A slow sink or shower
Water pools around your feet in the shower tray or takes minutes to leave the basin. A ring of grey scum is often left behind after it finally goes.
Drains · Sinks, showers, toilets and risers
Drain cleaning for slow sinks, blocked toilets and sewer smells
Drain cleaning clears a blockage in a sink, shower, bath, toilet or floor drain, along with the branch pipe behind it, and then checks that water runs away freely again. The price depends on where the clog sits, how easy that pipe is to reach and whether a shared riser is involved. We quote after a short description and photos. To book, call, text or WhatsApp us in English.
- Kitchen sinks, showers, baths and toilets
- Gurgling, smells and water coming back up
- Branch pipes and shared sewer risers
- Booking and coordination in English
Symptoms
What a blocked drain looks, sounds and smells like
A drain rarely fails overnight. Most blockages build up for weeks and give plenty of hints before the water stops moving altogether.
If only one fixture is slow, the clog is usually in its trap or the short pipe right after it. If several fixtures back up together, or water appears in one when another is used, the blockage is further down, often where your flat joins the building's sewer stack.
A blocked toilet
The bowl fills high after flushing and empties very slowly, or not at all. A toilet that has been sluggish for a while is often one flush away from overflowing.
Bad smells
A sour or sewer smell from a sink, a floor drain or behind the toilet. It can come from rotting residue in a trap, or from a trap that has dried out and no longer seals.
Gurgling
Bubbling or glugging noises from a drain when a different fixture empties. Air is being dragged through the water seals, which usually points to a restriction or a blocked vent.
Water coming back up
Grey water appears in the shower tray or bath while the washing machine or dishwasher is pumping out. That one has its own explanation below.
Causes
What actually clogs drains in Tbilisi flats
The same handful of culprits shows up in almost every call. Knowing which one you are dealing with helps decide how the pipe is cleared and what to change afterwards.
- Kitchen grease. Oil from frying pans and fatty soups looks liquid when it goes down, then cools and sets on the pipe walls. Food scraps stick to it and the bore gets narrower month by month.
- Hair and soap. In showers and bathroom basins, hair tangles with soap residue into a dense plug, usually right under the drain grille or in the trap.
- Wet wipes. Baby wipes, make-up wipes and cleaning wipes do not break down like toilet paper, even when the packet says flushable. They snag at joints and bends and collect everything that follows.
- Scale. Mineral deposits from hard water, mixed with soap, form a rough crust inside pipes and traps. On its own it only slows the flow, but that rough surface catches hair and grease far more easily.
- Renovation debris. Grout, tile adhesive, plaster and paint rinsed down a sink during building work can set like stone inside the trap.
- Sagging old pipes. In some older buildings the waste pipes under the floor have lost their slope over the years, so water sits in low spots and leaves sediment behind.
If you have just finished building work, a separate point applies: our after-renovation cleaning page explains why dust and leftover mortar should never be washed into the drains.
A common puzzle
Why the shower fills up when the washing machine drains
This is one of the most frequent questions from people new to Tbilisi flats. In many bathrooms the washing machine, the basin, the bath or shower and sometimes the toilet all empty into one shared branch pipe before it reaches the vertical stack. The machine pumps a large volume of water out in a short burst. If there is a partial blockage somewhere downstream of where those pipes meet, the water cannot get past it fast enough and takes the easiest way out, which is up through the lowest opening in the room: the shower tray, the bath outlet or a floor drain.
What it tells the plumber
A symptom like this is useful information. It means the restriction is below the junction, not in the shower trap, so clearing the shower grille alone will not fix it. The plumber will look for the point where the branch joins the stack and work from there.
When the neighbors cause it
If dirty water rises in your bath when the people upstairs flush or run a bath, and you are not using any water yourself, the blockage is almost certainly in the shared riser below your floor. That calls for a different conversation, covered further down this page.
Before you pour
Why chemical drain cleaners can harm old pipes
Supermarket drain gels and granules are tempting, and on a lightly slowed modern plastic trap they sometimes help. In older Tbilisi buildings they often do more harm than good.
- Strong caustic or acid products react with the metal in old cast iron and steel waste pipes, and many of these pipes are already thin after decades of use.
- Some products heat up as they react. In a trap that is full of standing water, that heat and the chemical sit in one spot for hours and can soften plastic joints and rubber seals.
- In a completely blocked pipe the chemical never reaches the clog. It just waits in the trap, which is exactly where someone will need to put their hands next.
- Mixing two different products, or following one with bleach, can release harmful fumes in a small bathroom.
If you have already poured a chemical cleaner into a blocked drain, tell us when you call and tell the plumber again on arrival. It changes how the pipe can be opened safely.
Whose pipe is it
Shared building risers and the building administrator
In an apartment block, your drains are only the first few meters of a system that serves every flat on the same stack.
| What happens | Likely location | Who usually deals with it |
|---|---|---|
| One basin or shower is slow, everything else is fine | The trap or short pipe under that fixture | The flat, meaning the owner or tenant as agreed |
| Several fixtures in your flat back up together | The branch pipe inside your flat, before the stack | The flat |
| Water rises in your fixtures when upstairs neighbors use water | The shared riser, below your floor | The building, through the administrator |
| Ground-floor flats flood with sewage after heavy use | The bottom of the riser or the outlet to the street sewer | The building, sometimes with the water utility |
Clearing a riser affects every household above the blockage. They need to stop using water for a while, and the work is usually done from an access point in the stairwell, the basement or a ground-floor flat. That is why the building administrator or residents' association is normally involved: they can warn neighbors, arrange access and agree how the cost is shared. Many buildings coordinate this through a residents' group chat on WhatsApp or Viber.
If a riser backup has already spilled sewage onto your floor, stop using your own water, keep people away from the dirty water and see our emergency plumber page for the first steps.
If you rent the flat
Send your landlord a photo or video of the backup before the plumber comes, so there is a record of what happened. Whether you or the landlord pays for a blockage inside the flat depends on your agreement and, fairly or not, often on what caused it. If the plumber finds the fault in the shared stack, you will get photos you can forward to both the landlord and the administrator.
On the day
How a drain cleaning visit works
- 1
Pin down the location
Using your answers and a quick test of each fixture, the plumber works out whether the clog is in a trap, the branch pipe or the stack.
- 2
Protect the area
Towels, buckets and a clear path to the drain. Dirty water may come out when a trap is opened, so small items near the sink are best moved beforehand.
- 3
Open the trap
Many blockages sit right in the trap. It is taken off, emptied, cleaned and refitted with its washers checked.
- 4
Clear the pipe
If the clog lies deeper, the pipe is cleared mechanically, usually with a plumbing spiral fed through the trap opening or a cleanout point, rather than with chemicals.
- 5
Run and check
Water is run through every affected fixture, sometimes together, to confirm the flow is back and nothing is weeping from the joints that were opened.
If an old trap cracks as it comes off, or a seal is past saving, the plumber will tell you what to buy. Parts are usually bought by the customer unless something else is agreed when booking. A drain that leaks where it joins the wall, rather than simply blocking, may need our leak detection approach instead.
While you wait
What you can safely do before the plumber arrives
- Stop using the blocked fixture, and any others that drain into the same pipe, including the washing machine and dishwasher.
- Try a plunger on a sink or toilet if you have one. Cover the basin overflow hole with a wet cloth so the pressure goes down the pipe, not back out.
- Pull out hair you can see under a shower grille or a pop-up basin plug.
- If the basin has a plastic bottle trap and you are comfortable doing it, put a bucket underneath before unscrewing it by hand. Do not force old metal traps.
- Do not flush a blocked toilet again to see if it clears. That is how most bathroom floods start.
A trap that smells but drains normally in a flat that has stood empty has often just dried out. Running each tap and floor drain for half a minute refills the water seal. If you are a host and the flat sits empty between guests, do that before each arrival.
Afterwards
Keeping drains clear once they are clean
In the kitchen
Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing them, and pour leftover oil into a jar for the bin. A simple mesh strainer in the sink catches rice, tea leaves and scraps.
In the bathroom
A hair catcher over the shower drain costs very little and prevents the most common shower blockage. Empty it every few days.
At the toilet
Only toilet paper goes in. Keep a lidded bin next to the toilet for wipes, cotton buds and hygiene products, so nobody has to think about it.
Once a week, run hot tap water through the kitchen sink for a minute or two to move fresh grease on before it sets. Avoid pouring boiling water from the kettle into plastic pipes, since repeated heat can loosen their joints over time.
Hosts with international guests often find that a small, polite sign about wipes saves them a mid-stay call-out. It fits neatly into the routine of an Airbnb turnover clean, along with checking that every drain empties properly. For anything beyond drains, the main plumber page has the full list of services, and cisterns that run constantly are covered under toilet and tap repair.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if the blockage is mine or the building's?
If the problem affects only your fixtures and only when you use water, it is most likely inside your flat. If water rises in your drains when neighbors above use theirs, the shared riser is the usual suspect.
Can you clear a blocked toilet the same day?
Often, yes, but it depends on the schedule at that moment. Same-day availability is confirmed on the call.
Is it safe to use a drain cleaner from the supermarket?
We advise against it in older buildings, and never in a drain that is fully blocked. If you have already used one, let us know before the visit.
Why does my bathroom smell even though nothing is blocked?
A dried-out trap in a rarely used floor drain or basin is the most common reason. Running water into it refills the seal. If the smell comes from around the toilet base, the seal between the toilet and the soil pipe may need attention.
Will the plumber need to break tiles?
Most blockages are cleared through the trap or an existing access point. Opening a wall or floor is rare and would only happen after the reason has been explained and you have agreed.
My kitchen sink blocks every few months. What can be done?
Repeated blockages usually mean grease buildup further along the pipe, or a section with too little slope. After clearing, the plumber can tell you which it is and whether a short section of pipe is worth replacing.
Do I need to buy anything before the visit?
Usually not for a simple clearance. If a trap, seal or pipe section turns out to need replacing, you get a list with sizes. Buying parts yourself is the norm unless another arrangement is agreed when booking.
Contact
Describe the blocked drain
Tell us which fixtures are affected and send a short video if you can. We will come back with a price.
Send a short description
Mention which drains are slow, whether water comes back up elsewhere and your district.
Next step
Drain still not draining?
Send a video of the problem, and we will suggest the next step and a price.