In the older Geelong suburbs this is usually tree roots, and roots are why clearing it once doesn't fix it.
No obligation. Takes 30 seconds.
Emergency Plumber Geelong connects Geelong and the Geelong and Bellarine region property owners with qualified, connects Geelong and Bellarine property owners with licensed local plumbers for blocked drains. Tell us what's happening and whether water is still running, and we'll match it to a licensed plumber covering your suburb. Firm price before work starts.
One fixture slow means a blockage local to that fixture. **Several** fixtures slow, or gurgling when another one drains, means the blockage is further out in the main line.
Water rising in a shower or floor waste when the toilet flushes is the clearest signal there is: the sewer line itself is blocked, and everything upstream will back up. Stop using fixtures at that point.
Geelong West, Newtown, Herne Hill and East Geelong carry a lot of pre-war housing on original earthenware sewer lines with mortared joints. Established street trees find those joints and grow into them, because that's where the water is.
An eel or a jet clears the roots and restores flow. It does not repair the joint they came through, so they come back — typically within a year or two. Anyone telling you a clearance is a permanent fix on a root-bound clay line isn't being straight.
After the second blockage in the same line. A CCTV inspection at $150 to $400 shows whether you're looking at one damaged joint, a collapsed section, or a line that simply needs periodic clearing.
That's the difference between a $900-plus repair and a maintenance interval. Spending on a repair without knowing which one you have is how people spend twice.
Wet wipes, regardless of what the packet says. Cooking fat, which sets in the cold. Coffee grounds. Anything sanitary.
Caustic drain cleaners are worth a specific warning: on a root-bound or partly collapsed line they don't clear it, and they leave the plumber working in caustic water. Say if you've used one.
Geelong.
Where this job typically sits. Access is usually a bigger cost driver than size.
| Job | Indicative price | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency call-out, business hours | $120 – $250 | Attending and diagnosing. Some credit it against the work; ask, because not all do. |
| After hours, weekend or public holiday | $180 – $400 | The call-out premium. Confirm it on the phone before anyone is dispatched. |
| Burst pipe — isolate and repair | $250 – $900 | Depends heavily on access. A pipe in a wall or under a slab costs multiples of one in a roof space. |
| Blocked drain — machine clear | $200 – $550 | Electric eel or high-pressure jet. Root-bound lines take longer. |
| CCTV drain camera inspection | $150 – $400 | Usually the sensible next step after a second blockage in the same line. |
| Blocked toilet | $150 – $400 | Cheaper if it's the pan, more if the blockage is out in the sewer line. |
| Hot water unit repair | $180 – $600 | Elements, thermostats, valves and thermocouples. Worth trying before replacement. |
| Hot water unit replacement | $1,200 – $3,500 | Electric storage at the lower end; continuous-flow gas and heat pump at the upper. |
| Leak detection, non-invasive | $250 – $600 | Acoustic and thermal tracing to find a leak without opening walls or slab. |
| Gas leak — make safe and repair | $250 – $800 | Gasfitting licence class. Never a job to defer or attempt. |
| Tap or mixer replacement | $150 – $400 | Per tap, plus the fitting. Often bundled if several are done at once. |
| Sewer or stormwater repair | from $900 | Excavation dependent. A camera inspection first tells you what you're actually buying. |
Prices are indicative only. What a job costs depends on the fault, how long it takes to find, whether parts are needed and whether it's after hours. You get a firm price before any work starts.
Something has gone wrong now — water running, gas smell, or sewage inside.
Water escaping and not stopping. The one where minutes genuinely count.
No hot water, not enough, or a unit leaking — and repair versus replace.
A gas smell is a life-safety situation, not a plumbing inconvenience.
Rising, not flushing, or overflowing — and whether it's the pan or the sewer.
A bill that's climbed, a damp patch, or a meter that ticks with everything off.
Tell us the suburb and what's happening and we'll get it to the right person.
Call 0483 963 438