If you live in Kent, you’ve probably smelled it. Heard it. Or even stepped in it.
Common drainage problems in Kent include:
- Drains that don’t drain.
- Gullies that flood backyards and patios.
- Kitchen sinks that gurgle like it’s trying to talk to you.
Drainage problems are everywhere down here. And most of them aren’t freak accidents.
They’re repeat offenders. The same problems. Same causes. Same households. Again and again.
So what’s going wrong under your feet?
- Fatbergs – And You Might Be Making Them
Fatbergs are a very large mass of congealed solid waste in a sewerage system. They usually consist of congealed fat, grease, food scraps, and hygiene products flushed down toilets. Basically they form when people put things they shouldn’t down toilets and sinks.
When it cools, it sticks. When it sticks, it clogs. And when it clogs, it builds a fatberg the size of a bad attitude.
One of the biggest fatbergs ever found was in London in 2017. It was 250 metres (820 feet) long and weighed a massive 130 tonnes. That’s as long as two Wembley football pitches and weighed around the same as 11 double-decker buses.
A fatberg discovered in Devon was bigger than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It took eight weeks to fully clear.
If your drains smell foul or start backing up, fatbergs are often the reason. And they start inside your pipes, so be very careful not to put wet wipes, grease or food scraps in the toilet or sinks.
- Tree Roots Cracking Your Pipes
Kent’s full of old trees. And tree roots love old pipes.
They sniff out moisture and creep in through hairline cracks. Then they swell, split and ruin the pipework.
Suddenly you’ve got a slow drain in the house and a swamp outside.
If you’ve got gurgling sounds and soggy patches in the garden, tree roots could well be the reason.
- Blocked Gullies and Grates
Leaves, moss, silt, and the occasional crisp packet – it all lands in your outside drains. And most of it never leaves.
If rainwater is sitting where it shouldn’t, your surface drainage has clocked off.
This is common after heavy rain. Even more common if no one’s cleaned those gullies for a while.
- Broken Pipes You Can’t See
Cracked clay pipes. Collapsed joints. Sockets full of rubble. It is difficult to spot broken or blocked drainage pipes with the naked eye.
But they’re everywhere under old Kentish homes – especially if the house has settled, been extended, or had poor repairs in the past.
These don’t just block. They leak. And they bring rats with them.
- Cheap Fixes That Don’t Fix Anything
Here’s the truth: a lot of people in Kent are paying for water jetting when they need a proper repair.
Yes, high pressure water jets will blast away blockages. But if your pipe’s crushed, cracked, or invaded by roots, that’s just a short-term spray-and-pray.
You need someone who knows when to clean, and when to dig.
- Builders Who Buried a Problem
Have you ever seen a patio lifted and relaid, a home extension being built up, or a driveway installed in a weekend?
Odds are, the builder cut through a drain or blocked a gully – and buried it under concrete.
We’ve seen it too many times to count. And it always ends in one thing: a flooded home and an unhappy homeowner.
What You Can Do About Common Drainage Problems
Don’t guess. Don’t Google symptoms. And for the love of dry floors – don’t stick rods down your drain if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Call us. We are a professional drainage company with the right tools, the right kit, and the right answers.
We’ll show you the problem with a CCTV camera. We will fix it properly. And stop it coming back!