If you’ve had a plumber clear your drain and it’s blocked again within a few weeks or months, you’re not alone — and it’s almost never bad luck. Recurring blockages have a cause, and in Carlton and Fitzroy’s older housing stock, that cause is usually structural.
The Difference Between a One-Off Blockage and a Recurring Problem
A single drain blockage can happen to anyone — a build-up of grease, a foreign object, a clump of hair. These clear with a plunger or a basic drain snake. But if your drains keep blocking in the same place after professional treatment, something else is going on.
The Most Common Cause: Root Intrusion
Carlton and Fitzroy’s sewer infrastructure is predominantly clay pipe, most of it installed before World War II. These pipes have mortar joints at every connection point, and over decades those joints crack. Tree roots — and both suburbs have significant street tree populations — enter at the cracks and grow into mats inside the pipe. Clearing the mat treats the symptom, not the cause. Within weeks, the roots regrow and the pipe blocks again.
The Second Most Common Cause: Pipe Damage
A cracked, offset, or partially collapsed pipe creates a low point where solids accumulate. Water still flows (slowly), so the blockage isn’t total — but it returns constantly. A CCTV camera inside the pipe shows this clearly.
The Permanent Fix
For root intrusion: hydrojetting clears the current blockage, then pipe relining seals the pipe from the inside — no more root entry. For structural damage: relining can often fix this too without excavation. In severe cases, section replacement may be needed.
Get to the Bottom of It — Same Day
Sedcon Plumbing carries CCTV inspection equipment on every van. We can inspect your drain, show you exactly what’s causing the repeat blockages, and fix it the same day in most cases.
Call 0413 647 557 — Carlton and Fitzroy drain specialists.