How far a plunger will actually get you, what should never have gone down there in the first place, and the signs the problem is bigger than your sink — for Coleraine and the surrounding villages.
Most blocked sinks and showers come down to the same culprits everywhere: fat, food scraps and hair, and a plunger plus hot water clears a good share of them. But if more than one drain is slow at once, or waste is backing up at an outside gully, the blockage is probably in the main drain — that's a phone call, not another round of plunging.
Prevention is dull but free. The worst offenders:
A plunger works on local blockages — the trap and waste pipe of the one fixture in front of you. Bail out most of the standing water, block the overflow with a wet cloth, and plunge with steady strokes rather than fury. For a slow shower, a cheap hair hook down the plughole is often all it takes. Follow up with hot (not boiling, if your pipes are plastic) water.
What a plunger can't fix: anything past the soil stack. Some of the older stone-built terraces near Coleraine town centre still carry cast iron stacks that corrode and snag debris with age, and no amount of enthusiasm at the plughole reaches a blockage down there.
One slow basin is a local nuisance. Several fixtures gurgling at once, a toilet that rises when the sink drains, smells around outside gullies, or waste pooling by a drain cover — that's the main run, and it needs proper equipment.
Responsibility matters here too. In Northern Ireland, public sewers are the responsibility of NI Water, while drains inside your boundary serving only your property are generally yours. Whether you're in a Coleraine terrace or a rural property out towards Garvagh, Kilrea or Aghadowey with a longer private run, it's worth establishing which side of the line the blockage sits on before paying for work — a plumber or drainage specialist can usually pinpoint it quickly.
Fat, oil and grease top the list — they pour as liquid and set as a solid plug further down the pipe. Coffee grounds, rice, pasta, plaster and paint all belong in the bin too. And nothing labelled a wipe goes down the toilet, whatever the packet claims about flushability.
Use them sparingly, follow the label, and never mix two different products — the reaction can produce dangerous fumes. They can also sit as a caustic pool above a blockage they've failed to shift, so if a plumber ends up dismantling the trap, always say what you've poured down there first.
One slow sink is a local problem. Several fixtures gurgling or draining slowly at once, a toilet whose level rises when the sink empties, bad smells from outside gullies, or waste water pooling around a drain cover all point further down the line — that's a main-drain problem, and plunging harder won't reach it.
In Northern Ireland, public sewers are the responsibility of NI Water, while drains within your boundary that serve only your property are generally the owner's to sort. Where the blockage sits decides who deals with it, so it's worth establishing that before paying for private work — a plumber or drainage specialist can usually pinpoint it.
Back to the Coleraine emergency plumber home page, or jump to another guide:
Stopcock first: the three steps that limit water damage fast.
Read the guide →Pressure basics, no heat or hot water, and what to do about a gas smell.
Read the guide →An honest look at call-out fees, hourly rates and out-of-hours pricing.
Read the guide →Pressure, thermostat, tripped switch or diverter valve — checks first.
Read the guide →Stopping pipes freezing in the first place, and thawing one safely.
Read the guide →Damp patches, dropping pressure, and the stopcock test that narrows it down.
Read the guide →The main page: what to do right now and the areas covered.
Go to home →This site connects callers with a local plumbing professional covering Coleraine, Kilrea, Garvagh and the surrounding area — day or night.
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