any work starts
- No call-out fee, and nothing to pay if you decide not to proceed
- The same price at weekends, evenings and bank holidays
- The price doesn't change because the job took longer than expected
- A [12-month] call-back on the same fault, where the pipework allows
From
£[XX]
Standard drain clearance at a domestic property
Call for a price
We won't quote a firm figure over the phone for a job we haven't seen — but we'll tell you what's likely and what would push it higher.
Where we work
We cover Bristol, Bath and the surrounding towns. Drains don't follow postcode boundaries and neither do we — if you're just outside this list, call anyway. If we can reach you today, we will.
Most of our work is in central and north Bristol, where Victorian terraces and converted flats share older clay drain runs.
IMG-H8
Van in a recognisable Bristol street
The branded van parked on a Victorian terrace — Redland, Clifton or Bedminster. Local recognition does more for trust than any badge, and geotagged versions are useful for Google Business Profile too.
1400 × 1050px · 4:3 · WebP
alt="Flow Sure Drains van on a Victorian terraced street in Bristol"
Central & inner Bristol
Outer Bristol
We also work regularly in Southville, Totterdown, Brislington, Knowle, Horfield, Henleaze, Westbury-on-Trym, Downend, Emersons Green, Montpelier and St Werburghs.
Common questions
The things people most often ask us on the phone.
How much does it cost to unblock a drain in Bristol?
A standard domestic drain clearance works to a fixed price agreed on site, typically from £[XX]. There's no call-out fee, and no extra charge for evenings, weekends or bank holidays.
We won't commit to a firm figure over the phone for a job we haven't seen — that's how people end up with a bill that doesn't match the quote. We'll tell you honestly what's likely and what would push it higher, usually a blockage that turns out to be a structural fault rather than a build-up.
Is the blocked drain my responsibility or Wessex Water's?
It depends on what the pipe serves, not where the problem appears. If the drain serves only your property and the blockage is within your boundary, it's usually yours. If several homes share the run, or your neighbours are affected at the same time, it's likely a shared lateral drain and normally Wessex Water's responsibility.
A simple rule: if more than one property is affected at once, it is rarely a private drain. We'll tell you which it is before charging you for anything.
Can you come out today?
Usually, yes. Same-day attendance is most of what we do across Bristol and Bath. When you call you'll be given a realistic arrival window — [2 to 4 hours] in most cases — rather than an optimistic one, and if we're running behind you'll hear from us.
Do you charge a call-out fee?
No. We come and look at no charge, and if you decide not to go ahead once you've heard the price, there's nothing to pay and we leave.
Why does my drain keep blocking?
Because the previous blockage was moved rather than removed, or because something is still in the pipe catching debris — a fat line, tree roots through a joint, a cracked or collapsed section, or a pipe laid at the wrong gradient.
If it's happened more than twice in the same place, another clearance only treats the symptom. A CCTV drain survey shows the actual cause, and you keep the footage.
Do chemical drain cleaners work?
Rarely, on a genuine blockage. They may shift a light build-up near a plughole but won't clear wipes, roots, silt or a broken pipe. They can also damage older pipework and make the job more hazardous for whoever opens it up.
If you've already used one, please tell us when we arrive — it changes how we approach the job safely.
What should I do while I'm waiting for you?
Stop using water in the property — taps, toilets, the dishwasher and the washing machine. Anything you send down the pipe has nowhere to go and adds to what comes back up.
Don't keep flushing the toilet to test it, and don't pour chemicals down. If there's dirty water on the floor or standing outside, keep children and pets away from it until it's been cleared and the area disinfected.
Do you work for businesses as well as homes?
Yes — pubs, cafés, restaurants, shops, offices, HMOs and managed flats. Kitchen grease lines and shared runs in converted buildings are two of the most common problems we're called to in Bristol.
For premises that can't afford to close, planned maintenance works out considerably cheaper than emergency call-outs.
Tell us your postcode and what's happening
That's usually all we need to tell you what you're dealing with and when we can get to you.