Drain Cleaning in Nanaimo & Vancouver Island

Blocked drains we clear

• Kitchen sinks — grease, food waste and soap building up in the trap and the line behind the wall
• Bathroom sinks, tubs and showers — hair and soap scum, usually close to the fixture
• Toilets — wipes, too much paper, and objects that should never have been flushed
• Floor drains and laundry standpipes — lint, sediment and the first sign of a main line problem
• Main building drains and sewer laterals — roots, sagging pipe, collapsed sections and years of buildup
• Commercial kitchen lines — grease accumulation downstream of sinks and dish machines

One fixture or the whole line?

The first question on any drain call is where the blockage is. A single slow sink is almost always a local blockage in that fixture's trap or branch line. Several fixtures backing up at once — especially water appearing in a basement floor drain or the lowest tub in the house — points to the main drain or sewer lateral.

That difference changes the approach. Local blockages are cleared at the fixture. Main line blockages are cleared through a cleanout with larger equipment, and they are much more likely to have an underlying cause worth looking at.

Clearing it versus fixing it

Running an auger through a blocked line restores flow. It does not tell you why it blocked. For a one-off blockage caused by something that went down the drain, that is enough.

For lines that keep blocking, we recommend a camera inspection. The camera shows the inside of the pipe on a screen, with a locator that tells us where on the property a problem sits and roughly how deep. The common findings in Nanaimo are:

• Root intrusion through joints in older clay or concrete sewer laterals
• Bellies — low spots where the pipe has settled and holds water and debris
• Offset or separated joints that catch paper and grease
• Cracked or collapsing pipe, particularly in older cast iron

Once the cause is known, you can choose between periodic maintenance cleaning and a permanent sewer line repair.

Why older Island neighbourhoods block more

Many established neighbourhoods in Nanaimo, Ladysmith and Duncan have sewer laterals that are decades old, running under mature trees. Roots find their way into the moisture at pipe joints and grow into a mat that catches everything passing through. Houses of that era also often have cast-iron drains inside the building, which corrode and roughen over time and hold onto grease.

Newer homes are not immune — construction debris, poor slopes and heavy grease use still cause blockages — but repeat root problems are overwhelmingly an older-lateral issue.

What to expect on a drain call

1. We ask which fixtures are affected and whether anything unusual went down the drain.
2. We find the nearest suitable access point — the fixture trap, a cleanout or a roof vent.
3. We clear the line with the right size of auger for the pipe.
4. We run water to confirm flow and check for signs of a deeper problem.
5. If the line looks likely to block again, we explain your options, including a camera inspection.

Drain cleaning is available across Waywest's Vancouver Island service area, including Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Ladysmith and Duncan. If sewage is backing up into the house right now, call the emergency line.

Keeping drains clear

• Wipe grease out of pans with paper towel before washing them
• Use hair catchers in showers and tubs
• Flush only toilet paper — "flushable" wipes do not break down in time
• Run hot water after using a garbage disposal
• If a line has had roots before, schedule maintenance cleaning before it blocks again