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Drain jetting in London costs £120 to £250 for a single domestic run, typically £175, and £200 to £350 when several runs or a long shared stack need clearing. Rodding first is £75 to £125, descaling a scaled cast iron pipe £180 to £300, and jetting followed by a CCTV survey £250 to £450.
| Job | London low | London typical | London high | UK typical | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodding an outside drain from the manhole | £75 | £100 | £125 | £85 | The first thing to try for a simple blockage; London firms quote £80 to £145; rods break the obstruction but do not clean the pipe wall |
| High-pressure jetting, single domestic run | £120 | £175 | £250 | £185 | 30 to 60 minutes; for grease, fat or a blockage rods cannot shift; the UK figure is a national average and London firms quote £120 to £250 |
| Jetting several runs, a long run or a shared soil stack | £200 | £275 | £350 | One to two hours; runs over 25 metres, a shared stack in a converted house or block of flats, or a whole system after a back-up | |
| Descaling a cast iron or old clay pipe | £180 | £240 | £300 | A chain flail or scale-cutting nozzle takes hard-water scale off the pipe wall; London water is hard, so old cast iron scales badly; over £300 for a long run | |
| Root cutting | £250 | £325 | £400 | A cutting head clears roots that have grown in through a cracked joint; the joint usually needs a repair afterwards or the roots return | |
| Jetting followed by a CCTV survey | £250 | £350 | £450 | Jetting first so the camera can see the pipe wall; the survey shows cracks, displaced joints and the cause of a repeat blockage | |
| Emergency jetting, evening, weekend or night | £180 | £265 | £350 | £180 | A surcharge of £75 to £150, or 30 to 60 per cent, on top of the day price; the UK figure is an average emergency call-out |
Jetting is for the blockage rodding cannot shift and the drain that keeps blocking. Signs are sinks and baths draining slowly, gurgling when the toilet flushes, a smell from the gully, water standing at the manhole, or a drain rodded a month ago backing up again. It is urgent when sewage is coming up indoors or over a manhole; a slow drain can wait for a daytime price.
On the day the engineer lifts the manhole to see where the blockage lies, rods a simple obstruction first, then runs a jetting hose from the van unit along the pipe: 30 to 60 minutes for a single run, one to two hours for a long run, a shared soil stack or a whole system. Grease comes off the pipe wall as the nozzle is pulled back. London's hard water scales up old cast iron pipes, which need a descaling head, not plain jetting; roots need a cutting head. A camera afterwards confirms the pipe is clean and shows whether a crack or displaced joint is why it keeps blocking.
Thames Water has owned shared sewers and lateral drains since October 2011; the pipe from your house to them is yours.
Prices last checked: September 2026. Based on published London rates and quotes seen through PROS AI London requests, checked September 2026.
£120 to £250 for a single domestic run, typically £175; the UK average is about £185, so for this job London sits close to the national figure. Several runs or a shared soil stack are £200 to £350, descaling £180 to £300, root cutting £250 to £400, and jetting followed by a CCTV survey £250 to £450. Out of hours, add £75 to £150, or 30 to 60 per cent, to the day price.
Rod first for a single blockage that appeared suddenly; it is £75 to £125 and clears most of them. Jet, at £120 to £250, when the rods go through but the drain still runs slowly, when the blockage returns within weeks, when grease or fat coats the pipe along its length, or before a camera survey. Rods punch a hole through the obstruction; jetting scrapes the pipe wall clean along its whole length.
Scale is the limescale that hard water leaves inside old cast iron and clay pipes, narrowing them until they block again and again. London water is hard, and many Victorian and Edwardian houses still have cast iron soil stacks and underground runs, so it is common here. Descaling, £180 to £300, uses a chain flail or a scale-cutting nozzle on the jetting hose; plain jetting will not remove it. A camera survey shows whether scale is the cause.
Rarely, if the pressure suits the pipe. A sound cast iron or clay drain takes jetting well; the risk is a pipe that is already cracked, badly displaced or collapsed, where the water can wash out the ground around it. If a drain has blocked repeatedly, or the house sits on London clay that moves, ask for a camera look first, £90 to £250, so the engineer knows what is down there before jetting at full pressure.
If the blockage is in a shared sewer or a lateral drain that connects to the public network, Thames Water has been responsible since 1 October 2011 and clears it free. The pipe from your house to the shared section and everything indoors are yours. Check with the neighbours: if their drains are fine, the problem is on your section. Drains shared between houses that never reach a public sewer stay the joint cost of the households using them.
Written by PROS AI editorial team.
£150 - £500per job
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