5 Common Causes of Blocked Drains and How to Prevent Them

Posted by Blocked Drains Plumbing Sydney on 29 Oct 2025

Blocked drains are an inconvenience which can cause a disruption in your daily life. They could cause flooding, bad smells, or even health risks. If they are not addressed promptly blocked drains can lead to severe problems for your plumbing system, resulting in costly repairs or replacements.

Key Takeaways

  • The blockage of drains can affect your daily life and lead to flooding, unpleasant smells and even health dangers.
  • Oil, grease and fat accumulations can stick to the walls of pipes causing blockages. Avoid pouring grease down the drain. Alternatively, use soap and hot water to wash dishes.
  • The roots of trees naturally expand into the ground searching for nutrients. This can cause massive damage to pipes and even completely block them that can lead to flooding. Regularly maintain the trees surrounding drainage systems by pruning them.
  • Disposing of non-biodegradable materials like wet toiletries, wipes, and so on. can result in nasty smells that can be detected around bins and toilets; be sure to flush toilet paper down the toilet.
  • Hair

In this article, we’ll examine five of the most common causes of blocked drains and the best way to avoid them.

Cause 1. Grease, Oil and fat buildup

Fat, grease, and oil may appear like harmless materials to flush down the drain, but as time passes, they build up over the insides of pipes, causing an obstruction. If this happens, water is unable to flow freely through drainpipes. The solution is to stop the practice of pouring grease in the drain, or use soap and hot water when cleaning dishes since it can help break down grease-based substances.

Cause 2. Tree Roots

As time passes, tree roots naturally extend themselves into the ground in search of nutrients, which leads to them expanding towards underground pipes. Once they’re inside, the trees roots can cause a lot of damage and even block them, causing flooding. It’s important therefore if you have trees in the vicinity to regularly monitor their growth around drainage systems by trimming them on a regular basis.

Cause 3: Flushed items

It’s easy to assume that flushing items that aren’t biodegradable like wet wipes, sanitary towels etc. will not cause any major problems over the long haul, but when too many of these items are flushed in the toilets, they’ll build up, pushing other items aside and in the way of pipes. This could cause unpleasant odors to emanate around bins and toilets! Always be aware of what should be flushed and what shouldn’t (i. that only toilet papers should have to be flushed).

Cause 4 Cause 4: Hair

Additional Information

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Are you experiencing a clogged toilet, blocked shower drain, overflowing drains or an issue with your kitchen sink? We can help you sort out your drain blockage problem quickly and provide the following services:

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Clearing blocked drains can be difficult and it’s best to get a professional plumbing service involved to tackle it for you, To get your blocked drain in Sydney cleared today, contact Blocked Drains Plumbing Sydney now and speak to one of our friendly team members.

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We’re here to help with all of your plumbing needs, such as blocked drains, CCTV drain inspections, drain repairs and pipe relining.

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