How do I unblock an inside drain including sink, shower or bath waste?

If more than one waste pipe is affected, it's likely to be a blocked drain. So, if you notice that a few things aren’t draining properly click here.

If it’s just one, such as your kitchen sink or your shower that’s not draining the waste properly, then have a go at unblocking it first. It is a common issue that you can usually resolve yourself.

If you have a shower that drains with an electric pump, you’ll need to run the shower for a very brief period whilst attempting to plunge the drain. Be careful not to run too much water as you don’t want to cause a flood.

You can watch a video here to show you how to plunge your waste.

You need to plunge the affected waste, remembering to cover the overflow hole with a cloth. If the overflow isn't covered, water will spray out when you try and plunge the waste. Shower trays or enclosures won’t have an overflow, so you won’t need to cover it.

You should run a small amount of water into the sink/basin/bath/shower as you plunge, but not too much that it overflows. Try this several times as the blockage may be difficult to remove!

Hopefully this will resolve the problem without needing to report a repair. However, if you’ve tried and still cannot seem to unblock the waste, report a repair to us.

Don’t use the affected waste until the repair has been completed. A sink could still be used with a washing up bowl, but you would need to tip the water down another waste such as the toilet or a wash basin.

How do I report a repair?

You can report a repair to us at anytime, anywhere using My Account or contact us via Live Chat. Let us know when reporting that you’ve followed the advice and what you’ve tried to get it working, this helps us to assess what to do next to get the right person for the job.

If you cannot unblock your bath or shower and it’s your only form of bathing, give us a call on 0300 456 2531 to report it so we can get one of our plumbers out ASAP.