Jetting is water, delivered at pressure through a hose that pulls itself along the pipe. The head fires jets backwards, which both drives the hose forward and scours the pipe wall on the way out.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. Rods clear a hole through a blockage. Jetting clears the pipe.
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Why rodding so often fails
- Rods travel more or less in a straight line and stop at bends. A good deal of domestic drainage bends within the first few metres.
- Rods push. A blockage frequently ends up further down the run rather than out of it, which is why a rodded drain so often blocks again within weeks — the material is still in the system, just somewhere less convenient.
- Rods do not clean. A rodded pipe has a channel through the middle of whatever is coating it; the bore is still reduced, so the next blockage arrives sooner.
- Rods will not cut roots. They will push past them and leave them growing.
What jetting deals with
Roots. Cut out with a rotating head rather than pushed past. Roots enter through a joint, thicken, and hold back everything moving past them — they are the commonest single cause of repeat blockages in older clay drainage.
Fat, grease and scale. Cut off the pipe wall and flushed out, restoring the actual diameter rather than a channel through the middle.
Silt, grit and leaf debris. The usual content of a blocked gully, and the reason so many blockages here follow the first heavy rain of autumn.
Obstructions and building debris. Common on newer property, where material left in the run during construction collects everything that arrives after it.
The one material that needs care
Pitch fibre. The bitumen-impregnated pipe used through the 1950s to 70s does not crack — it delaminates and deforms, going oval as it ages. A deformed pitch fibre run can be damaged by an unconsidered jetting head, and the damage is not repairable in place.
It is common across the post-war estates of the Black Country and throughout Telford, which was built almost entirely in that era. Where we suspect it, we would rather put a camera down first and know what we are working with than clear it blind. On a recurring blockage that is the right sequence anyway.
Jetting is a fix for a blockage, not for a fault
If a drain blocks once, jetting it is the answer. If it blocks repeatedly, something structural is causing it — roots getting in somewhere, a joint that has stepped, a section that has broken. Clearing it again treats the symptom, and the interval between visits gets shorter.
We can put a camera down the same run while we are on site. See CCTV drain surveys.
Common questions
Will jetting damage my drains? Not sound pipework. Pressure and head are chosen for the material and the job. Pitch fibre that has already deformed is the exception, and it is why identifying the material matters.
Can you jet from inside the house? We work from external access wherever possible — manholes, rodding eyes, gullies.
How far can you reach? Well beyond where the van can park; our reels cover back gardens and long runs without difficulty.
Do you need a water supply? No. We carry our own.
What about the mess? Jetting brings material out at the access point rather than spreading it. We clear up after ourselves.
Is it worth doing as maintenance? For commercial premises with grease traps or interceptors, frequently yes — planned cleaning is cheaper than an emergency. For a domestic property with no history of trouble, no.
Related: Blocked drains · CCTV drain surveys · In a drainage emergency Guides: Why a rodded drain blocks again
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