A sink that empties in slow motion, a shower standing in water, a toilet that rises instead of clearing, or a smell coming up from an outside chamber. Describe what is blocked and how long it has been that way, and you get a free quote before anyone travels.
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Drain unblocking clears a waste pipe that no longer runs, using rodding, a hand auger or a high pressure jet according to what is in the way, and a camera inspection when the same drain keeps blocking. Handyman Algarve quotes drain unblocking in the Algarve for free, in English or Portuguese, with the price known before any work starts.
Blockages are local. In the Algarve the recurring four are cooking fat and olive oil, which pour warm and set solid; wet wipes, which stay intact whatever the packet claims; sand and hair, from swimming and from long bathroom use; and roots, which find the joints of old clay pipe wherever a garden run passes near a tree. Holiday rentals concentrate the first two: the same kitchen produces months of grease in a single August, and a guest who would never flush a wipe at home will flush one here.
Inside the property boundary the drain is the owner's. Beyond it, in the shared or public run, it belongs to the municipal water service. The quick test is how many things are affected: one slow sink is yours and local, while every drain in the house backing up at once, or clean water rising in the chamber nearest the street, points outside the boundary. Lifting the nearest chamber lid and looking before anyone is called saves both a wasted callout and an argument about who pays.
As of 2026, a drain quote depends on where the blockage is and what it takes to reach it: a trap under a sink is a different job from a run between the house and the street. What moves the price is the equipment needed (hand tools, rods or a jetting machine), whether an inspection chamber has to be located and lifted, whether the work is at a normal weekday hour or out of hours, and whether you want a camera inspection afterwards to find out why it blocked. Tell us what is blocked, how many appliances are affected and whether anything has already been poured down it: those three facts are what make a quote accurate rather than a guess.
If the camera shows a broken or collapsed pipe, the repair is quoted separately and you decide with the footage in front of you. See how it works for the process from request to finished job.
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We reply within one business day, usually much faster.
Start with the simplest tool that matches the blockage. A plunger over a sealed overflow clears most sink and toilet blocks; a hand auger reaches a trap or the first bend beyond it. If neither works, the blockage is further down the pipe run and needs rodding or a high pressure jet, which is when it becomes a job for equipment rather than effort.
For a grease blockage in a kitchen sink it often helps, and it costs nothing to try. Use very hot water rather than boiling if the waste pipe is plastic, because repeated boiling water can soften joints and seals. It will do nothing at all for wet wipes, hair, roots or a collapsed pipe, so if two attempts change nothing, stop and have the pipe looked at properly.
It is quoted per job, and the price turns on how the blockage has to be reached: a trap under a sink, an inspection chamber in the yard, or a pipe run that needs a jetting machine. A camera inspection to find out why a drain keeps blocking is priced separately from clearing it. As of 2026, Handyman Algarve quotes drain work free, before anyone comes out.
Four things, in order. Cooking fat and olive oil that set as the pipe cools; wet wipes, which do not break up no matter what the packet says; sand and hair from beach showers and bathrooms; and tree roots finding the joints of old clay pipe in a garden run. Holiday rentals see the first two more often, simply because guests treat a strange kitchen and bathroom differently.
It is a last resort and often the wrong one. Caustic soda can clear a soft grease plug, but it will not touch wipes or roots, and if it fails you are left with a pipe full of dangerous liquid that the next person has to deal with before any work can start. It also attacks the rubber seals in older waste fittings. Tell whoever comes out if you have used any, because it changes how the job has to be handled.
Check whether more than one appliance is affected. One slow sink is a local blockage in that waste pipe. Every drain in the house backing up, or water rising in the inspection chamber nearest the street, points to the shared or public run, which is the water company's responsibility rather than yours. Lifting the chamber lid and looking is the fastest way to tell the difference before anyone is called.