How long will it take you to get to Subiaco or City Beach?

It’s a long run across the city from Ellenbrook, and traffic makes a big difference. We don’t promise a set time. Ring, and we’ll tell you honestly when we can be there.

Our Crawley apartment’s kitchen drain backs up when the unit above uses theirs. Who do we call?

Tell the strata manager first, because the shared stack is usually common property. We take bookings from strata managers and owners, and we’ll be clear about which part is your lot and which part is shared.

Should we check the old drain before renovating a Subiaco or Daglish house?

If the drains are slow or the gully has ever overflowed, it’s worth it. A camera inspection of the old line shows whether roots, cracks or a sagging section are waiting under the garden, and they’re far easier to deal with before the new bathroom is tiled.

Do you do hydro jetting and drain camera inspections in Wembley and Floreat?

Yes. The hydro jetter handles roots, grease and sand, and the CCTV drain camera shows why a drain keeps blocking and roughly how far along the line the problem is.

Who pays if the blockage is in the sewer main?

Blockages in your property plumbing are the owner’s responsibility. If it’s in Water Corporation’s main, normally outside the property, Water Corporation clears it. If we find it there, we call them in.

Western suburbs · Blocked drains, Wembley to Dalkeith

Blocked drains in Subiaco, Nedlands, Wembley and Floreat

Wastewater has been treated at the Subiaco plant in Shenton Park since 1927, and after a 2018 upgrade it is the third-largest treatment plant in Western Australia, with a catchment of more than 240,000 people. The drains feeding it from this part of Perth vary a lot. Subiaco, Shenton Park and Daglish have house drains under homes built before the Second World War. Wembley, Wembley Downs and Floreat were mostly built between the 1920s and the 1970s. And in Crawley, seven in ten homes are flats or apartments.

The short answer

McDermott Plumbing clears blocked drains, toilets and sinks in Subiaco, Shenton Park, Daglish, Nedlands, Crawley, Dalkeith, Wembley, Wembley Downs, Floreat, City Beach and Jolimont. Call (08) 6187 3999 or text 0406 882 648. This is a long run across the city from our Ellenbrook base, so we won’t promise a time. Ring and we’ll tell you honestly when we can get there. We clear with a drain machine or the hydro jetter, and use a CCTV drain camera when a line keeps blocking. If sewage is overflowing from Water Corporation’s main or onto the street, call Water Corporation on 13 13 75 as well.

Subiaco, Shenton Park and Daglish

This is the oldest housing on the page. Subiaco grew through the gold rush years, the residential half of Shenton Park sits east of the railway, and Daglish was laid out as a brick garden suburb from the mid-1920s, with most of its original houses still standing. At the 2021 Census 45.0% of Subiaco’s occupied homes were rented and 41.7% were flats or apartments, so a blocked drain here could be a heritage cottage, a share house or a strata block.

Many of the older houses have been renovated more than once. A new bathroom or kitchen is usually tied into the original drain somewhere under the floor or the garden, and that join, or the older pipe beyond it, is a common place for roots and fat to catch. Water Corporation says homes more than 15 years old are less likely to have PVC sewer pipe, and that a hairline crack is all a root needs.

Wembley, Wembley Downs, Floreat, City Beach and Jolimont

Wembley, Jolimont and Shenton Park sit on the Spearwood Dunes: brown sand over yellow subsoil, with Tamala Limestone underneath. Wembley Downs was cut into about 90 lots in 1927, but thick bush and limestone outcrops held building back until the 1950s, and by the 1970s it was almost fully built. Floreat was part of the City of Perth when it was first built, and City Beach’s central streets went up as the athletes’ village for the 1962 Commonwealth Games.

So a house drain here that hasn’t been replaced is likely to be fifty years old or more, often under a mature garden. Where an older house has been knocked down, or replaced by units, the new PVC drains usually still run to the junction the old house used, and that’s worth checking if a new home’s drain keeps blocking. Close to the beach in City Beach and the western edge of Floreat, sand also finds its way into outdoor gullies and grated drains.

Nedlands, Crawley and Dalkeith

Crawley is home to the University of Western Australia and its residential colleges. At the 2021 Census 70.5% of its occupied homes were flats or apartments and 62.9% were rented. Nedlands mixes student housing near the university with established family homes, the hospitals of the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre and a commercial strip along Stirling Highway. Dalkeith’s farmland was sold off in residential lots from 1897, and the river wraps around it on three sides.

In an apartment block, several homes drain into one stack, and Water Corporation says one 100 mm junction can serve up to five home units. A blockage in a shared stack usually shows up first in the unit lowest down. In the big established Dalkeith and Nedlands gardens, it’s more often roots in an old property drain.

What blocks drains around Wembley and Subiaco

Tree roots in older house drains under the established street and garden trees of Subiaco, Daglish, Shenton Park, Wembley, Floreat and Dalkeith.
Joins where a renovation or rebuild tied new PVC into an older drain.
Shared stacks in apartment blocks in Crawley, Subiaco and Nedlands, where one unit’s blockage backs up into another.
Wipes, paper towel and food scraps in share houses and student rentals. Water Corporation says wipes don’t break down like toilet paper, even if the packet says flushable.
Fat. Water Corporation says fats, oils and grease hardening in pipes cause 30% of its wastewater blockages.
Sand in outdoor gullies and grated drains near the beach at City Beach and Floreat.

Blocked sink in Subiaco?

In a Subiaco or Crawley apartment, check with the neighbours first. If several kitchens on the same stack are slow, it’s probably the shared pipe, and the strata manager needs to know. In a renovated Subiaco cottage, the new kitchen waste often meets an older pipe close to the house, and that join can be where grease catches. In a share house, it’s usually fat and food scraps in the trap. Try the safe checks in our blocked kitchen sink guide before you call, and don’t pour caustic cleaner down it. If the toilet or the overflow relief gully is acting up as well, the blockage is further down, so stop using water and call.

How we clear it

Jobs on this side of the city are a long drive for us. When you ring, tell us whether the drain is overflowing, and we’ll be straight about when we can be there. We clear from the inspection shaft, gully or nearest sensible access point. A simple choke gets the drain machine. Roots, grease and sand get the hydro jetter, which flushes the pipe clean rather than just poking a hole through. If a line keeps blocking, the CCTV drain camera shows what’s in it and roughly where, which is useful before you plan a renovation. Jetting won’t fix a cracked or sunken pipe, and we’ll tell you if that’s what we find.

If the blockage turns out to be in Water Corporation’s main, normally outside the property, it’s theirs to clear and we report it. Blockages within the property plumbing are the owner’s responsibility.

Suburbs we cover here: Wembley, Wembley Downs, Floreat, City Beach, Jolimont, Subiaco, Shenton Park, Daglish, Nedlands, Crawley and Dalkeith.

Common questions

How long will it take you to get to Subiaco or City Beach?: It’s a long run across the city from Ellenbrook, and traffic makes a big difference. We don’t promise a set time. Ring, and we’ll tell you honestly when we can be there.
Our Crawley apartment’s kitchen drain backs up when the unit above uses theirs. Who do we call?: Tell the strata manager first, because the shared stack is usually common property. We take bookings from strata managers and owners, and we’ll be clear about which part is your lot and which part is shared.
Should we check the old drain before renovating a Subiaco or Daglish house?: If the drains are slow or the gully has ever overflowed, it’s worth it. A camera inspection of the old line shows whether roots, cracks or a sagging section are waiting under the garden, and they’re far easier to deal with before the new bathroom is tiled.
Do you do hydro jetting and drain camera inspections in Wembley and Floreat?: Yes. The hydro jetter handles roots, grease and sand, and the CCTV drain camera shows why a drain keeps blocking and roughly how far along the line the problem is.
Who pays if the blockage is in the sewer main?: Blockages in your property plumbing are the owner’s responsibility. If it’s in Water Corporation’s main, normally outside the property, Water Corporation clears it. If we find it there, we call them in.

Nearby

Blocked drain and plumber pages for the areas next to this one.

How we clear drains here.

Official sources

Last updated 19 October 2026. General information only. Every property is different, so call us to talk about yours.

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