Blocked toilet plumbers in London

This is the question that decides how big the job is. If the toilet is blocked and everything else in the property drains normally, the blockage is almost certainly in the pan or the short branch behind it. That is straightforward.

If the bath gurgles when you flush, or the shower backs up, the blockage has moved into the soil stack or the drain run outside and it is affecting everything above it. In a block of flats that also means the problem may not originate in your property at all, and clearing it carelessly can push it into a neighbour's.

Wet wipes are the leading cause, including the ones sold as flushable. They do not break down the way toilet paper does, and once one catches on a rough joint the rest build on it. Sanitary products and kitchen roll behave the same way.

In older properties the pipework itself contributes. Victorian and Edwardian stock often has original clay drainage with rigid joints, and a joint that has displaced slightly gives everything passing something to catch on. That is the profile of a toilet that blocks every few months no matter how careful the household is, and it is worth putting a camera down rather than paying to clear it repeatedly.

A toilet that runs continuously wastes a surprising amount of water, and on a metered supply it shows up on the bill. The cause is nearly always the fill valve or the flush valve seal, both of which are inexpensive parts.

Water around the base of the pan is different and worth acting on quickly. It is usually the pan connector or the seal where the pan meets the soil pipe, and left alone it will damage the floor beneath — particularly on a timber floor, and particularly in a flat where it becomes the ceiling below.